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2006 Free Agency
Despite Outburst, Burnett Remains Top Target On The Pitching Market This Winter
By Mike Berardino
October 24, 2005
FORT LAUDERDALE--A.J. Burnett had a self-appointed role with the Marlins. He held it for the last few years and enjoyed it immensely.
Minister of Pies.
Whenever a Marlins teammate helped win a game in heroic fashion, it was Burnett who would sneak up during the post-game TV interview and smash a shaving-cream pie into that teammate's face.
Then Burnett would hand his startled buddy a towel. You know, to clean up.
Too bad there was no Minister of Pies to hand Burnett a towel of his own the last week of the regular season.
After a crushing loss to the Braves, Burnett was all too candid about the state of affairs in the Marlins clubhouse claiming that the team played scared and that the entire organization expected things to go wrong creating a culture of negativity that had brought the team down.
Instead of wiping away the mess he created with his misguided comments, Burnett was shown the door.
He was denied one final start in a Marlins uniform and the $50,000 bonus that would have come with it. He also was refused a chance to set a career high in wins (13), surpass 200 strikeouts for the second time or even his career record at 50-50.
Worse, he was portrayed in most media quarters as a clubhouse cancer and the sole reason a strange Marlins season turned sour. Considering he is about to hit the free-agent market for the first time this fall, that might have been the cruelest blow of all.
"A.J. is a great guy inside," Marlins teammate Lenny Harris says. "He's got a great heart. He was a great teammate. He wants to win. That's what I like about him. He made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Hopefully he'll learn from it."
Scouts still drool over the prospect of Burnett, 28 and just entering his prime, on the open market this winter.
"What happened (in Atlanta)?" one scout from a potential suitor says. "It's forgotten already."
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This winter's free-agent crop of pitchers thinned out considerably with the in-season signings of Tim Hudson (four years, $47 million) and Brad Penny (three years, $26 million).
Several big-name closers will be available, including Billy Wagner, B.J. Ryan, Trevor Hoffman, Todd Jones, Kyle Farnsworth and Bob Wickman.
But if it's a rotation-topping horse you need, the options are limited.
Besides Burnett the only ones who even come close to qualifying are Kevin Millwood, Matt Morris, Jarrod Washburn and Jeff Weaver. In the over-40 category there's Kenny Rogers and Clemens, but the Rocket isn't likely pitch anywhere but his Houston hometown.
When it comes to the ultimate prize, though, all indicators keep coming back to Burnett, who brandishes a 98-mph fastball, a vicious curveball and an underrated changeup. That should be enough to talk even the most conservative general manager into sliding all his chips across the negotiating table.
Even Burnett's much-discussed 0-6 record over his last seven starts was somewhat misleading.
While Burnett's ERA in that span was 5.87, he allowed just a .255 batting average and registered 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Nine errors were committed with him on the mound, which led to seven unearned runs.
The Marlins supported him with just 3.8 runs per nine innings during the slide.
Burnett actually left three of his last four starts with the score tied, but he gave back leads in five of his last seven starts, including his last four.
On the flip side, he gave a glimpse of his potential when he reeled off a seven-game winning streak from July 19 to Aug. 19 in which he posted a 1.19 ERA.
At worst, he's still probably looking at a four-year, $32 million deal this winter. More likely, considering the dearth of big-time arms on the market this winter, he will surpass the four-year, $39.95 million deal former Marlins teammate Carl Pavano received from the Yankees last winter.
And it might not even be close.
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Burnett might have finished on poor terms with manager Jack McKeon, but former Marlins manager Jeff Torborg remains a big believer.
"I really like him," says Torborg, who managed Burnett in his breakthrough season of 2002. "He'll give you everything he's got. He's a different kind of guy, the kind you'll see out on a motorcycle with his nipple rings and all that. But he's really a good boy. He'll do nothing but get better. I don't know where A.J. is going to go, but I do know one thing: Whoever gets him is getting one heck of a pitcher."
Truth to tell, Burnett has waged a cold war against the current Marlins front office since May 2003. That's when his mentor and former pitching coach Brad Arnsberg was fired, along with Torborg.
Burnett had just blown out his elbow and would miss the next year because of Tommy John surgery. But if he didn't hold Arnsberg accountable, he wondered why their bosses did.
Over the next 28 months, Burnett tweaked management at various turns with open references to Arnsberg, who is about as popular as cholera in certain Marlins quarters. The two spoke often during Burnett's long recovery and have maintained a long-distance friendship.
Days before his infamous outburst, Burnett was quoted in a national magazine saying if he were to take his career to the "next level," it would probably be with Arnsberg as his pitching coach.
