In Leyland's opinion, Burnett is a superior talent
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There is no one whose opinions I respect more on all matters baseball than Jim Leyland's. He still lives in Pittsburgh after managing the Pirates from 1986-96 and is starting his seventh season with the Detroit Tigers. Naturally, he was the first baseball man I thought to ask about the Pirates' wisdom in trading for New York Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett. He said he liked the deal. That means I like it, too.
"He's a superior talent, there's no question about that," Leyland said of Burnett.
Leyland went on to say Burnett didn't win as many games as he should have won with the Yankees, considering his great stuff. Burnett pitched "total lights out" in some games against the Tigers. "When he's got it going, he can shut you out in a heartbeat," Leyland said. But in other games, Burnett blew leads and lost. He often was hurt by wild pitches and home runs. "You kind of walk away shaking your head because this guy is a special, special talent," Leyland said.
No, Leyland didn't predict a Cy Young Award for Burnett in Pittsburgh. But he did say Burnett was well worth the risk for the Pirates, who will pick up $13 million of the $33 million the Yankees still owe him for the next two seasons and pay him $5 million this season and $8 million next season.
That's good enough for me.
I know, we're talking about the Pirates here. It's hard to get excited about anything they do after their North American professional sports record of consecutive losing seasons hit a mind-numbing 19 in 2011. Take a look at their projected lineup for this season. Where is the home run pop going to come from? It's easy to imagine them losing 90 games again. And, if you really feel like being cynical, it's easy to imagine them dealing Burnett for prospects at the trade deadline this summer, certainly before next season when he's due the bigger portion of his money.
But all of that doesn't mean that this wasn't a great deal for the Pirates. Burnett, even at 35 and with 12-plus seasons of wear and tear on his right arm, still has the potential -- it can be a meaningless word, I know -- of being a solid front-of-the-rotation starter. Certainly, the Pirates weren't going to get one as a free agent. Reports say they offered Edwin Jackson a guaranteed $30 mill over three years, but he turned them down to take $11 million in a one-year deal with the Washington Nationals. They also called three-time All Star Roy Oswalt to inquire about his services. You might imagine how that conversation went.
First Published February 21, 2012 12:00 am
