A. J. to Pittsburgh?

[Frayed Knot]

Buster Olney sez that "the Pirates and Yankees have a framework of a possible A.J. Burnett deal in place, and they are now working through conditions of that framework"

Beyond that he doesn't even appear to speculate about what body(s) would be coming back other than to say that how much of Burnett's salary would be eaten by each club is going to have something to do with things.
Burnett is owed $16.5 mil for each of the next two seasons and has a limited no-trade clause.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

At one point the MFYs were looking to get Garrett Jones, not sure if that;'d been shot down yet.

If the Bucs need starting pitching I'd like to interest them in Johan Santana.

[metirish]

Some tweets suggest that a long with Jones the Pirates would need to throw in $10 million of that $33.......that to me still sounds a little rich for the Pirates...2y/$23


could surely get better value for that money?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Wait... wouldn't the MFYs be chipping in money to get something for Burnett?

[MFS62]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Wait... wouldn't the MFYs be chipping in money to get something for Burnett?

I hope the Pirate GM realizes how much the MFYs want to get rid of Burnett and he gets them to kick in $43 million of the $33 million due on his contract.

Later

[Guest attgig]

metirish wrote: Some tweets suggest that a long with Jones the Pirates would need to throw in $10 million of that $33.......that to me still sounds a little rich for the Pirates...2y/$23 could surely get better value for that money?

from what I read, the pirates would pay him 10 mil, and the yankees would cover the rest. I've actually read somewhere between 10-12 mil.

meaning, for the pirates, they'd get their #2/#3 starter for 5-6 mil a year for the next two years while giving up Jones (or someone else).

[Gwreck]

Sounds like the Pirates have the leverage here, particularly if they are giving anything more than a few sacks of baseballs in return.

I don't see why they would want to pay $5-6M a year for Burnett's services. I think he's worth maybe $3 M a year.

[Guest attgig]

I think 1 WAR is worth 4-5 million dollars.

AJ had 3 straight years of 2-3 war, then had a negative war in 2010, and 1.1 war in 2011. his peripheral stats indicate last year's expected performance should've been better than it actually was.

if he returns to ~2WAR, he would be worth 9-10 mil.

[Gwreck]

The problem I see with your analysis is that 1 WAR is not necessarily worth $4-5M to the Pirates.

If they were expecting to compete for the division title (or even a wild-card spot), that 1 WAR might indeed be worth the money. But in their position, I doubt it.

[metirish]

War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
A.J. Burnett
What is he good for
Absolutely nothing
War and Burnett is something that I despise
Huh

[Edgy MD]

I wouldn't short-sell the Pirates so.

[Guest attgig]

Gwreck wrote: The problem I see with your analysis is that 1 WAR is not necessarily worth $4-5M to the Pirates. If they were expecting to compete for the division title (or even a wild-card spot), that 1 WAR might indeed be worth the money. But in their position, I doubt it.

that is true. I see this as a guy who'll help younger guys on the club and can be good trade bait at the trading deadline next year if he returns to form.

and the new numbers are the pirates taking 13-15 mil of the contract (6.5-7.5) for 2 fringe prospects. seems like it's getting to rich for the pirates.

[Vic Sage]

the pirates have some good young players in Neil Walker, McCutcheon and Tabata, and some high-upside youngsters in Alvarez and Presley, and a few good starters in Correia, Karstens and McDonald, with Hanrahan a stud in the pen. While i would agree that they're not a 1 WAR pitcher away from a division title, if they get a mediocre starter who can give them innings for $5/yr-$6m/yr (for only 2 years), without giving up significant prospects, its not a bad deal for them. And I think the Central division is weaker and vulnerable to an upstart team. They missed out on a few SPs in the FA market, and they need an arm they can count on, so trade may be the only way for a team located in Pittsburgh, PA to get one.

[Guest attgig]

yup, they got rejected by Edwin Jackson even though they were offering a decent contract. he didn't want no part of the pirates. pretty sad.

[Guest attgig]

finally done. 5 mil in 2012 and 8.5 in 2013.

the return is reliever Diego Moreno and OF Exicardo Coyones.

don't know anything about those two, but money wise... it probably is right around where it should have been where it comes out close to even. Plus, if AJ does return to form, Pirates could probably trade him in 2013 for prospects and only eating a portion of the larger annual salary.

[Frayed Knot]

attgig wrote: finally done. 5 mil in 2012 and 8.5 in 2013. the return is reliever Diego Moreno and OF Exicardo Coyones. don't know anything about those two, but money wise... it probably is right around where it should have been where it comes out close to even. Plus, if AJ does return to form, Pirates could probably trade him in 2013 for prospects and only eating a portion of the larger annual salary.

- So are those figures what the Yanx are going to eat of the $33 he's owed over the next two season or what the Pirates are going to pay?

