A.J. Burnett Rumors: Friday

I'm not a huge geography buff but isn't Atlanta and Toronto quite a drive from Baltimore? Technically, any team is within driving distance. I just assume he means within a short driving distance - which neither of those teams are.

He will end up signing with ATL. Despite that rumor about the driving distance, if the Braves put a 5 yr./$75-80 million deal on the table, no way Burnett turns that down.

8 hour drive from baltimore to toronto... waste a day anyone?

Baltimore to Atlanta is an 11 hour drive and Baltimore to Toronto is an 8.5 hour drive according to Yahoo Maps.

atlanta's farther, not sure how much. im sure both new york teams are within driving distance

OldDutchPots is right - it's because of his wife. But, in his Jays' contract, it was only 8 times a season. So a few hours is probably not that huge a deal.

driving distance??? Way to shorten the market there Mr Boneheaded Agent. So I guess this means the Padres and Mariners are out???

didnt the hampton blog say he took a lesser offer from houston over atl to be closer to his kids in arizona? maybe aj is thinking along the same lines. closer is better

I cannot believe Lowe isn't getting the crap from people like Burnett has been getting for the years deal. Lowe wants five years, $90 mill. My gut tells me that Burnett, at 4 years younger, and way better stuff, is waaaay more worth the 5 years!! Especially if he can avoid the big injury again, which I think he will.

They have these things called planes that get you to where you want to be quicker than a car. Who drives 8-12 hours when you're getting paid millions of dollars???

Does driving to Atlanta on your off day really make any sense?

I agree with Tim - this is Burnett's way of letting the world know he wants to play on the East Coast.

There's a reason Lowe is getting less flak for asking for 4-5 years. He's never hurt, and Burnett, well, he is.

the type of drive makes a difference. An 8 hr drive along the east coast, say, Boston to DC feels fast-ish. Whereas a drive from DC to Atlanta feels REALLY REALLY long. It has a lot to do with the type of roads and how much "middle of nowhere" it gets. There's a lot of long stretches where everything looks the same. I would say that it's not "driving distance"

do people really think he meant himselfe driving - the guy takes planes all year you dont think he would take a plane home from atlanta or somewhere else.

basemonkey... uh... yeah....
a drive from dc to atlanta feels longer than a drive from dc to boston because.... it is!
im sure aj gives a rats ass what the drive feels like

oh and aj if your getting a five year offer.... TAKE IT

That damn Boras is so predictable! I know he won't end up getting 5 yrs. and $90 mill., but Boras will likely get him 5 yrs. and around $17 mill. Sorry, but I'd rather have Burnett at $15-16 mill. and 5 yrs. than a guy, even if he's healthy, who doesn't dominate hitters the way Burnett can! Besides, we already have a sinker ball guy in Hudson, if that really means anything.

"basemonkey... uh... yeah....
a drive from dc to atlanta feels longer than a drive from dc to boston because.... it is!
im sure aj gives a rats ass what the drive feels like"

I'm just letting you guys know the difference because I've done both of those drives a ton of times for the last 30 years, thru college and etc. You don't have to agree with me. There is a difference. If I am driving to Atlanta, there will be stretches where I won't see a town or even rest stop for seemingly hours. Whereas on an East Coast Interstate, you run into at least rest stops all the time.

I think the spirit of AJ's comment is that, he hopes to be on a team within "driving distance" to mean an issue of convenience. I just mean to say that driving to Atlanta is not terribly convenient.

Otherwise why would he put out a comment out there in public that instantly narrows down the bidding war on him? It couldn't help his bottomline, you know.

maybe its just a ploy to get the teams not within driving distance of baltimore, ie atlanta and toronto, to up their offers. ultimately who cares. why are we debating the driving distance thing. personally i think if he has a five year offer on the table he has to take it. who else is gonna give him that?

I think we're overthinking it. He said he wants "driving distance." That rules out ChiSox, Cubs, Texas, Houston, etc. There are other teams besides West Coast and East Coast. All it takes is one extra suitor to bum his final figure by a mil or two.

If we sign Burnett and he gets hurt agin, I think we would still be ok in 2010. Hudson will probably be resigned, so he could take over the ace role until AJ gets back. It would hurt, but I don't think it would be devastating, unless we couldn't resign Huddy. I agree that you have to take a chance on him if you're the Braves, because Peavy probably isn't coming and I don't know what other top pitcher they could get right now.

