Deadline Set in A.J. Burnett Deal
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the New York Yankees have set a “soft” deadline to end the A.J. Burnett saga. According to Rosenthal, the Yankees want to have a deal completed by Saturday, as their pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training on Sunday.
The Yankees and Pirates have seemingly been in stare-down mode for the past few days. Reports say the Yankees want the Pirates to pick up north of $13 million of Burnett’s remaining $33 million contract, while the Pirates are standing firm on their $10 million offer. Reports say the Pirates are offering two “blah” prospects as well.
Garrett Jones has been off the table for nearly a week now, and we’ve all been assured nothing significant will be sent the Yankees’ way.
The Pirates are the clear front runners in the attempt to land Burnett if it can be considered a race at all. As of Monday, three additional teams were said to be in on Burnett. Yesterday, we learned that the Cleveland Indians had dropped out of the running. The Los Angeles Angels were another team in on Burnett but are on the righty’s no-trade list. That leaves one potential team competing for Burnett, but that could very well be the egotistical Yankees’ attempt to drive up Burnett’s potential return.
The idea that the Yankees are trying to get another three million dollars out of the Pirates is somewhat ludicrous, considering the respective bank accounts of each club in addition to the fact that the Yankees are more desperate to unload Burnett than the Pirates are to acquire him. Throw in the fact that no other clubs are really being considered a potential landing spot for Burnett and the Yankees really have no leverage.
One would expect the Yankees to accept the Pirates’ offer of two low-grade prospects and $10 million of Burnett’s salary, but stranger things have happened. Let’s just hope Neal Huntington doesn’t cave.
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