this poor guy is in free fall, well, poor not being a good description, but i feel bad for him actually. it can't be fun up there for 5 innings and 9 earned runs especially after the last outing. what to do with this guy? I don't even want him in the bullpen at this point, the guy's not right, and i want to know what it is. need to win the next four against the orioles. yeah i know 4 in a row is asking a lot, but they should be beating these teams, that oakland series although it ended great, was a bad series loss at home to the A's. it's baseball, and it's a long grinding marathon of a season but this was a cakewalk schedule at the start, they have alot of road games now and tonight was just deplorable. Maybe Arod has his timing back at least , we'll see. Funny part is i have a feeling they will win this series coming up in boston after this series, they had that last series won in boston and it got away from them. No more, i declare this medium sized slump over starting tomorrow. C'mon Yanks, let's start a nice winning streak, it's time.
"c'mon he's got better stuff than any Met pitcher!" well per Fatcessa anyway. to bad even Gee has a better mental makeup and he's a rookie. I guess just having the "stuff" isn't enough.
While I buy that he lacks the composure to overcome adversity out there, his problem is simply location. He catches too much of the plate, or walks guys. He isn't precise, he doesn't hit the corners consistently. That's why the odd time when he is consistently locating, he makes hitters look retarded because his 'stuff' is nasty. He just can't locate. Look at Freddy Garcia. Garbage stuff, but he can locate and change speeds, keeping hitters off balance and eating up innings.
jawn heyman said he thinks a team would pick up aj's contract. i think heyman is completely lawst. yankees need to get rid of this clown. joe should of had him pitch 9 innings last night, to teach him a lesson.
I'm sick of hearing about how great AJ's "stuff" is. Even if you have good velocity or sharp break, your pitches aren't great if you have no idea where they're going. Last night's beat down might have been a blessing in disguise, because there's no way that Burnett starts another game for the Yankees this year after that debacle. Burnett was pitching for his job, and he fell pathetically short. As Brian Cashman requested, I've taken a hit from the objective pipe. Objectively, there is no way that AJ Burnett is one of the Yankees top 5 starters. Get him out of the rotation, and keep him off the playoff roster.
I'll believe it when I see it. I bet they run him out there again, he pitches decent, and that buys him about 5 more implosions.
The worst part about the AJ situation is that the Yankees are still treating it as "We're paying him, he's going to pitch." Noesi was sent down, despite pitching rather well. Banuelos and Betances are doing very well as starters down in SWB. Warren had a pretty good return the other day as well. Even Garcia came back well. We have the starters in the system to replace AJ. Granted, we'd be tossing AJ's money out of the window, but we're doing that now. At least we wouldn't be giving up insurmountable leads on top of it.
But if they're leads that don't really matter at this point... it's a calculated risk, and probably one worth taking. Even if it's just that they want to trade Burnett after this season. The Yanks have several options here, and none of them are particularly appealing given the way Burnett has pitched recently. But I can't fault them for trying to get some value out of him at a point when they don't have much else to worry about at the moment. I mean, here are the scenarios: 1. Let him start. Pros: If he figures it out, that's good for the Yanks, both now and for the next two years on his contract, because we know he's capable of being a very effective major league starter when he's right. It's also good for his trade value if the Yanks decide they don't want to keep him beyond this year. (He has a limited no-trade clause.) Cons: He doesn't figure it out, his trade value goes even lower (if that's possible), and maybe his shitty pitching is the reason why the Yanks only get the Wild Card. Oh well. 2. Send him to the pen. Pros: You offer a chance for a more effective pitcher to start in Burnett's role for the remainder of this season. Cons: That replacement is no guarantee of better performance. There's really no role for Burnett in the pen, and it wouldn't help his trade value. 3. DFA him. Pros: Open up a roster spot for someone who could perform better. Cons: No guarantee of better performance, and zero chance for any future return on Burnett's salary for the next two years. That's a lot of money to eat. Seems like option #1 is a pretty obvious choice for the team to make, even if it means we have to watch him struggle for the rest of the season in games that only kinda-sorta matter (from the team's point of view). Now, if Burnett continues on this path, there is no way he starts a postseason game.
I agree with that overall. The problem is, he's pitching against Lester vs Boston this week. I don't at all understand that. Is that the final straw game? Not likely. At some point, they have to see what else they have and who can contribute. If Noesi/Banuelos/Betances/Warren can do it at this level, and we know at least one of them can, then you owe it to your franchise to try. AJ, no matter what he does, is always one pitch away from a complete collapse. That's not the kind of risk you want to play with in October, no matter how he pitches between now and then.
Barring a total collapse the Yankees are going to the playoffs. They need to know who their starters are going to be. As bad as he has been he could turn it around and be as good as anybody going into October. There is little risk in letting him still pitch.
And I'm sure they will get their chance. It just doesn't have to be right this very second. It's not in the team's best interest for the next two years, and also possibly for this year. There's always a risk. And AJ is always a pitcher who, when he's bad, he's horrible. But I don't think he is going to be starting in October barring something very strange happening. This is about next year and the following year. Besides, those guys will be up soon enough, and they wouldn't be eligible for the postseason roster unless they were called up tomorrow, not Thursday. Well fuck me sideways, don is talking sense.
If this is about the future, it makes a touch more sense, but not a lot. He's never going to get it together. April AJ will always be there, but so will August AJ. No matter what happens, he could be either one any other month of the year. As for the guys in the minors, there is a loophole, based on injuries to guys in AAA, that would allow (I think) two exceptions. I read about it a few weeks ago. Basically, the Yankees have additional time after September callups to decide if they'd like to bring along young guys in October. Considering SWB is now 1 magic number from elimination, I'd guess at the very least we'll see Montero and one of the guns very soon.
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-t...-a-yankees-fan-roots-for-a-j-burnetts-failure http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/2653/watching-a-j-burnett-implode
