AJ Burnett to Pittsburgh.

[ilovebeer]

Is he still a good pitcher?

[jerichoholicninja]

In the NL Central and that ballpark he will be decent.

[JohnBriggs12]

In the NL Central and that ballpark he will be decent.

 

I think the division switch is overrated. The Cardinals are defending champions and while they did lose Albert, they added Beltran and they have guys coming into their own too. The Brewers, even without Prince, aren't chopped liver either. And the Reds still have Votto, who with Fielder and Albert gone, is the premier 1B in the NL. He's also certainly not going to have the support offensively he had in NY.

 

Besides Burnett is 35. How much of a rebound can you expect from a guy that age? This isn't the roid era where Clemens got better at that age.

[Oldcity]

He was actually decent last year. He was basically the same pitcher as Ivan Nova, who Yankee fans love. They just hated Burnett because of his salary. This is a pretty nice move for Pittsburgh. Getting out of that division, and especially that stadium, should really help him.

[JohnBriggs12]

He was actually decent last year. He was basically the same pitcher as Ivan Nova, who Yankee fans love. They just hated Burnett because of his salary. This is a pretty nice move for Pittsburgh. Getting out of that division, and especially that stadium, should really help him.

 

He had a higher WHIP than Nova, and a whopping 25 wild pitches. Even though he got a lot less RS than Nova (4.8 to 6.5), keep in mind the Pirates averaged just 3.76 runs. So even if he lowers his ERA a full point, he's likely not to win more than he loses.

 

The Brewers, Reds and Cards will score runs. It won't be a cakewalk in the NL Central. Other than Boston the rest of the AL East wasn't that great offensively.

[RockCoCougars]

Matt Morris II. Why do people help the Yankees out by taking their garbage? Think about it, if the Yankees would rather have a few million of his salary to sign Ibanez and Chavez than have him as a #5 doesn't that say something?

[monty57]

In the NL Central and that ballpark he will be decent.

 

I think the division switch is overrated. The Cardinals are defending champions and while they did lose Albert, they added Beltran and they have guys coming into their own too. The Brewers, even without Prince, aren't chopped liver either. And the Reds still have Votto, who with Fielder and Albert gone, is the premier 1B in the NL. He's also certainly not going to have the support offensively he had in NY.

 

Besides Burnett is 35. How much of a rebound can you expect from a guy that age? This isn't the roid era where Clemens got better at that age.

 

Agreed, but the big change in moving from the AL to the NL is the ability to face a SP instead of a DH.

 

This really comes down to relativity. How does AJ Burnett stack up vs Correia, McDonald, Karstens, Morton and Bedard? If he is better than any of them, then the Pirates have upgraded their team. IIRC, they'll only owe him around $6.5MM per year, so it should be a decent move for them without a whole lot of risk.

[Ennder]

Cardinals won the world series but they weren't one of the best 5 or 6 teams in baseball. This is a much easier division to pitch in than the AL East and it should make a significant difference.

 

For the first time in a while I think the Pirates have a team that could plausibly sniff .500. I think they finish higher than the Cubs and if the Reds/Cards/Brewers have significant injuries it is plausible the Pirates could fight for 3rd place. This is kind of like when the Brewers traded Sexson and just started to make the push for .500 to rebuild the fan base. Give the Pirates another 3 or 4 years and they might be contenders for the division assuming enough of their youth actually does well.

[RockCoCougars]

This really comes down to relativity. How does AJ Burnett stack up vs Correia, McDonald, Karstens, Morton and Bedard? If he is better than any of them, then the Pirates have upgraded their team

 

I'd say that Burnett does not stack up too favorably, considering how much the Pirates have to pay even after the Yankees ate salary. $13 million is nothing to sneeze at for them and they could have used it better in my view. Burnett was absolutely horrible in the second half last season, and the home/road splits do not support the whole 'leaving a hitter's park' thing. Compare this deal to what Florida got Zambrano for. I think that Zambrano may actually pitch well this season, because he's a free agent afterward. The Pirates assumed much more risk and much less upside in my view. They should have waited the Yankees out and demanded them to eat more salary.

[TooLiveBrew]

Burnett is a gas-can at this point, imho. He always walked guys, but now he doesn't have the huge FB velocity to get away with it as much.

 

He's also got to be a pretty big injury risk at this point, too.

[Ennder]

Compare this deal to what Florida got Zambrano for. I think that Zambrano may actually pitch well this season, because he's a free agent afterward. The Pirates assumed much more risk and much less upside in my view. They should have waited the Yankees out and demanded them to eat more salary.

 

I disagree with this, Burnett has way more upside than Zambrano for this year. Zambrano has almost no chance to be league average but Burnett still has league average peripherals, they just haven't translated with the Yankees and there obviously is no guarantee they translate with the Pirates though the park, division, defense and league make it more likely that they do.

[Oldcity]

Burnett had much better peripherals than Morris did when he was traded to Pittsburgh, as well.

[jjkoestler]

"A.J. Burnett was diagnosed with an orbital fracture of his right eye and will undergo surgery Friday in Pittsburgh." per Rotoworld

[fondybrewfan]

I have to imagine an eye fracture will result in a major hit to his peripherals

[TooLiveBrew]

Holy crap, what happened? Did he take a liner off the face?

[jjkoestler]

I read he was injured in a bunting drill. Don't recall the source.

[Yeti73]

He bunted the ball into his face. The highlight was pretty funny until you realize he really hurt himself. Never would've happened had he stayed in the soft AL.

[Ennder]

More fuel for the DH in the NL argument. Good to see more older school baseball guys on TV say it is time to make the move. Might take another 10 years but it will come.

[xisxisxis]

Yeah and designated runners so that DHs don't strain their hamstrings or hurt themselves running the bases and a designated catcher to throw the ball back to the pitcher and to second base so no catcher hurts himself throwing the ball. How about designated bunters so that none of the important players get hurt. Maybe one day we'll just have an offense and a defense (8 men each). Then baseball would look just like the sport you hate, football. Wasn't a problem years ago when all leagues had the pitchers bat. By the time pitchers got to MLB they new what the big toothpick was for, but now.....[whiney]Can someone carry my bat to the plate, I might injure myself.....[/whiney]

[Ennder]

I assume you realize that none of that is anywhere close to the DH. Pitchers don't get enough reps to be expected to hit at the major league level and the fact a dozen or more get hurt every year doing it is going to lead to the DH in the NL eventually, just a matter of time.

[berniebrewer4life]

He bunted the ball into his face. The highlight was pretty funny until you realize he really hurt himself. Never would've happened had he stayed in the soft AL.

 

 

That just made it even funnier for me.

[Nottso]

I could live with the DH in the NL, IF the starting DH was tied to the SP. Each pitching change would also require a DH change (when the pitcher's spot in the order comes up). The pitchers would be protected from the dangers of touching a bat but the strategerie (Yogi-ism) wouldn't be lost.

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah and designated runners so that DHs don't strain their hamstrings or hurt themselves running the bases and a designated catcher to throw the ball back to the pitcher and to second base so no catcher hurts himself throwing the ball. How about designated bunters so that none of the important players get hurt. Maybe one day we'll just have an offense and a defense (8 men each).

 

Clearly the AL is just slow-playing this sinister plot to ruin baseball. Almost there to 40 years since the advent of the DH... now no one will see the d-fielder & d-runner rules coming!

[Oldcity]

I have to imagine an eye fracture will result in a major hit to his peripherals

I assume pun intended here? If so, nicely done.

[RightFieldCoder]

How many hitters get hurt playing the outfield? Or running the bases?