A.J. Burnett Can Back Up Brinks Truck

Just how badly did the Philadelphia Phillies want right-hander A.J. Burnett?  Real bad.

Number one they wanted him enough to realize he has an affection for Doc.  Badly enough that the team will let Burnett wear Roy Halladay’s old number after Halladay gave Burnett his stamp of approval.  Cool.

Number two, the Phillies changed their pattern and gave him a very limited trade clause.  The Phillies are limited to where they could unload Burnett should the team suck, which many expect.

With all of the options and incentives, Burnett can get $30 million plus.  There is a mutual option that can be worth $15 million if exercised by both him and the Phillies.

Should Philthadelphia say thanks, but no thanks…, Burnett could select his player option for $7.5  million, according to Jon Heyman in his CBS Sports report.

If Burnett wants to play next year for $7.5 million he can play.  No matter what.

Holy shit, A.J. Burnett needs to buy his agent a new quad–wait, maybe one for each day of the week.  If Burnett is really good, this deal is worth well in excess of $30 million.

Burnett made it happen.  The deal which just seemed like a simple, one year, $16 million dollar team friendly contract is now valued at $33.5 million if the mutual option is exercised and Burnett nails every performance bonus.

It is hard for me to believe that Burnett can pitch as well as he did with the Bucs with the Phillies defense and just look at the ballpark.  But it doesn’t really matter a whole lot, Burnett is getting paid.

I trust Burnett proves me wrong.  He is getting paid for working his tail off with the Pirates.  He is getting incentives for just how good those numbers looked with Pittsburgh.

Now he needs to go out and do it all over again and cash checks.

Baseball is a pricey business.  Burnett is truly the winter soldier.   The Pirates were timid in their offer and it makes me wonder how long this approach will continue as they become more successful.