Get Me Houston On The Line
The Yankees need to swallow the harsh truth, AJ Burnett is a bust. They made a huge mistake when they gave him a fat contract, but that money is now a sunk cost. They are going to pay AJ $37 million or so over the next 2-1/4 seasons no matter what. And despite what Brian Cashman claims, that money is the only reason AJ is still a Yankee. If he was in the last season of his contract or didn't make so much money, the Yankees would cut him at this point.
It's not just the bad performance with AJ, it's the attitude. Did he show up his manager last night? Certainly looked like it to me on TV. Is his manager sick of AJ? Check out this video of the postgame press conference. Jack Curry is asking the questions that set Girardi off. Curry used to write for the New York Times and now does analysis for YES. He is a very level-headed and respected member of the press and I for one am shocked that Girardi jumped on him, but I think it was a sign of his frustration with the AJ situation. Joe has to keep handing him the ball because of the contract. If you gave him truth serum, he would admit to wanting to do something different. And that's what the Yankees have to do at this point. They need to get AJ to go away and the best fit in my mind is with Houston.
The Astros are trying to get rid of Wandy Rodriguez because Rodriguez is going to make at least $25.5 million over the next three seasons. (He has a $13 million option for 2014 that becomes a player option if he is traded) Add in that option and Rodriguez is going to make approximately $36 million or so. Wouldn't it make sense from a Yankee standpoint to see if the Astros would be willing to take AJ Burnett and cash in exchange for Wandy Rodriguez? Rodriguez has a 3.31 ERA, albeit in the NL and is a lefty. It's hard to imagine that he could be worse than AJ, even with the transition to the AL and there is a chance he is significantly better. If Houston is looking for salary relief, the Yankees can certainly provide it. Offer to pay half of AJ's remaining salary and throw in a middle of the road prospect. Houston gets a pitcher who could be better in the NL and they remove $16 million in liabilities from their payroll going forward. The Yankees spend more money, but remember that $37 million is already spent. Even if they gave Houston $16 million they would be removing AJ from the team and only adding around $5 million to the payroll from 2012-2014.
If the Yankees don't manage to trade him, they are going to have to demote him to the bullpen after next Saturday's doubleheader. Nova and Hughes are clearly better than him right now and there is simply no way AJ deserves to start over either of them. But demoting him to the bullpen will make a bad situation worse. The Yankees have about a week to solve their AJ problem. Let's see if Brian Cashman can fix it.
Comments
Peter,
I like your suggestion. The AJ situation is pretty much untenable right now. AJ needs to get out of NY, sway from the white hot glare of the media, and Houston might be as good a fit as any -- lower expectations, less scrutiny, weaker hitting, DH-less league. Sending AJ to the bullpen here is not going to fix this.
Posted by: Greg | August 21, 2011 01:58 PM |
Guys? Looking at the whole picture, I can believe the story that both Girardi and AJ (and Martin) are relating about "the incident at the mound" - so that is not what's bothering me at this point.
What IS bothering me is that the guy is a two pitch pitcher, both of them nasty, but neither pitch is consistently contollable. Not even a 2 x 4 would do the trick at this point. He also doesn't seem to have a third pitch that he's willing to develop. Also, I would LOVE to see him drop 2 mph off his fastball if it meant he could locate it.
Wandy plus cash - OK, I can see that - anything but having to watch this guy run out there every fifth day. No more - please no more.
Posted by: Mitchell![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://yankeesredsox.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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August 21, 2011 06:21 PM
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The Twins are not hitting right now, and because of injuries, a number of Triple A batters were in the line-up. Because of this, as well as A.J.'s past record against the Twins, I was convinced that he would have a good game. Giving up 7 runs to the Twins in less than 2 innings shows how much he had deteriorated.
I have two suggestions. First, A.J. is not entitled to any benefit of the doubt. He should not be given the chance to pitch his way out of trouble even in the first inning. It was obvious from the beginning of the game that he did not have control. Just pull him.
Second, he should not be in the rotation at all. Put him in the bullpen and make him re-discover his stuff the way Hughes did in 2009.
Posted by: corey | August 22, 2011 10:35 AM |