What's more, it was Burnett's reluctance to sign a contract extension with the Orioles in July that killed a huge deal the Marlins wanted to make very badly. So third baseman Mike Lowell and his $18 million obligation remain on the books, while Burnett walks away for draft picks.
No one monitoring the proceedings would be the least bit surprised to see Burnett sign this winter with the Blue Jays, where Arnsberg just finished his first season as their pitching coach. Then again, it will probably be easier to count the teams that won't pursue Burnett this winter than the ones that will.
The Yankees and Red Sox will toss their megabucks around after trying to trade for Burnett at midseason. It should be noted that Burnett had a Red Sox T-shirt in his locker on the last day he spent with the Marlins.
Both Chicago teams figure to enter the mix. Cubs personnel man Gary Hughes was part of the Marlins group that originally acquired Burnett from the Mets, who drafted him in the eighth round in 1995 out of Central Arkansas Christian High in North Little Rock, Ark., before the 1998 season. The White Sox nearly traded for Burnett in July, and manager Ozzie Guillen remains a backer from his days as a Marlins coach.
The Tigers, after coming up short on Pavano, have a new manager in Jim Leyland and big bucks still burning a hole in general manager Dave Dombrowski's pocket. Dombrowski was the Marlins' GM when the club traded for Burnett.
The Rangers desperately need pitching and aren't far from Burnett's Arkansas roots.
What about the Astros if Clemens decides to retire? Braves manager Bobby Cox is a Burnett fan, while Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty always seems to find a way to add pitching.
The Diamondbacks sniffed around on Burnett last winter. The Angels, Padres, Giants and Mariners all could get involved as well if Burnett shows a willingness to relocate to the West Coast.
When the bidding formally commences, the hard questions will be posed. Teams will want to know about Burnett's makeup and his messy exit from South Florida, but Darek Braunecker, the pitcher's Arkansas-based agent, welcomes that opportunity to set the record straight.
"It's going to be an issue to the point that clubs are going to want an answer to, 'Why did this happen? Why did you say these things?' Braunecker said. "We'll be perfectly capable of addressing that with each and every one of them."
Braunecker is also prepared for questions about Burnett's 49-50 career mark, which is barely better than the 47-53 mark that got Kris Benson an average of $7.5 million a year from the Mets last winter.
"We'll talk about how A.J. had four pitching coaches in four years," Braunecker said.
Indeed, Burnett's prized right arm bounced from the care of Rich Dubee to Arnsberg to Wayne Rosenthal to Mark Wiley.
Should Burnett have held his tongue on that fateful Sunday in Atlanta? Were his comments destructive and misguided? Of course, they were.
Nor should he have gotten into a shouting match with third-base coach Jeff Cox in a Turner Field break room. But that doesn't make Burnett into Latrell Sprewell, his supporters say.
It should be pointed out, they add, that Burnett wasn't simply speaking in self-interest. Read between the lines, and he was clearly taking up for his teammates, especially some of the younger ones who had been thrown into the fire of a wild-card chase.
No way was Burnett alone in his complaints about clubhouse negativity. He was just the only one foolish enough to say so publicly.
"This year everybody acted like they had everything figured out," one Marlins insider says. "The whole A.J. thing, he shouldn't have said it like that, but he was speaking for a large group of the team."
Just another reason why Burnett still figures to grab a huge slice of the free-agent pie this winter.
[/b][/quote]
Despite Outburst, Burnett Remains Top Target On The Pitching Market This Winter
By Mike Berardino
October 24, 2005
FORT LAUDERDALE--A.J. Burnett had a self-appointed role with the Marlins. He held it for the last few years and enjoyed it immensely.
Minister of Pies.
Whenever a Marlins teammate helped win a game in heroic fashion, it was Burnett who would sneak up during the post-game TV interview and smash a shaving-cream pie into that teammate's face.
Then Burnett would hand his startled buddy a towel. You know, to clean up.
Too bad there was no Minister of Pies to hand Burnett a towel of his own the last week of the regular season.
After a crushing loss to the Braves, Burnett was all too candid about the state of affairs in the Marlins clubhouse claiming that the team played scared and that the entire organization expected things to go wrong creating a culture of negativity that had brought the team down.
Instead of wiping away the mess he created with his misguided comments, Burnett was shown the door.
He was denied one final start in a Marlins uniform and the $50,000 bonus that would have come with it. He also was refused a chance to set a career high in wins (13), surpass 200 strikeouts for the second time or even his career record at 50-50.