Brian - please tell us all how Burnett is more "dominant" than Lowe?

Lowe has better career numbers in ERA, WHIP, and ERA+. In the past 6 years Lowe has had 30+ starts EVERY year. Burnett has had 2 such years.

Burnett has better "stuff" but that doesn't equate to being dominate. While Burnett is younger that isn't as big of a factor since youth should lead to better health and resiliency. Neither of which Burnett has shown even while young. Meanwhile, Lowe has been a model of consistency - even as an old man (in baseball years).

I think who ever stated it about his wife is right. This was a clause in the last deal, so I take it as his wife doesnt like to fly, so that would be the reason for driving distance.

"deal includes 8 round-trip limousine trips per season between Toronto & Burnett's Maryland home for his wife"

can anybody give me burnett's injury history for the last 2 years? i think this is the time period where he finally decided to quit trying to strike everyone out with a fastball and started actually pitching, resulting in fewer injuries. therefore going forward i think he's less of an injury risk.

4 years 60 mil with a 5th option year is what ESPN is reporting.

I'm starting to believe Burnett's going to wind up in Baltimore. The O's need to sign one of the two guys with local ties- Burnett or Tex- both for competitive and symbolic reasons and I find it highly unlikely that Tex is coming home. He's in too great a demand; several teams' top priority FA. On top of which, dude's a total mercenary (not that I blame him). He'll get the cash AND play for a competitor. Burnett, however, has actually shown more interest in playing in Baltimore- even before this drive-time garbage- and is only being considered a top priority by the Braves and O's (with the Angels wanting Tex, the Yanks wanting CC, etc.). With New York's (for example) attention divided, I believe Burnett is really waiting for the O's to match Atlanta...something I think should- and will- happen. That is strictly a hunch, however.

Given a comparable deal, I do think Burnett will opt for the O's over the Braves. The question is whether he'll get a comparable offer. The reason I think Baltimore will eventually relent is manifold. First, the O's have stated that they'll go after only those FAs young enough to help long-term; i.e.- when they can compete, which is still at least a couple years from happening. They desperately need starting pitching, as their lack of depth last year meant having to throw guys like Chris Waters and Alfredo Simon- guys who got hammered at AAA- against AL East opponents. You can guess how that went most of the time! Just as important, however, is what such a signing means. Sadly, there aren't a ton of FAs lining up to come to Baltimore. Eleven consecutive losing seasons will do that. But the stars have aligned this off-season. Not taking advantage would send a clear message to the fans and to the team, that the organization is not committed to turning things around.

Whether that's true or not, it could have dire consequences...not only long term, but immediately, as the O's try to sign Brian Roberts to a new deal (his current contract expires after this coming season) and Nick Markakis to a long-term extension a la Longoria, Hanley Ramirez, or most recently Dustin Pedroia. If they don't believe the front office is in it to win it, they're apt to opt out. That would, of course, be disastrous. Is it sure to happen if we don't sign Burnett? No. But it could, and the O's can't take that chance. As great a risk as is Burnett's health, the symbolic weight of his signing would mitigate the issue; and it's not like an injury is certain. Pitching atop a rotation that could include Jeremy Guthrie at the No.2 slot, maybe Uehara at the 3, Daniel Cabrera (this is the year! LOL) 4th, and, say, Garrett Olson No. 5, with Radhamez Liz, Troy Patton, and Hayden Penn providing immediate depth and Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta, and Brandon Erbe on the way, that's got the making of a very strong staff.

Make the move Andy! Tex ain't comin'.

I still feel like Smoltz will not only start this year but will be as good as he was last year before the injury.

This from MLB.com:

"John Smoltz was just outstanding today," Cox said. "He threw fastballs, breaking balls, [split-finger fastballs] and changeups. If I was rating him on a scale of 1-10, I'd say he was a 6.5. He was really good."

"less than two months later, Smoltz was enjoying pain-free rounds of golf and planning to pitch again. It's unknown whether he has regained all of the strength in his shoulder. But he was definitely encouraged after throwing a football 55 yards a few weeks ago."

Wow, fast healer, right?