ESPN reporting deal is done pending MLB approval. Yanks to get two prospects in the deal. Pretty crazy that we get anything for the piece o trash.
It aint done until the warm garbage is wearing black and yellow. Unbelievable that we'll be paying him to not throw for us but I'm excited that we're getting anything in return.
Why the fuck do the Pirates even want AJ Burnett? Is he going to teach the youngsters how to throw their curveball in the dirt regularly?
At the risk of sound cliche PNC is a pitcher friendly park, I bet he will be extremely mediocre but he is an innings eater. On a side note one of the players we got in return was suspended for kissing a fan in the bullpen so that's pretty awesome. Moreno, 25, is a hard-throwing right-handed reliever. Pirates Prospects says he routinely runs his fastball up to 97 with a mid-80s slider. He struck out 45 (9.1 K/9 and 23.4 K%) and walked 18 (3.6 BB/9 and 9.4 BB%) in 44.2 relief innings split between High-A and Double-A last season. No team took a shot on him in December’s Rule 5 Draft. The Pirates suspended Moreno in 2010 after he got caught kissing a fan in the bullpen, believe it or not. Cayones, 20, hit .228/.333/.325 in 135 plate appearances split between the Rookie Level Gulf Coast League and Short Season NY-Penn League last season. Pirates Prospects says he has an advanced approach to hitting (career 9.5 BB%) but apparently not much power (.108 ISO), which is a problem because he’s a left fielder. His best tool is his name, which is a straight 80 on the 20-80 scouting scale. Neither Cayones or Moreno were among Pittsburgh’s top 30 prospects in Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook.
Two prospects that will never even smell Yankee stadium plus we get to pay 20 million left on his deal. Cashman never ceases to amaze. Bad deal to get him, worse deal to get rid of him.
I knew I could count on you to somehow find the negative in a team taking AJ and paying some of his contract.
For once in my life I agree with Don. The Yanks now have one ace and five or six legitimate 4-5 starters. Nobody knows how the new guys will do in the East. You have to figure Nova and Garcia will regress. I have no idea what you expect from Hughes at this point. Other than his outrageous salary, whats so bad about AJ in comparison? And since the Yanks have to pay his salary no matter where he plays, what's the point of not using him here? Not a fan of this move.
It's one thing to say that nobody knows how Kuroda and Pineda will do in the AL East, or that Garcia will regress somewhat. It's another to say that all of those guys are "legitimate 4-5 starters." While any combination of bad things might happen as far as those three coming in on the low end of expectations... and while Nova might regress somewhat, too... I don't know that I'd expect any or all of those things to happen to such a degree that people will be pining for AJ. In other words, you'd need a worst-case scenario from Pineda, Nova, Kuroda, Hughes, and Garcia -- as well as a worst-case scenario from Banuelos, Warren, Phelps, and Betances -- before you get to a point where Burnett would have been a better option. His performance? Wasn't he the second-worst starter in all of baseball last year, behind only John Lackey? Now, by some metrics, you could say Burnett was more unlucky than just bad... and I'm someone who actually likes Burnett and thinks he gets a bad rap among Yankee fans. But at the same time, let's not make this trade out to be more than it is. You're trading a 35-year-old power pitcher whose velocity has been trending down for each of the past five years (95.1, 94.3, 94.2, 93.2, 92.7) and whose fastball has been getting clobbered more and more over the past several years (as measured by pitch value). And you're freeing up some money to spend on a need while doing so. Burnett was not likely to even have a role in the rotation. The first four slots were almost guaranteed to be CC > Pineda > Kuroda > Nova. So Hughes, Garcia, and Burnett would have been fighting for that last spot. The point is that they don't have to pay all of his salary, and you're not using that rotation slot to throw out one of the worst-performing starters in the game while using that freed-up money to improve your DH position instead.
AJ's one of the worst performing starters in the league, huh? Cool. Might as well toss him aside to use a fifth of his salary to procure the easiest position to fill in the majors. The Yanks always struggle to find DHs. I swear you stats nerds never even watcht the games do you?
"Stat nerds" might be an easy insult to pull out of your pocket, but this situation makes sense at an intuitive level, a financial level, and a statistical level. This isn't some esoteric statistical analysis -- this is pretty damn simple. AJ didn't pitch very well for the Yankees. In fact, he pitched poorly enough that it's a fairly safe bet that they'll be able to get better production from any of the aforementioned starters. (If those guys are "legitimate 4-5 starters" in your book, then you should probably concede that Burnett has performed worse than the average fifth starter.) And while you're right that DH is one of the easier positions to fill in baseball, right now, a LHH DH is the only glaring need on the Yanks' roster, and their current budget only allowed for adding a couple million more in salary. Find me a decent DH who'll play for $2M per year, and you might have a decent argument. With Pitt taking on a fair amount of Burnett's salary, the Yanks will have some money to spend on a (hopefully) decent DH.
All I know is that I'm MUCH more comfortable with a rotation of CC>Pineda>Kuroda>Nova>Garcia/Hughes than CC>Burnett>Nova/Hughes>Garcia>Colon..... The fact that we won the AL East with that patchwork rotation is a definite sign of the apocalypse. Anyone know if/when Joba's back this year? We will have a nasty bullpen again this year, it'll be filthy if he can contribute. Too bad we get jackshit out Pedro Feliciano who I thought would be a nice addition. Also, it looks like it's gonna come down to Ibanez v Damon for the DH gig. Who ya'll prefer? I can't imagine Ibanez's defense being much better than Damons, and considering this is the DH spot they're auditioning for, I'm inclined to go with Damon right now. Maybe I'm biased, though, because I've loved the guy ever since he told the Red Sox to fuck off.
See, watch Burnett go to Pitt and be a fucking Ace. He's a headcase, but when he's on he's unhittable. No Pressure, Low expectations. Watch that bum win 13-15 games this season.
Of course, that's not likely to be the real reason. In the NL Central, he'll be facing far worse hitters on average, as well a pitcher 11% of the time.
