Cash Gets His Other Man

The Yanks have added AJ Burnett to the roster on a 5 year 82.5M deal. All along, I've been calling this a gamble on greatness. Well, they were in Vegas so why not gamble. Burnett's career has been plagued by health and inconsistency, but he was one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2008, and the Yanks must be hoping that he's finally maturing. There is some evidence that he is: first, the Blue Jays, who had him were really trying to re-sign him till their Canadian currency devalued; second, the other team that wanted him as badly as the Yankees was the Braves, and they know a thing or two about pitching. There are some who believe that Burnett will turn out a big like Schilling - great arm who was hurt/inconsistent till his 30's when he became a great pitcher. If it works out that way, the Yanks will have gotten a cheap ace. If he stays injury prone and inconsistent, they will have gotten an expensive Pavano. I tend to think he'll be good in the regular season and very good in the post season. If he flops, we can always put his electric arm in the bullpen. Go Yanks.