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New York Yankees: See ya AJ, wouldn’t want to be ya, but do want to thank ya

Posted by on 18 February 2012, 5:38 am

Ken Rosenthal of FOX SPORTS confirmed what he first tweeted, that the New York Yankees have a deal in place to trade AJ Burnettto the Pittsburgh Pirates, pending MLB Commissioner Bud Selig’s approval and passing a physical on Sunday.

Yankee Stadium Field - 2009 World Series Game 2

Well the good news for Burnett is that he doesn’t have to show his face at Yankees Camp after all the harsh media hoopla that has surrounded him leaving the Big Apple. I don’t care whether it is business or not, Burnett is a human being and going anywhere else is a better deal, even the Pirates.

For Burnett fans, like myself, and the 12 others (kidding) will certainly miss AJ. Still, going from Yankee-land to Pirates-ville can’t feel that great, as it is what I consider career suicide.

Regardless, there are still three things that I want to thank AJ Burnett for:

1) #27

I was at Yankee Stadium for Game 2 of the 2009 World Series and will never forget it. Burnett made Pedro his daddy that night, but he also sustained the Yankees from heading to Philly down two games by pitching seven magnificent innings of one-run baseball. So, thank you AJ.

2) A New Tradition.

Also, Burnett brought some fun with his infamous walk-off win pies. Running up behind the teammate who got the winning hit and smashing a pie in their face was something that Yankee Universe embraced. It became a tradition over the last three seasons, as both fans and players would wait after a walk-off win just to see Burnett come out from the dugout. So, thank you AJ. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: See ya AJ, wouldn’t want to be ya, but do want to thank ya’ »

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New York Yankees: Who to watch this spring

Posted by on 17 February 2012, 3:52 am
CC Sabathia

Image via Wikipedia

This Sunday, pitchers and catchers report to 2012 Spring Training, and like most baseball fans, I feel like a kid on the night before Christmas.

The New York Yankees might not be able to top the Lin-sanity going on at Madison Square Garden, but you’d be hard pressed to find anything that could.

Still, one week of Lin-somnia doesn’t change a century in pinstripes, or the unrelenting anticipations put on the boys in the Bronx each season.

So, what will I be watching for this Spring Training?

1) As I said before the pitching rotation competition looks to be a dogfight. For now, all we know is pitching coach Larry Rothschild clearly stated that CC Sabathia is No. 1 and after that is a toss-up, literally. Also, skipper Joe Girardi told MLB.com that Sabathia would pitch the first game of season for the Yankees, as he is the team’s ace. After Sabathia, the other four spots will be determined this spring between Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda, Hiroki Kuroda, Freddy Garcia, Phil Hughes and AJ Burnett.

2) How will AJ Burnett be affected by the inundated, almost borderline psychotic obsession everyone had with the Yankees getting rid of the righty? I have never seen such mayhem caused by a just a trade rumor. The talk has gotten pretty nasty. The only real deal, reported on MLB Trade Rumors, was from the Angels who wanted to send Bobby Abreu back to New York for the pitcher, but Burnett nixed that and rightly so as his wife doesn’t fly and everyone knows they live in Maryland. So, for now it doesn’t look like Burnett is going anywhere. I just try to picture how badly the situation would make me feel. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Who to watch this spring’ »

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You Got To Feel Blue For AJ Burnett

Posted by on 14 February 2012, 4:49 am
ANAHEIM, CA - SEPTEMBER 23: Pitcher A. J. Bur...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

You have to feel bad for New York Yankees pitcher AJ Burnett, as the New York and sports media has him already packing for Pittsburgh to join the Pirates.

I get that “baseball is a business,” as players have uttered this sentiment like a broken record forever to a point where it feels like they have been brainwashed.

The business world is harsh, but not many struggling businessmen get their dirty laundry aired out in the public eye like baseball players do.

And yes, people should get fired for not doing their job everyday but not like in baseball. When a team wants to dump a player, and are willing to eat millions of dollars just to get you out, can’t feel good.

All the blame lands solely on the player for underachieving, which usually entails fan and media backlash.

In Burnett’s case, the media and fans have pegged him as enemy #1.

There is some merit behind Burnett being ridiculed, as he has not been able to do his job consistently for sometime; but he was vital to the 2009 Yankees success. Along with some other shining moments, Burnett just continued to aggravate New York fans, which FYI is not a very hard to do.

There is not doubt that Burnett can pitch, and I mean like an unhittable ace when everything is flowing. Problem was that no one, including himself, knew what AJ would show up on the mound on any given night.

So, in a sense the Yankee fans are just as much at fault because Burnett’s biggest hurdle is in his head. And nobody seem to care enough to maybe try to be supportive to see if that would trigger the confidence, or tame the wild thoughts that continually have possessed Burnett throughout his career.

Well, Yankees Universe has been cheering to get rid of Burnett for three seasons, and I can only imagine how the six weeks have been on the righty.

Knowing that you have no choice in the matter just sucks.

And being forced to leave a winning team like the Yankees, to go play for the Pirates is basically career suicide.

It must be heartbreaking. Continue reading ‘You Got To Feel Blue For AJ Burnett’ »

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New York Yankees hot stove: Rosenthal please stop stirring the Burnett pot

Posted by on 10 February 2012, 6:08 am

AJ Burnett on the bump at Yankee Stadium.

