The Pirates would be insane to pay Burnett more than $8-10 million per year for the next two years.

Shouldn't the numbers in this sentence be smaller than $8-10?

Overpaying in $$ to get Burnett makes some sense for the Pirates since they have payroll room are unable to sign free agents.

At what point is the salary dump for the Yanks worth the room for another player? If they're paying him to pitch someplace else it doesn't help the bottom line much. How much money are you allowed to include in a deal?

Shouldn't the numbers in this sentence be smaller than $8-10?

For it to actually be a good idea, yeah, though the threshold for being "not insane" is presumably a bit lower than that.

I'd also be willing to take on more of Burnett's deal if the Yankees included some prospects with Burnett, at whatever the market rate for such things is. That might be a reasonable workaround, if Bud wasn't willing to sign off on $20M+ being included in a deal.

Well, he's better than Matt Morris.

At what point is the salary dump for the Yanks worth the room for another player? If they're paying him to pitch someplace else it doesn't help the bottom line much. How much money are you allowed to include in a deal?

Ah, hell, let's just get the thread de-rail over with...

Why should the Yankees give those blood-seeking bottom-feeders even more of Steinbrenner's money? Let them use that sweet revenue-sharing money to overpay their own busted pitcher. [/Yankee Redneck]

For it to actually be a good idea, yeah, though the threshold for being "not insane" is presumably a bit lower than that.

Haha true.

Would some team out there take him for 2 years at $5 million per year? more?

Would some team out there take him for 2 years at $5 million per year? more?

This gets to why I think it's usually a lousy idea for a team with a big money player to pay another team to take him. If you're the Yankees who is more likely to contribute in 2012; Yamaico Navarro or A.J. Burnett? If I'm the Bombers I tell the Pirates they can pay Burnett full freight and they don't have to give me anything in return or I'll pay Burnett but you're giving me a productive player. I'm not going to effectively pay $10 million for the privelege of having Yamaico Navarro cooling his heels in Scranton.

Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying I'm making either of those deals if I'm the Pirates either. I just don't think it's good practice for a contender to give away pieces that are going to potentially be useful.

Why should the Yankees give those blood-seeking bottom-feeders even more of Steinbrenner's money? Let them use that sweet revenue-sharing money to overpay their own busted pitcher.

Eat #### and die (/Vlad).

I'm not going to effectively pay $10 million for the privelege of having Yamaico Navarro cooling his heels in Scranton.

What if the other choice is paying $16 million a year for 5.00 ERA in spot starts and long-relief?

This gets to why I think it's usually a lousy idea for a team with a big money player to pay another team to take him. If you're the Yankees who is more likely to contribute in 2012; Yamaico Navarro or A.J. Burnett? If I'm the Bombers I tell the Pirates they can pay Burnett full freight and they don't have to give me anything in return or I'll pay Burnett but you're giving me a productive player. I'm not going to effectively pay $10 million for the privelege of having Yamaico Navarro cooling his heels in Scranton.

Well the comparison isn't Burnett vs. the scrub the Pirates send back. It's Burnett vs. the scrub, plus whomever they use the ~$5M they free up to sign.

I mean, if they needed another SP (they don't) and they could trade Burnett for $5M in salary relief and sign Oswalt for $6M, everybody would say that's a good deal.

Would some team out there take him for 2 years at $5 million per year? more?

2/10, prior to blowing 3.5m on Jon Rauch, would have made sense for the Mets. Burnett won't turn them into contenders, but it's only going to take a couple of injuries to their pitching staff and the Mets will struggle to win 65 games. I suppose whether two years makes sense depends on whether you think Burnett will block any of the Mets' minor leaguers. Getting him would make Niese tradeable, and Niese is about the only chit the Mets have left if they're looking to pick up a couple of prospects that might help them when they're ready to be good again.

What if the other choice is paying $16 million a year for 5.00 ERA in spot starts and long-relief?

I think a 5.00 ERA in spot starts/long relief could still have value (as we as Sox fans can attest too, that would've be Cy Freakin' Young in September) as well as the non-zero chance that Burnett will be a good bit better than that. If both players are replacement level I'll take what I see as AJ's upside over a Navarro-type's upside.

It's Burnett vs. the scrub, plus whomever they use the ~$5M they free up to sign.

That's a fair point. I generally assume teams like the Yankees, Sox, Phillies are not doing much with that type of savings though this off-season gives some lie to that idea.

Eat #### and die (/Vlad).

That's my boy!

Would some team out there take him for 2 years at $5 million per year? more?

Seems plausible. 2 years and $8M (plus incentives) is what the Pirates gave Kevin Correia last offseason, and regardless of what you think of Burnett, he's better than Correia.

Why should the Yankees give those blood-seeking bottom-feeders even more of Steinbrenner's money? Let them use that sweet revenue-sharing money to overpay their own busted pitcher. [/Yankee Redneck]

You forgot to work 'Bolshevik Bud' into your rant.

Eat #### and die (/Vlad).

In a fire, damnit! How many times does he have to tell you?

Supposedly the Yankees are asking for Garrett Jones in return for Burnett. Heh.

Not that Jones is a great player, but he's a hell of a lot more useful as a platoon bat than Burnett is at this point.

The Pirates would be insane to pay Burnett more than $8-10 million per year for the next two years.

FTFY

Is Burnett so broken he couldn't contribute as a middle reliever? Not that that makes his remaining contract palatable.

Burnett doesn't throw enough strikes to be the sort of guy you want coming out the pen. OTOH, facing pitchers instead of DHs and pitching in a park that doesn't turn infield flies into HRs, he's a pretty good bet to be better than most of what the Pirates can run out there as starters. Pittsburgh is spending $4.5M to take a flyer on Erik Bedard. Burnett's probably a safer bet than that.

Pittsburgh is spending $4.5M to take a flyer on Erik Bedard. Burnett's probably a safer bet than that.

I don't think so. Bedard has actually been a good pitcher in the recent past, even broken down, he's still better than Burnett.