Burnett to Phillies- 1 year, $16 million

[ThomasTomasz]

Which team that is pretending they care this offseason signs Chris Capuano, Pirates or Orioles?

If Capuano is smart, he works out by himself for most of the spring, and wait for a team to lose a starter or two to an injury, and then sign a deal. At that point, it's a guaranteed spot, and if he signs a deal now, he's got to fight for a spot.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

And they gave Volquez one year, $5 million. So if they didn't blow their load on Volquez, for who knows why, then they would have the $16 million to give to Burnett, plus extra million to take a flyer on one of the starters who is left, most of whom would be better options than Volquez anyway. :watusay: has to be most Pirates fans this off-season.

This is a great point. Could have theoretically offered Burnett $17M had they not signed Volquez.

DUMB

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Which team that is pretending they care this offseason signs Chris Capuano, Pirates or Orioles?

If i'm the Pirates, i'm all over Capuano or Joe Saunders.

I don't trust that rotation one bit, in a division where the Cards & Reds both have strong staffs.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The bigger story to me is how badly the Pirates have botched the offseason.

Burnett was replaced by Edinson Volquez (barf), who has probably been the worst SP in baseball the last two seasons. They are badly counting on Liriano to be for real, otherwise Cole is the only sure thing in that rotation. Locke pitched above his head in the first half and was terrible late, Morton is as meh as it gets, Wandy is a huge question mark, and Volquez is flat terrible.

They let Byrd walk, so it's back to the collection of slop in the corner OF (Travis Snyder, etc).

Even the Brewers laugh at the Pirates 1B situation. Gaby Sanchez, who stinks, and a bunch of quad A dudes like Travis Ishikawa fighting for time.

Burnett was a rock for that team.

Pirates have a group of youngins that are inches away from the call. Taillon will be playing this year, for sure. Polanco is going to be playing. That kind of fills in your SP and OF need that you poo poo'd on.

Gaby is my boy, but I don't know why they didn't supplement him with someone who can hit righties.

They also expect that second wave of players to start flying through the minors, like Tyler Glasnow and a few others that were in short season last year.

So, I can see why they would hold off on spending big bucks on guys they would have as simply placeholders.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

If i'm the Pirates, i'm all over Capuano or Joe Saunders.

I don't trust that rotation one bit, in a division where the Cards & Reds both have strong staffs.

FWIW, Joe Saunders got blown up in Seattle of all places. Even trotting out a AAA guy out of options would be better than relying on Saunders to come close to replicating 2011/12.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

FWIW, Joe Saunders got blown up in Seattle of all places. Even trotting out a AAA guy out of options would be better than relying on Saunders to come close to replicating 2011/12.

I meant as depth/insurance.

That's how they lucked into Liriano last year.

 

[spursup]

Liriano was much better at home than on the road last year so their rotation is shaky with him at the top unless Volquez rebounds. Highly unlikely.

 

[MVPete]

Pirates offered $12M according to Heyman.

And they gave Volquez one year, $5 million. So if they didn't blow their load on Volquez, for who knows why, then they would have the $16 million to give to Burnett, plus extra million to take a flyer on one of the starters who is left, most of whom would be better options than Volquez anyway. :watusay: has to be most Pirates fans this off-season.

This also begs the question why the hell didn't the Pirates give him a qualifying offer? Just a total botch job on this entire offseason so far. Pirates fans can only hope they use this money towards a new Liriano deal and not back in the owners pocket.

 

[NAHSTE]

I'm out here looking at some numbers, why do the Mariners have one of the best tv deals? They stink 8/10 years.

They own majority stake in their regional sports network, ROOT SPORTS. Also generally speaking TV rights money has skyrocketed in recent years so anybody with a recently signed deal is going to be near the top of the list.

 

[Villain]

http://nypost.com/2014/02/13/why-a-j-burnett-had-grumpy-exit-from-pittsburgh/

A.J. Burnett had an ugly end to his time with Yankees. Despite two solid seasons and professions of maturation with the Pirates, his departure from Pittsburgh was not much better.
Burnett reacted poorly to the Pirates’ decision not to start him in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Cardinals, even threatening not to accompany the team to St. Louis for the decisive game, according to a report by the Beaver County Times. And that snub was part of the reason he decided not to re-sign with the Pirates this winter.
Burnett reportedly was insulted by the $8.5 million offer the Pirates made during last season and turned down an $11 million offer. The 37-year-old signed a one-year, $16 million deal with the Phillies on Wednesday. So, yes, money could have been a factor, as well.
Burnett anchored a young Pirates rotation last season, going 10-11 with a 3.30 in helping the team reach its first postseason in 21 years. But the right-hander was destroyed by the Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLDS, giving up seven runs while walking four in two innings. Gerrit Cole fired six innings of one-run ball for the Pirates in Game 2 to even the series, and was given the nod in Game 5 off that performance.
A source told the paper Burnett was enraged and threw a hissy fit in the clubhouse following the Game 4 loss, making for an uncomfortable scene. Cole pitched decently in the final game, but the Cardinals scored three runs in the eighth to pull away for a 6-1 win.
Burnett reportedly used the perceived slight as motivation to put off retirement for another year, which he will do in Pennsylvania, but not in Pittsburgh.