I don't see why the Yankees need to rush Burnett off. If I were them I would make Burnett my long man/emergency starter and just wait for an injury. A sixth starter should be expected to get some work.

On top of that I would put Hughes in the bullpen. He was very good out there in 2009 and he has looked considerably better in that role than as a starter. Grooming him as Mariano's replacement wouldn't be the worst move in the world given that they seem to have some depth in the rotation with CC, Pineda and Nova plus some of the minors. That would leave;

Sabathia-Nova-Pineda-Kuroda-Garcia in the rotation with Hughes and Burnett joining an already very good bullpen and Burnett ready to take the ball if someone goes down looks both very good and like a decent use of resources. I don't see any benefit from either paying Burnett to play for another team or trading him for Vernon Wells/Alfonso Soriano.

I don't see why the Yankees need to rush Burnett off.

They also have at least four very good to decent SP prospects in AAA, beyond those seven pitchers that project better. He is just completely redundant to the Yankees.

I wouldn't trade Burnett for Wells or Soriano, but if you could flip him for Carlos Lee or Jason Bay it makes a ton of sense. Or just get $10M in salary relief over the next 2 years.

I wouldn't trade Burnett for Wells or Soriano, but if you could flip him for Carlos Lee or Jason Bay it makes a ton of sense. Or just get $10M in salary relief over the next 2 years.

Trading him for Jason Bay makes some sense for both teams and will save the Mets $2M over the next two years(Burnett makes 500K per year more, but Bay has a $3M option for 2014 assuming he doesn't vest).

Maybe I'm missing something about Bay, but what role would he fill for the Yanks? They have Andruw Jones to be the righty bat for the DH platoon and the 4th outfielder.

I don't see why the Yankees need to rush Burnett off. If I were them I would make Burnett my long man/emergency starter

Definitly. His OPS against in innings 1-3 was .706. and a 3.99 ERA. I'd take him on the Sox if the Yanks paid 1/2 his salary. He still has 'stuff', whereas Lackey pretty much never did last year.

Maybe I'm missing something about Bay, but what role would he fill for the Yanks? They have Andruw Jones to be the righty bat for the DH platoon and the 4th outfielder.

The role he'd fill would be "not on the Mets".

That seems like an awful projection for Kuroda, especially relative to Garcia and Hughes.

Did the Yanks sign Myers too?

EDIT: nevermind, Brad Myers not Brett Myers

On top of that I would put Hughes in the bullpen. He was very good out there in 2009 and he has looked considerably better in that role than as a starter. Grooming him as Mariano's replacement wouldn't be the worst move in the world...

I would give Hughes at least another year as a starter before making him a reliever. They can groom Robertson as Mariano's replacement...

I would give Hughes at least another year as a starter before making him a reliever. They can groom Robertson as Mariano's replacement...

Concur.

Maybe I'm missing something about Bay, but what role would he fill for the Yanks? They have Andruw Jones to be the righty bat for the DH platoon and the 4th outfielder.

A DH that might rebound. If you want to get Jones some time in the OF, it will be vs. LHP.

When Bay was good, he could hit both RH and LH. If he bounces back, he plays almost every day.

Basically they'd just be trading a problem they have no spot for for a problem they have room for.

I don't see any benefit from either paying Burnett to play for another team

The benefit would to the Yankees would be all the games that other team would lose. By all means, let the Red Sox have him.

When Bay was good, he could hit both RH and LH. If he bounces back, he plays almost every day.

If he bounces back and plays everyday, then there is a good chance his $17M 2014 contract vests (instead of the $3M buyout).

If he bounces back and plays everyday, then there is a good chance his $17M 2014 contract vests (instead of the $3M buyout).

That would require 600 PAs in 2013 or 500 in both 2012 and 2013.

Pretty sure the Yankees could avoid that quite easily. They've got a built in excuse that ARod needs 40+ G's at DH, and 4 OF better defensively than Bay.

A sixth starter should be expected to get some work.

The problem is that Burnett is more of an eighth starter. I'm also interested to see what Meyers and Cesar Cabral might do in MLB, but keeping them on the 25 man roster all year will be harder if Burnett's around.

Maybe I'm missing something about Bay, but what role would he fill for the Yanks? They have Andruw Jones to be the righty bat for the DH platoon and the 4th outfielder.

