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The Yankees have been "quietly, but diligently" trying to trade A.J. Burnett so they can sign a lefthanded-hitting DH. They're not likely to succeed.
Feb 9, 2012 - On December 12, 2008, after two good seasons with the Blue Jays, A.J. Burnett signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the New York Yankees.
The Yankees had just missed the playoffs for the first time in 14 years; one of the perceived reasons was a lack of starting pitching depth. Thirteen different pitchers started games for the '08 Yankees including Kei Igawa, Darrell Rasner, Dan Giese and Ian Kennedy (now that's the guy they should have kept).
The Yankees also signed CC Sabathia that offseason. One out of two ain't bad. Sabathia has been as advertised.
Burnett has been ... bad. He hasn't missed a start due to injury, but the Yankees probably wish he had. He's made 99 appearances (98 starts) for them and posted a 4.79 ERA and in 2011 gave up the second-most home runs by any AL pitcher (31).
So, according to Joel Sherman in the New York Post, the Yankees have been "quietly -- but diligently" trying to trade Burnett.
I'd say the Yankees are quietly panic-stricken. Sherman says the Yankees are trying to clear some payroll space so they can sign a left-handed-hitting DH, mentioning Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Raul Ibanez as possibilities.
The problem, of course, is the $33 million still owed to Burnett. As you might guess, teams are not lining up to take that obligation off the Yankees' hands. Ken Rosenthal writes that the Pirates have had discussions with the Yankees:
The Pirates also have spoken with the Yankees about Burnett, though those conversations failed to progress and perhaps qualified only as due diligence, major-league sources said.
The Pirates have been linked to a number of free-agent starting pitchers this offseason, almost all of whom have rejected them even though in at least one case (Edwin Jackson), the Bucs offered the free agent more years than he eventually got.
All of this tells you how truly desperate the Yankees must be to dump Burnett. Damon, Matsui and Ibanez all had middling-to-bad seasons in 2011 and acquiring any of them would be tantamount to reconstituting the 2004 or 2005 All-Star team, rather than actually getting a hitter who could help them. Damon had the "best" season among the three, but he is 38 and his 2011 was just a bit above league average, a 110 OPS+.
Brian Cashman could call up his new BFF Theo Epstein and bring Alfonso Soriano back to the Yankees, but the Yankees already have a right-handed-hitting DH (Andruw Jones) and are looking for a lefty-hitting partner for him.
At MLB Trade Rumors, Tim Dierkes mentioned some possible fits for Burnett, including the already-mentioned Pirates and the White Sox. The White Sox, though, likely would not want to take on any more contract dollars; presumably, they'd be more than happy to ship the $44 million remaining on Adam Dunn's deal to the Bronx. This could work; it's possible that Dunn is, in fact, done, but on the other hand, he hit .260/.356/.536 with 38 HR and 103 RBI in 2010. If he could return to anything close to that level, he could be a beast in the lefty-hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium.
Again, the issue would be Dunn's contract; Cashman is trying to shed salary, not bring more on board. Taking on $11 million more than they already have in contract obligations wouldn't help the Yankees' luxury tax issue.
Another left-handed hitter whose team would probably love to dump his contract is Aubrey Huff, who regressed significantly in 2011 after his big 2010 for the Giants. He's owed $10 million for this year; San Francisco has a $10 million option ($2 million buyout) for 2013.
So the Giants could pay $12 million or $33 million. That probably makes this, as Grant Brisbee told me, "a pipe dream."
That's pretty much where Brian Cashman and the Yankees stand, pipe-dreaming that they can rid themselves of $33 million worth of A.J. Burnett. That's likely why they signed Russell Branyan; Branyan can hit (.833 lifetime OPS vs. RHP) and he's cheap.
So the answer to the question posed in the headline to this post is: probably nothing. But you can bet Brian Cashman won't be throwing $82 million around casually like this in the future.
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Comments
White Sox Trade
Dunn and Thorton ($61 million over next three years) for AJ and Soriano ($58 million over next two years). Similar value, although more concentrated with the current Yankees players. This gets Sox out of bad contracts one year quicker, with a upgrade in the bullpen. It gives the Yankees a lefty DH who should bounce back, a lefty bullpen arm they need, and actually lowers their payroll for luxury tax purposes by almost $9 million ($29 million AAV for AJ/Soriano vs. $20.33 million AAV for Dunn/Thorton) over the next two years.
by cookiedabookie on Feb 9, 2012 12:39 PM EST reply actions
Not Impossible to Deal
If the Yankees are willing to pay whatever the difference is between Burnett’s contract and the contract for the player coming back to them, then money wouldn’t be an obstacle to a deal. For example, if the Yankees took Huff, they would send the Giants $21 million along with the pitcher. Then, they’d have a lefthanded hitter without adding a single cent to the payroll.
However, I don’t see the trade materializing. The Giants aren’t hungry for another starter, and I doubt the Yankees have much interest in Huff.
Since the Yankees easily can solve the money piece, the question is who wants Burnett? I would think their options largely remain limited to an NL team looking for a back-end starter. Pitchers generally improve in all areas when they cross over to the DHless league, and Burnett still has electric stuff. His control issues wouldn’t be as much of a factor in the NL.
I could understand the Pirates’ interest. They need pitchers who can miss bats. But would the Pirates give up Garret Jones, as rumored, for him? Since they’re unlikely to contend, I’m not sure why they should. And I doubt the Yankees would be interested in any other tradeable Pirates (in other words, nearly every position player not named Andrew McCutchen).
One slightly possible fit: Burnett to the Mets for Jason Bay. Over the next two seasons, Bay is due to make only one million less than Burnett. He has a vesting option for 2014, but he’d have to reach 600 plate appearance in 2013, or 500 PAS in both the 2012 and 2013 seasons to qualify .So if he doesn’t play well, the club can buy out the option for $3 million.
The Mets need another starter, and Burnett’s stuff could play well in that stadium and that division.
I know there’s concern that Bay’s concussion has diminished his skills as a hitter, but I suspect something else is in play. How else would you explain his .279/.367/.445 slash line at Citifield over the last two years? What, his concussion doesn’t bother him when he’s playing home games.
If the Yankees think they cure whatever ails Bay’s bat, this might be there best option.
by RichL on Feb 9, 2012 1:13 PM EST reply actions
that could be why talks with the Pirates failed to progress
There’s no reason for the Pirates to give the Yankees salary relief and an asset back, or at least if they’d need to balance how much of each they want. And Jones is currently the big half of their 1B platoon, so giving him up would just open up another hole in the Pirates’ lineup.
The most likely way I see this getting done is that the Pirates pick up a little more of Burnett’s salary, something like $10M, and they send back a fringy prospect (the kind of guy they gave up for Derek Lee or Yamaico Navarro) or the guy they were going to DFA for Burnett anyway. Burnett just isn’t that much of an asset unless the Yanks pay a whole lot of his salary.
Two more questions: How weird is it that we’re talking about the Yankees trying to dump salary on the Pirates?
Why do the Yankees want Eric Chavez anyway?
Not actually affiliated with whygavs.
by WHYG Zane Smith on Feb 9, 2012 2:04 PM EST up reply actions
The Yankees already have one Soriano that Cashman didn't want
I bet he’s even happier now about that $25M he owes Rafael over this season and next
by J0SER on Feb 9, 2012 1:33 PM EST reply actions
Abreu
Think they could work out something with the Angels for Bobby Abreu?
I wonder if Burnett would actually be more effective pitching in relief.
by chapman_123 on Feb 9, 2012 7:47 PM EST reply actions
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