Blue Jays sign Burnett: report WebPosted Tue, 06 Dec 2005 09:15:30 EST CBC Sports The Toronto Blue Jays now have A.J. and B.J., according to a published report.
RELATED: Player Bio: A.J. Burnett
A.J. Burnett was seventh in the National League in strikeouts in 2005. (CP Photo) The Globe and Mail is reporting that the Blue Jays have signed free- agent pitcher A.J. Burnett to a $55-million US, five-year contract, with a news conference scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the baseball winter meetings in Dallas.
According to the paper, Burnett will receive $7 million next season, including a signing bonus, and $12-million each for the next four years of the deal.
It's sounding more and more this morning like it might be a done deal.
Nice move by the Jays, they might be overpaying again, but I thought for sure he was going to St. Louis, so that was probably necessary to get him to think about coming up here. Really, my only concern about AJ is that you get the sense that him coming up here is all about the $, and his heart might've been somewhere else, which sometimes is a basis for bad decision. But if he pitches well all would be forgotten!
I really like what this does to the pitching staff--Halladay and Burnett 1-2 at top of the rotation, Chacin and Towers should be fairly predictable in middle of rotation, and assuming Lilly is around he would be a good guy to round things out too. BJ Ryan closing things out this year will be key too.
They need to do something about the offence, but I have heard the Batista/Mench rumours too, Batista has no use around here anymore and his salary ($4.9M) doesn't fit in, so I am sure they are going to try to ship him out for somebody. Mench (or somebody of that stature) would be a guy that would fit in well.
Great day for the Blue Jays!
You've got a diamond, You've got nine men You've got a hat and a bat, And that's not all..
A.J. Burnett will make $7 million next year and $12 million in each of the following four season under the terms of the deal he's agreed to with the Jays.
The contract is supposed to be finzlized after a physical today. Burnett's five-year, $55 million deal will make him the No. 2 starter in a rotation that could also include Roy Halladay, Ted Lilly, Gustavo Chacin and Josh Towers. Lilly might become trade bait as the Blue Jays seek a bat. David Bush and Miguel Batista fit into the same category. Dec. 6 - 4:10 am et
j_d_mcnugent wrote:trading away marquis had me almost as excited as getting burnett.
Amen to that.
Today's Mesa Tribune here in Phoenix says that if the Cards don't get Burnett, they're supposedly going to try and go after Vazquez instead. The Tribune goes on to speculate that the D-Backs could ask for center fielder Jim Edmonds.
ESPN wrote:Jays land Burnett with five-year, $55M deal By Jerry Crasnick ESPN.com
DALLAS -- A.J. Burnett agreed to a five-year, $55 million free-agent contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, a source told ESPN.com.
The deal will be announced at a Tuesday afternoon news conference in Dallas.
A.J. Burnett Kevin C. Cox/WireImage.com After courting A.J. Burnett for a month, the Blue Jays landed their man.
Burnett joins reliever B.J. Ryan as the second pitcher to sign a five-year deal with Toronto this offseason.
The Burnett deal is the longest contract for a free-agent starter since Chan Ho Park's five-year, $65 million contract with the Texas Rangers in December 2001.
"When you get involved with this, you know it's a long process," Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi said after spending most of Monday negotiating with agents Darek Braunecker and Mark Rodgers.
"It's no slam dunk. Everybody wants things to happen fast. Sometimes it just doesn't go at the pace you want it to go at," Ricciardi said.
The deal means the Blue Jays have poured $102 million into two pitchers this offseason. On Nov. 28, B.J. Ryan finalized the largest contract for a relief pitcher in baseball history, a $47 million, five-year contract. Ryan, who pitched for Baltimore last season, is Toronto's new closer.
Burnett, 28, has been considered the top pitcher available on the free-agent market. He went 12-12 with a 3.44 ERA for Florida, although he struggled down the stretch and was banished from the team in the final week after criticizing manager Jack McKeon and his coaching staff.
Burnett missed almost all of the 2003 season following reconstructive elbow surgery, and his career record is a modest 49-50, all with the Marlins. But he's one of the few pitchers with a 98-mph fastball and a no-hitter on his résumé.
Burnett joins the Florida exodus as the franchise purges payroll, the result of the franchise abandoning its bid for a new ballpark near downtown Miami. Catcher Paul Lo Duca's trade to the Mets was finalized Monday; right-hander Josh Beckett and All-Star third baseman Mike Lowell were dealt to the Red Sox in a November trade involving minor leaguers; first baseman Carlos Delgado also was acquired by the Mets; and second baseman Luis Castillo was traded to the Twins in recent weeks.
Jerry Crasnick covers Major League Baseball for ESPN Insider. ESPN.com senior writer Jayson Stark contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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I'm excited about this. Maybe it won't look like a good deal in 2 years if he under-achieves, but for now the Jays got the top SP and 2nd best RP available this off season and as a Jays fan that makes me happy. Nice to see them step up and prove they want to win.
I just heard Bob McCowan on the radio say that Ryan and Burnett together will cost the same per year as Delgado alone cost us in 2004. So in essence we let Delgado go for 2 good pitchers.
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