- Sickels doesn't mention either player in his recent overview of Pitt Prospects, and his list goes out to 30+ guys so we're talking minor prospects here (BP's Pitt Top 20 didn't mention either guy either)

What it sounds like happened is that the Yanx desperately wanted to get rid of AJ prior to the formal start of ST next week, especially now that the rumors of them wanting to dump him were out there. So they gave up on trying to get higher prospects in hopes of eating less money which in turn gives them more payroll flexibility (yes, even they are watching their pennies) to sign a lefty DH. One story said that whichever of Damon or Ibanez agreed to sign for less would get the job.

[Guest attgig]

that's how much the pirates are paying AJ.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Frayed Knot wrote: So they gave up on trying to get higher prospects in hopes of eating less money which in turn gives them more payroll flexibility (yes, even they are watching their pennies) to sign a lefty DH. One story said that whichever of Damon or Ibanez agreed to sign for less would get the job.

That makes sense, but... well... if it's true, it's a little more than a little unseemly.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

That was the Steve Phillips game, except instead of two lefty pinch hitters it was three shitty relievers.

[Frayed Knot]

So they gave up on trying to get higher prospects in hopes of eating less money which in turn gives them more payroll flexibility (yes, even they are watching their pennies) to sign a lefty DH. One story said that whichever of Damon or Ibanez agreed to sign for less would get the job. That makes sense, but... well... if it's true, it's a little more than a little unseemly.

Well I guess they figure that one aging but still decent LH bat attached to a rag-arm who should have his glove confiscated at the border is just as good as the other so why overpay?
After all, this is a part-time DH slot we're talking about here.



Sickels take on the prospects, both Venezuelans:

Exicardo Cayones, OF:
Cayones is 20 years old - LH hitter and thrower,
His career got off to a good start in the Venezuelan Summer League in 2009 with a .302/.396/.424 mark, but he hit just .263/.369/.362 after moving up to the Gulf Coast League in 2010. A disastrous 2-for-32 beginning in the 2011 New York-Penn League sent him back to the Gulf Coast League, where he hit .293/.389/.427. Cayones has a keen eye and has posted solid OBPs, but he hasn't produced much power and doesn't run well enough to play center field. He is a marginal prospect at this point.

Diego Moreno, RHP:
Signed as a free agent in 2006, he turns 26 in July.
Moreno throws very hard, hitting 98 MPH on his best days and consistently in the 94-95 range. He also has a good slider and is frequently overpowering, posting consistently strong K/IP ratios. He fanned 45 in 45 innings last year between High-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona, and he posted a terrific 69/8 K/BB in just 46 innings at those two levels in 2010. However, the results sometime seem less than the sum of the parts, he hasn't been consistently effective in Double-A, and his makeup has been questioned. He profiles as a middle reliever if he can put everything together, and his component ratios imply that he has sleeper potential. His arm strength makes him worth a flyer.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

So, how does this work? Do Rauuuuul and Damon submit, like, contractor bids?

[Frayed Knot]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: So, how does this work? Do Rauuuuul and Damon submit, like, contractor bids?

Personally, I'd think a steel-cage death match would be like real cool.
But, however they did it, the winner is Ibanez. 1 year, $1.1mil

[Frayed Knot]

Bunting a ball off your face and needing surgery to fix your orbital bone is not a great way to introduce yourself to your new team, A.J.
Sounds like Pitt needs to rethink the opening day starter thing.

[metirish]

Frayed Knot wrote: Bunting a ball off your face and needing surgery to fix your orbital bone is not a great way to introduce yourself to your new team, A.J. Sounds like Pitt needs to rethink the opening day starter thing.

wow, this blogger on yahoo thinks the NL should use the DH to stop things like this....no fucking way

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/j-burnett-fractured-face-still-ok-nl-used-183054621.html

video

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/28320/video-a-j-bunts-ball-off-face

[Edgy MD]

That sample size of one will do you in every time.

Burnett, to his credit, actually introduced himself by starting a college fund for Daniel McCutchen's not-yet-born daughter in exchange for number 34.

[Frayed Knot]

metirish wrote: Bunting a ball off your face and needing surgery to fix your orbital bone is not a great way to introduce yourself to your new team, A.J. Sounds like Pitt needs to rethink the opening day starter thing. wow, this blogger on yahoo thinks the NL should use the DH to stop things like this....no fucking way http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/j-burnett-fractured-face-still-ok-nl-used-183054621.html video http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/28320/video-a-j-bunts-ball-off-face

Is that blogger's name Hank Steinbrenner by any chance?
Remember he wanted to instantly mandate the DH in both leagues after CM Wang hurt his foot running the bases in an inter-league game a couple years back.

[metsmarathon]

howsabout instead of instituting the dh in both leagues, why don't pitchers learn how to fucking hit, and dh's learn how to not be fatasses. howsabout that.

[Edgy MD]

Not much of a blog if they don't allow responses.