Saturday, September 27, 2008

Let Him Walk

lloyd the FunspongeI'm not going to plagiarize all of Jonny Was of The Southpaw's good work regarding A.J. Burnett from earlier this week; I'll simply agree. Aging power pitchers with dubious injury histories are red flag city. Re-upping Burnett to keep him from leaving would be a mistake, the kind of contract albatross that JP has done well to avoid.

Is AJ Burnett the only thing keeping the Jays from winning in 2009? No, he may be the only thing keeping them from true mediocrity, keeping them treading water as a strong team in need of divine intervention to make the final playoff push. 2010 is the year that everyone sees as the best chance for a true run at the postseason. Young Jays come of age while established Jays reach their peaks. The 2010 Blue Jays could certainly benefit from a pitcher like A.J. Burnett, a big name, shutdown stuff-guy with a goofy streak. That describes 2008 Burnett. 31 year old Burnett with both eyes squarely on the last, big contract of his career. 2010 Burnett is a 34 year old power pitcher with a history of injuries, looking at he last two big earning years.

The Jays two year offer is a good bit of business; strike when the iron is hot and the optics are ideal. Except for one thing:
This is why players hire agents!
They need an emotionally distant, oily skinned con-artist ensuring they both get a big payday. Hometown discounts are rarely given, especially to a guy that signed here specifically because he'd have the option to retest the free agent waters.

Just like Johnny did in his post, I will of course state that A.J. is great, pitched well this year and reiterate that he would make next year's team much better. But down the road, the cost wouldn't outweigh the benefit.

Enough buzzkilling, on to bigger and better things

  • Who should the Jays pursue if not Burnett? Why Brad Penny of course. If he is bought out, they could offer him a tidy little one year "prove you're healthy and can still compete" deal. He's younger than Burnett but shares a familiarity with Arnsberg. He hasn't been good this year, but was excellent during 2007 and the first half of 2006. If a one year deal is out there, he's a worthy risk.
  • Walkoff Walk is blowing up! No one can resist the shrimp video, not even ESPN! Camp Tiger Claw and Rob are in this month's ESPN the Magazine describing their favorite walkoff walks of the year. Check it out and pray for shrimp.
  • Rocco Baldelli does not, repeat DOES NOT have muscular dystrophy. An erroneous report claimed he had the much more serious disease. He just has run-of-the-mill mitochondrial myopathy. Overcome Rocco. Overcome.
  • I usually deplore this kind of hipster childhood coveting, but this video is far to enjoyable not to share. I watched it with the sound off to avoid any pretentious poisoning.


6 comments:

  1. I agree with your comments agreeing with me.

    JW

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  2. I also agree that Brad Penny is a good choice - I'll also hop on the Derek Lowe train as well, whoever the Dodgers are willing to trade/let go of ...

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  3. I like Lowe, but Penny will come cheaper and shorter.

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  4. A Brad Penny for our thoughts ... ha!

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