Like snapper says, they can use Bay as the primary DH and use Jones in the OF vs. LHP. Added offensive depth too. The Yankees could probably get by without a dedicated DH if they stay healthy all year, but the odds of that happening are infinitesimal and they really don't have anyone in the minors who could step in if they need a bat.

That seems like an awful projection for Kuroda, especially relative to Garcia and Hughes.

For whatever reason, Kuroda gives up a lot more unearned runs than the average pitcher (about 14% compared to 8%). Over the last four years Garcia's at 5% and Hughes is at 2%.

Kuroda's projected ERA based on his peripherals is 4.01, but the RA is based on a weighted average of his R/ER ratio over the last four years. It may just be a quirk and not very predictive, but that's why the RA seems high.

I'd take him on the Sox if the Yanks paid 1/2 his salary. He still has 'stuff', whereas Lackey pretty much never did last year.

For now. His fastball velocity has dropped a mile and a half per hour since he came to the Yanks (94.2 to 92.7). His curve doesn't fool many people these days, in part because he can't locate it, but I don't think its as good as it used to be. He did record a lot of swinging strikes last year though, so that's something.

If the Sox were willing to take him for half of his salary, the Yanks should make that move. Burnett can be a reverse Mike Myers, who was in turn a reverse Ramiro Mendoza.

That seems like an awful projection for Kuroda, especially relative to Garcia and Hughes.

Dodger Stadium to [new] Yankee Stadium

2011 ERA+
Kuroda 121
Hughes 77
Garcia 122

2010 ERA+
Kuroda 114
Hughes 103
Garcia 92

even so I think you are right
plus Meyer's projection seems irrationally exuberant and Nova's is really pessimistic
ZiPS projections for these guys are a bit different

Burnett had his moments but somehow "bad AJ" showed up all too often even when he looked good at the start of the game. Somewhere there's probably a pitching coach that thinks he can fix Burnett, so there probably will be a deal available at some point if the Yanks want to pay enough to move him.

AJ Burnett ($33 million owed) for Alex Rios ($39.5 million owed) and $6.5 million. Would either Cashman or Williams say no?

AJ Burnett ($33 million owed) for Alex Rios ($39.5 million owed) and $6.5 million. Would either Cashman or Williams say no?

Cashman.

Rios is even more redundant to the Yankees than Burnett. If he has any value left it's his ability to play CF. The Yanks already have two guys who can do that.

A SP is more tradeable than a CF, more teams need them.

I think the Yankees take Dunn + cash before Rios. At least Dunn has the upside of a plus bat.

Trading him for Jason Bay makes some sense for both teams and will save the Mets $2M over the next two years(Burnett makes 500K per year more, but Bay has a $3M option for 2014 assuming he doesn't vest).

I'd be leery of dumping Burnett for little, especially as little as Jason Bay. Burnett is terrible at his salary, but that's a pointless way to think of him, as we know. Better to think of him as an excellent fifth starter, and the Yankees would hardly be the first team in the world whose seventh starter (I'm just not going to count Brad Meyers as anything like a good bet to be a solid starter this season, especially not for 190 innings) had to pitch 170 innings due to injuries and ineffectiveness ahead of him in the rotation. If you can throw in most or all of his salary and get a real prospect for him, that makes sense. But the Yankees shouldn't be trading players who have some value for guys like Bay, who are both hugely unlikely to do anything for them, and whose likely production they can get anywhere for 1-2m, at most, without giving up anything at all of value.

Garcia was terrific last year. This year? He's 39. I'm not at all certain he'll repeat.
Hughes? He was bad last year, and has yet to post a good full season in the majors.
Meyers? Has yet to appear in the majors.

Burnett might be as low as eighth in your depth chart, but six and seven seven aren't beating him by much, and they both have issues. Teams miss the postseason pretty much every year for want of guys with ERAs around 5.00 in 190 innings. I'm not saying don't trade him. Just don't trade him for Jason F. Bay.

Garcia was terrific last year. This year? He's 39. I'm not at all certain he'll repeat.

Garcia turned 35 in October. Not disagreeing with the point that he won't do what he did last year, but at least get his age right.

Urk. I got my aging retread pitchers backwards. Its Colon who'll be 39 next season. Yeah--I still wouldn't give up Burnett for a bag of balls, but that does dilute my point somewhat.