What do we REALLY have in AJ Burnett? In my opinion, the answer to that question is; a ton. A ton of good qualities yes, but you need to understand what they really are in order to appreciate them. On the surface, when you look at the money the Yankees handed him this offseason, you’d expect him him to be 5-1 with an ERA under 3.00. Indeed he’s not, after last night AJ’s numbers stand at 4-2 with a 4.69 ERA. Burnett’s contribution to a winning club is deeper than his record or ERA. On any given night, Burnett can shut down a lineup. He’s a power pitcher and is certainly capable of getting the big strikeout. Having that in your cabinet is a great asset to a winning team. Yes, at times, perhaps too often, he forgets how to pitch and becomes a thrower. Yes, too often his control is nonexistent. But we’ve seen worse the past few seasons. A winning team needs guys with attitude on that mound. By trade AJ is old school in that way as we saw last night when he “accidentally” sailed that fastball over Nelson Cruz’s head in retaliation to Teixeira being drilled twice by Padilla. AJ is another solid bullet in the Yankee shotgun of a rotation and my point is his contribution to the entire staff and team are much more important than his ERA or win loss record. I’m not saying that having him implode and stink for the rest of the year won’t affect the team, but let’s relax a little before we call him a bust or before we call last season a fluke for him.
I can even include CC Sabathia in this whereas you cannot judge these guys by their salaries. Do not let their salaries set the statistical bar of success that we all do so often as fans. Their presence will almost be enough alone, the rest will take care of itself. It’s no doubt that this is primo talent the Yankees brought in this winter, no if ands or buts about it. These guys are going to find their comfort zone if they haven’t already and sooner or later perform at their highest level.
By James Miller
For James' other guest post here at SIH, click here.
9 Comments:
AJ's stuff is filthy and thats all that matters. I was high on him last year, hes clearly a gamer like Tiexera is proving himself to be and thats what we need to win in the playoffs, guys who love this shit...hes a huge part of this team's success.
Totally agree, AJ also hasn't even shown us what he's capable of yet. Just wait.
i agree completely
Imagine if we had Roy Halladay along with A.J? What a filthy line-up that would be.
Toronto would probably ask for both Joba and Hughes for Halladay. I just hope he eventually hits the FA market.
Burnett is a solid number 2. The games where he has his stuff going he can become a dominant pitcher like against Tampa in the begining of the season. And there will be some games he doesn't command his fastball and get lit up.
Basically my only point in writing this was to say that you can't say that 85 million equates to an era under 3.
You have to field the market. He was the 2nd best pitcher on the market and the Yankees went out and got him.
The bar in my opinion for him to be a success or a bust is bigger than we expect. At least it should be.
That's very fair, James. Far too often we do make too much of salaries and expect players to live up to our own interpretation of what that salary should equate to on the field.
I think A-Rod has been a perfect example of a player who has never been treated fairly by fans, any fans, not just Yankee fans, based solely on his salary.
right. winning baseball is a team effort, pieces help each other. Arod helps tex, tex moves damons over.
Some nights AJ throws a shutout some nights the offense spot him 6-7 runs, some nights he'll walk 9. its about putting yourself in the best position to win and letting the cards fall into place.
The past few years the Yankees haven't don't that in my opinion. this winter they proved me wrong and I really like each acquisition they made, namely the big 3.
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