UPDATE- According to Gordon Wittenmeyer, AJ would love to go to the Cubs if he is traded. He said right now he is concentrating on winning games for the Jays but he said "Right now my focus is with this club, but if something like that were to happen, I'd accept it with open arms.'' Burnett has a lot of friends in the Cubs club house and I feel if C.C. is not attainable then they will move onto Burnett, which is not a bad second choice!
Thanks to MLBTR-
Via Buster Olney's latest, Gordon Wittenmeyer of the Chicago Sun Times writes that the Cubs might want to take a second look at A.J. Burnett as the Jays are expected to shop him all throughout the next few weeks until the non-waiver trade deadline.
Last night's Cubs-Jays game served as a bittersweet "scouting foray" as Burnett pitched 5 effective innings, striking out seven, helping his team earn a 3-2 Victory. Pitching for the Cubbies was Sean Gallagher, who according to Wittenmeyer, wasn't in anyone's radar to be the club's fifth starter in June.
But now that they're in first place in the NL Central with the best record in baseball, and after Rich Hill's struggles and demotion, the Cubs are increasingly being mentioned in trade speculation.
Burnett is slated to make $12MM in '09 and '10; and can opt-out of his contract at the end of the season.
I know AJ is a injury pron pitcher and his mechanics are lacking some but he has #1 or #2 stuff and would be a solid addition behind Z in the rotation. I must stress that I feel that the Cubs first pick is to get C.C. and if they can't land him because of the asking price or because he is not shopped, they should move onto Burnett.
One disadvantage of getting Burnett is that he can opt out of his contract at the end of the season, similar to the clause Aram has in his contact this year and last year. He is expected to do so, so basically he would be a rental. But maybe would could work out a window were we can convince him to not opt out or sign an extension with the Cubs. Either way he would be a good pick up. It also should be noted that Burnett has a limited no-trade clause allowing Burnett to block deals to 15 clubs and Sabathia does not.
6 comments:
i didnt think aram had an opt out clause in this contract? can he opt out after this season? that will be a pricey resign i am sure
HELL NO to burnett. He always gets hurt and I don't want to give up any prospects for him to walk at the end of the season. We could get CC for just a little more as well and we could get him signed unlike burnett.
aram has an opt out clause in his contract but it is not for this season. He can opt out ofhis contract after the 2010 season.
burnett would be a solid pick-up, but CC would be an unbelievable trade pick-up. He is and will be our obvious first choice as the trade deadline nears. He is ridiculously good and is way more consistent than burnett. he is also a lefty which fits into our rotation perfectly. Having cc and zambrano in any series in the playoffs would really give our squad the upper hand.
I still think Hill will be back before we make a trade. If he does what he did last year, in my opinion there won't be a trade. By the way if the Cubs play .500 ball the rest of the year they will be 91-71.
Burnett is a legit plan B if we cant get CC. He does have an injury history... but that would just be some leverage to avoid sending the farm like we would for CC. And a window to sign an extension would have to be included, just like if we were to deal for CC.
I was a big Hill backer this off season and even considered him untouchable. I have been proven wrong so far... but as I said in the off season when we were in the mix for Bedard, I'll be the first in line to give up Hill if we can get a top of the rotation lefty like CC. You are basically trading a few years of potential for a proven commodity now. I'll take that.
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