Cook: In Leyland’s opinion, A.J. Burnett is a superior talent

As his 6.63 ERA against the Tigers proves…

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.

...If Burnett has any remorse about leaving the win-at-all-costs Yankees to join the hope-to-win-as-cheaply-as-possible Pirates, he didn’t show it Monday. He said he wasn’t necessarily looking forward to a fresh start after two lousy seasons with the Yankees. “I was more prepared this winter to prove a lot of people wrong.” Then, he said a fresh start isn’t such a bad thing. “I’m here for a reason.”

To win a lot of games, presumably.

I liked hearing that.

“I’m no Cy Young. I’m no All-Star—yet,” Burnett told 93.7 The Fan. “Let’s put a ‘yet’ behind that.”