Report: Yankees Open To A.J. Burnett Trade, Find No Takers
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- A.J. Burnett, anyone?
Anyone?
According to the New York Post, the Yankees have let teams know that they are ready to listen to trade offers for the embattled starter. They're even reportedly willing to kick in $8 million of the $33 million he's owed over the next two seasons.
But so far, reported the paper, the Yankees "haven't gotten a nibble."
New York general manager Brian Cashman let it slip last month that Burnett would be in the rotation "if he's with us." The comment made headlines and Cashman then backtracked a bit, telling the New York Daily News, "I won't be shopping anybody."
While not a model of consistency on the mound, the right-hander has proven to be a horse. Since signing with the Yankees prior to the 2009 season, Burnett has started in 33 ('09), 33 (2010) and 32 games (2011). He pitched 207 innings his first year, 186.2 the next and 190.1 this past season.
"It would be hard for me to move him, because we need the innings," Cashman told the Daily News in November. "Subtracting from the rotation puts even more pressure on us to add to it."
The Yankees signed Burnett during the winter of '08, along with CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira. All three came with hefty contracts, and Cashman said Tuesday that has something to do with the Bombers' inactivity during this year's winter meetings.
"It was kind of like our 2010 and 2011 winter meetings combined," he said. "We're still living of a lot of the decisions that we made that winter."
Cashman & Co. may not stay quiet for long. Multiple reports link the Yankees with A's pitcher Gio Gonzalez and White Sox starter John Danks, though according to the Newark Star-Ledger, the team's interest has been "overblown."
Yankees fans: Which would you rather see, A.J. Burnett traded away or Gio Gonzalez in pinstripes? Sound off in the comments below...
