Say No To A.J.

According to SI's Jon Heyman, the Yankees are going to make an offer to A.J. Burnett in the very near future, likely topping Atlanta's offer, which was 4 years/$60 million with a vesting option.

I'm really starting to wonder what to believe. This means the Yankees will reportedly have offers out to Burnett, Sheets, and Sabathia. There's also reported interest in Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez. That's a lot of starters. I understand hedging your bets but it seems like a lot. It makes me wonder if all of these reports are true, or if they're just drummed up to sell papers and get a few web hits.

For the purpose of this post, let's pretend that the Yankees will in fact trump the Braves' offer. I really hope the Yankees stay away from Burnett at the rumored terms. 5 years and $15 million-plus for an oft-injured pitcher who only seems to nut up and get in 200 innings when a new contract is on the line seems like way too much. As I've stated several times here, I'd rather see the Yanks explore other avenues first. They definitely need to upgrade the rotation and land a few pitchers. Burnett makes less sense to me than Sheets and even Oliver Perez. I think those guys could be had at much more favorable terms and would put up similar, if not better, numbers than Burnett.

Not being in Vegas and privy to the Yankees internal discussions, it's hard for anyone to say what's really going on. Who really knows what the Yanks got cooking and if the names we're hearing are even interested in donning the pinstripes? It's sure fun to talk about though.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie