Burnett To Yankees…Now What?

Written by Jonathan on December 12, 2008 – 8:03 pm

It seems that Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman and the Yankees have it out for the Braves this offseason.  As part of their $243.5 million thus-far shopping spree, the Yankees have now added AJ Burnett to their rotation, just shortly after signing CC Sabathia.  Burnett and the Yankees agreed to terms on a five-year, $82.5 million offer, pending a physical and some other small terms.

The real question is, where does this leave the Braves in the pursuit to find pitching this offseason.  So far, extended discussions for a trade with the Padres for Jake Peavy have not panned out.  Then the Yankees outbid us for the services of Burnett.  So what do we do about an ace at this point?  I can’t even begin to figure out what the 2009 rotation looks like at this point in time.

It appears the next logical pursuit for Frank Wren would be Derek Lowe.  But wait, the Yankees have apparently moved on to pursue Lowe now as well.  Maybe I’m the only one that thinks the Yankees just have too much money to throw at players…..actually, no I’m not.  Everyone that’s not a Yankees fan thinks that.

I was planning on using this evening to put together a recap post about Winter Meetings but I think this news story pretty much sums it up.  The Braves need starting pitching….badly….the end.  So where do we go from here, Braves fans?  Things are starting to look a little grim on the 2009 front and it’s still December.


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Braves Extend 5 Year, $80M Offer to Burnett….Or Not

Written by Colin on December 10, 2008 – 5:06 pm

C.C. Sabathia’s 7 year, $160M deal with the Yankees puts the focus of the free agent arms race squarely on A.J. Burnett, who was expected to make his decision after Sabathia signed. The Braves offer now has 5 years and $80 million tied to it. When told of it, Braves.com quotes “one prominent Braves player” as saying “Let’s see the Yankees top that.”

The concern is that they might. The Yankees aren’t happy with landing Sabathia. Rumor has it they also want to sign Burnett, Lowe, Sheets, Teixeira, LeBron James, The Olsen Twins, and Darth Vader. I hate the Yankees, and if they steal Burnett out from under us, I’m going to be PISSED. Absolutely livid. We need Burnett – we have to have an ace to anchor the rotation, and even though it’s a large bet on Burnett, we have to make it or we’ll flounder all season.

Also, Boston papers think Smoltz is looking at the Mets and Red Sox, among others. I just laughed when I read it. He’ll end up here, and he’ll retire as a Brave, or I’ll redirect BravesBlast.com to WTFWereYouThinkingFrankWren.com. And that’s a promise.

C’mon Burnett, sign the paper already.

UPDATE: According to Mark Bowman, the Braves have in fact not yet offered Burnett a guaranteed 5-year contract.  We’ll wait to hear more.


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Posted in Speculation | 4 Comments »

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