The first domino - and a hefty domino it was - in the free-agent pitching puzzle fell this morning, with the announcement that C.C Sabathia took a seven-year offer from the Yankees. And with it came news that the Red Sox, apparently, are "very much involved" in discussions with former Marlin and Blue Jay hurler A. J. Burnett.
Burnett has been insisting on a five-year deal, and nearly signed one with Atlanta last week if you believe the reports that floated around the internet. Personally, I can't see the Sox extending major money and a five-year deal to a guy whose only impressive body of work came in a contract season.
But that's mostly because I don't want to see it.
Burnett is the classic Kerry Wood conundrum - freakish stuff, feeble body. The dude had a hard time staying healthy for more than a month at a time until this season, when it became obvious that huge piles of money were on the table for the taking. So he dutifully produced an 18-win season after never winning more than 12 games in a year before.
In fact, he was a barely-better-than-.500 10-8 in each of his first two seasons with Toronto, making no more than 25 starts in either campaign, and has a less-than-inspiring 87-76 record for his career. Over the course of his 9-years in the bigs, Burnett has topped the 30-start plateau only once prior to 2008.
And guess when that was? Following 2005, which is also the last time he was a free agent.
Burnett has basically been a letdown, but much like JD Drew, he somehow manages to convince people of his value. I'm just hoping he doesn't convince the same team Drew convinced a few seasons ago.
The last thing the Sox need is another overpriced, undertalented player whose contract will be weighing them down in the near future. We've got Julio Lugo. We've got JD Drew. We don't need A. J. Burnett.
Go sign a big bat to go along with David Ortiz. Go sign a fourth outfielder. Go sign an affordable, more reliable starter - Derek Lowe, anybody? - but please, in the name of Jose Offerman, don't go after this guy.
For the salary he'll command, the Sox could likely fill three or four other holes on the roster, and with young arms like Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson and Daniel Bard waiting in the wings, why add another expensive arm to the rotation.
Especially when its an arm as fragile as Burnett's.
I just don't get it. I know the guy has super "stuff," I know he's still relatively young, I know he's coming off a great season, I know John Henry pines after anyone who used to play for his beloved Florida Marlins. But the fit just doesn't seem to make sense for a team already favored to win the World Series next season (it's true ... the odds were released this week). If you're going to take a gamble, make it one you can easily survive. Nobody needs a $100 million question mark.
So here I sit, hoping the online rumors are just that - rumors. It would hardly be the first time an agent spoke out of turn i hopes of bumping up his client's worth. I'd just hate to see the Sox overspend on another big-time free agent just because he's there, which is the only rationale I can think of for the Lugo and Drew signings.
Time will tell. But based on Burnett's track record, there's no reason to wait.
We already know what we'd be getting. And, personally, I'll pass.
