Completely out of the blue this afternoon, the Pirates just announced that they’ve signed AJ Burnett to a one-year deal. Jon Heyman is reporting that it’s an $8.5 million deal. Burnett had a $12.5 million option with the Phillies that he recently turned down, so he’s taking quite a pay cut to come back to Pittsburgh.
Burnett did not have a great year with the Phillies in 2014, but he he pitched through a hernia for most of the season and his peripherals (8.0 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 0.8 HR/9) still resulted in a better FIP than Edinson Volquez had for the Pirates (4.14 to 4.15, so it was close), and Burnett did it over 213 2/3 innings vs. the 192 2/3 that Volquez threw for the Pirates. His average fastball velocity also dipped a bit to below 92 mph, but that could be as much due to the hernia as anything.
My gut reaction to this is that it seems like a pretty decent calculated risk for the Pirates. Burnett lost some control and velocity with the Phillies last year, but health and the Pirates’ pitching staff could bring some or all of that back. The money isn’t at all prohibitive, and what the Pirates need more than anything with Liriano and Volquez on the free agent market is innings. I think that Burnett is likely to be a solid pitcher and he’s likely to throw a decent number of innings for the Pirates next year, even if he’s not quite the same pitcher he was in 2012 and 2013. So long as this is a move made with the middle-to-back of the rotation in mind and the Pirates have more in store for the top of the rotation, I think this is a good place to start.
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