I am kicking myself for presuming that the media would go dormant on trade rumors surrounding New York Yankees pitcher AJ Burnett.

As usual the spark came via FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal who reported that the Pittsburgh Pirates might land Burnett. He also wrote that the Yankees were willing to eat most of the $33 million Burnett is still owed, just so GM Brian Cashman can use the little money left over as leverage to sign a bench player?

Rosenthal wrote an MLB Buzz post on this supposedly breaking news, which led to a twitter freak out, and within a few hours he chalked it up to being due diligence, go figure.

Just for the record, I still believe that trading Burnett would be a bad move by the Yankees; and I have no intention of jumping on this ant-Burnett soapbox like the majority of Yankee Universe.

Honestly, Yankee fans need to stop acting so spoiled and entitled about getting rid of Burnett.

Paying a player somewhere between $25 -33 million over the next two seasons to leave is quite extreme in the case of Burnett.

He is a good teammate and a hard worker, but Burnett can also be productive but Yankee fans love to hate and it embarrasses the rest of us. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees hot stove: Rosenthal please stop stirring the Burnett pot’ »

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New York Yankees: Baseball Blogs Hottest Topic

Posted by on 30 January 2012, 12:52 am
Over the last two weeks, the hottest topic that has everyone from baseball fans, bloggers and expert analysts talking about is what the heck are the New York Yankees going to do about their now over-crowded pitching rotation, and more specifically AJ Burnett.
Yankee Stadium on July 1, 2010

Image via Wikipedia

Among the three contenders, which also include Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia, AJ Burnett has gotten thrown in the ringer.

This comes as no shock, because once Javier Vazquez got run out-of-town, Burnett has been deemed as the latest A-rod among pitchers in Yankee Universe; as God forbid Yankee fans don’t have someone to complain and heckle endlessly about.

Admittedly, I am still in the midst of being just as engrossed with this topic for already longer than I would have liked, but something’s you just can’t help.

What I can do is shut my mouth, and let other baseball bloggers do the talking.

So after countless hours of scouring the blogosphere, I have compiled a list of my 10 must-read posts about Burnett and the over-crowding of the Yankee rotation.

Click on article titles to be redirected to original author’s post website; and that this list is in random order.

Enjoy!

For Those Who Dissent, Our Fifth Starter Should Be AJ Burnett

Michael Eder, The Yankee Analysts

Dayton Moore, Get Brian Cashman on the Phone. Trade Soria for Burnett and Hughes.

Jeff Zimmerman, Royals Review Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Baseball Blogs Hottest Topic’ »

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New York Yankees: AJ Burnett Expects To Start And I Do Too

Posted by on 28 January 2012, 2:16 am
The hottest topic in Yankee Universe at the moment is who should win the fifth spot in the starting pitching rotation between Phil Hughes, AJ Burnett and Freddy Garcia.

So, over the last week I have read and heard many opinions on the topic from bloggers to analysts to the manager at my local Starbucks.

The most annoying trend is the immediate discounting of Burnett, as entitled Yankee fans have branded him as the pitcher’s A-rod.

Personally, I like both A-rod and Burnett because they work hard and when they are on, they are great. But getting into that discussion is for another time.

The point is that no matter what happens in Spring Training, Burnett deserves the fifth spot in the rotation. This has nothing to do with money because it is not like I am writing the paychecks.

The reason is Burnett has earned it, and here are three reasons why:

  1. Since signing with the Yankees, Burnett has been totally healthy making all 33 starts each season. This is not the case with Hughes as he has spent more time on the DL with multiple injuries than the mound; and Garcia had that kitchen knife accident last season, and was sidelined for most of August.
  2. If you look closely, four of Burnett’s 11 losses in 2011 were due to the Yankee hitters only scoring 0-2 runs because he posted an ERA of 3.00, gave up just four homers and maintained a WHIP of 1.00. Compared to 14 of 18 of Hughes wins from 2010 came on days when the Yankee bats scored 6+ runs. Hughes won ZERO games when the bats scored 0-2 runs, had just 3 wins were when the team scored 3-5 runs and one win he got coming out of the bullpen.
  3. If any player is going to step it up, especially in New York, it should be in the month of October. Burnett stepped it up BIG TIME last season to keep the Yankees in the playoffs.

Now I kept this list short by choosing three points that covered a lot of ground. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: AJ Burnett Expects To Start And I Do Too’ »

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New York Yankees: Fifth Starter Competition Looks To Be A Dogfight

Posted by on 27 January 2012, 3:16 am

A. J. Burnett

New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman took the words “Pitching is a priority,” right out of ex-Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks mouth this off-season.

Cashman has left skipper Joe Girardi and Co. with a tough decision to make come Spring Training, as seven starting pitchers cannot fit into five spots.

The situation is as follows, CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova look to be the locks to start the 2012 season, pending no extenuating circumstances say otherwise.

This leaves AJ Burnett, Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes all fighting for the one remaining spot left in the starting rotation.

So, the question is who should be the Yankees fifth starter out of the above three?

Ok…. before you all unleash on me, please note that I based purely on who out of the three would be the most effectively to start the 2012 season in the rotation.

So, I decided to use a process of elimination to see who looks best on paper. It was the only legit option for now, as no one knows who shows up in what shape yet etc.

First, I looked at Burnett, Garcia and Hughes basic stats for the first-half of 2011. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Fifth Starter Competition Looks To Be A Dogfight’ »

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