Rosenthal's Latest: Furcal, Burnett, Halladay

what's the big deal with AJ burnett? i wouldn't give him a 5 year deal, let alone a 3 year deal. he's inconsistent and injury prone, and the blue jays have plenty of pitching already. why not go after someone who can hit the ball, eh?

Plenty of pitching?

Marcum is gone for the year & A.J. will likely be gone. McGowan will be back from a serious injury in May or June - who knows how effective he's going to be...and that leaves Litsch & Purcey as guys who were starters last year. Litsch is a capable #5 guy but Purcey, can't find the strikezone with any consistency. Other internal options would be Romero (not likely), converting Scott Downs (bad idea) or maybe Casey Jannsen (coming back from a torn labrum) or possibly Wolfe.

The Jays wealth of pitching is no more.

Purcey = Mid 3s ERA this year, book it.

Juiced, I completely agree with you about Purcey. I think he was just a nervous pitcher, but when he was on, he was on. With more job security and opportunity this year, I say he can get'r done. And to say that Burnett had cy-young worthy numbers is a little far-fetched. a 4+ ERA will never get you the Cy.

Have the Cubs offered Furcal anything yet? If so, what was it?

I just hope the cubs go after a left handed hitter that will not break the bank. I mean furcal makes a ton of sence.Because then you can put Derosa in right where I think he played great last year, better then i thoughthe would, then you can move Theriotback to 2nd since he came up as a 2nd baseman, i think that would help the cubs devensive team. But if the cubs go after Peavy and get him they wont have any money to get Furcal, and they will have to deal with a cheaper player to fill that need.

A.J, is one of the top ten possibly top five overated pitchers in the league. Period.
The guy wins 18 in a contract year never more than 12 before that. Pitched 30 games twice in his career. And in his so called "Cy-Young" like season he finished with an era over 4. He has been on the DL 9 times in the last eight years. If this kind of track record justifies 5 years and 15+ mil a year then baseball is in an even darker time thenI ever could have imagined. Anyone that signs him for 5 years will be lucky to get him for 75 games for the first four years and then expect him to have another career year for the fifth and contract year. I hear rumors that Theo and company are more interested in Tex and Lowe coming to Boston, I hope so because If they waste there money on A.J I will cry.