Worse, he was portrayed in most media quarters as a clubhouse cancer and the sole reason a strange Marlins season turned sour. Considering he is about to hit the free-agent market for the first time this fall, that might have been the cruelest blow of all.
"A.J. is a great guy inside," Marlins teammate Lenny Harris says. "He's got a great heart. He was a great teammate. He wants to win. That's what I like about him. He made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Hopefully he'll learn from it."
Scouts still drool over the prospect of Burnett, 28 and just entering his prime, on the open market this winter.
"What happened (in Atlanta)?" one scout from a potential suitor says. "It's forgotten already."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This winter's free-agent crop of pitchers thinned out considerably with the in-season signings of Tim Hudson (four years, $47 million) and Brad Penny (three years, $26 million).
Several big-name closers will be available, including Billy Wagner, B.J. Ryan, Trevor Hoffman, Todd Jones, Kyle Farnsworth and Bob Wickman.
But if it's a rotation-topping horse you need, the options are limited.
Besides Burnett the only ones who even come close to qualifying are Kevin Millwood, Matt Morris, Jarrod Washburn and Jeff Weaver. In the over-40 category there's Kenny Rogers and Clemens, but the Rocket isn't likely pitch anywhere but his Houston hometown.
When it comes to the ultimate prize, though, all indicators keep coming back to Burnett, who brandishes a 98-mph fastball, a vicious curveball and an underrated changeup. That should be enough to talk even the most conservative general manager into sliding all his chips across the negotiating table.
Even Burnett's much-discussed 0-6 record over his last seven starts was somewhat misleading.
While Burnett's ERA in that span was 5.87, he allowed just a .255 batting average and registered 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Nine errors were committed with him on the mound, which led to seven unearned runs.
The Marlins supported him with just 3.8 runs per nine innings during the slide.
Burnett actually left three of his last four starts with the score tied, but he gave back leads in five of his last seven starts, including his last four.
On the flip side, he gave a glimpse of his potential when he reeled off a seven-game winning streak from July 19 to Aug. 19 in which he posted a 1.19 ERA.
At worst, he's still probably looking at a four-year, $32 million deal this winter. More likely, considering the dearth of big-time arms on the market this winter, he will surpass the four-year, $39.95 million deal former Marlins teammate Carl Pavano received from the Yankees last winter.
And it might not even be close.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burnett might have finished on poor terms with manager Jack McKeon, but former Marlins manager Jeff Torborg remains a big believer.
"I really like him," says Torborg, who managed Burnett in his breakthrough season of 2002. "He'll give you everything he's got. He's a different kind of guy, the kind you'll see out on a motorcycle with his nipple rings and all that. But he's really a good boy. He'll do nothing but get better. I don't know where A.J. is going to go, but I do know one thing: Whoever gets him is getting one heck of a pitcher."
Truth to tell, Burnett has waged a cold war against the current Marlins front office since May 2003. That's when his mentor and former pitching coach Brad Arnsberg was fired, along with Torborg.
Burnett had just blown out his elbow and would miss the next year because of Tommy John surgery. But if he didn't hold Arnsberg accountable, he wondered why their bosses did.
Over the next 28 months, Burnett tweaked management at various turns with open references to Arnsberg, who is about as popular as cholera in certain Marlins quarters. The two spoke often during Burnett's long recovery and have maintained a long-distance friendship.
Days before his infamous outburst, Burnett was quoted in a national magazine saying if he were to take his career to the "next level," it would probably be with Arnsberg as his pitching coach.
What's more, it was Burnett's reluctance to sign a contract extension with the Orioles in July that killed a huge deal the Marlins wanted to make very badly. So third baseman Mike Lowell and his $18 million obligation remain on the books, while Burnett walks away for draft picks.
No one monitoring the proceedings would be the least bit surprised to see Burnett sign this winter with the Blue Jays, where Arnsberg just finished his first season as their pitching coach. Then again, it will probably be easier to count the teams that won't pursue Burnett this winter than the ones that will.
The Yankees and Red Sox will toss their megabucks around after trying to trade for Burnett at midseason. It should be noted that Burnett had a Red Sox T-shirt in his locker on the last day he spent with the Marlins.
Both Chicago teams figure to enter the mix. Cubs personnel man Gary Hughes was part of the Marlins group that originally acquired Burnett from the Mets, who drafted him in the eighth round in 1995 out of Central Arkansas Christian High in North Little Rock, Ark., before the 1998 season. The White Sox nearly traded for Burnett in July, and manager Ozzie Guillen remains a backer from his days as a Marlins coach.
The Tigers, after coming up short on Pavano, have a new manager in Jim Leyland and big bucks still burning a hole in general manager Dave Dombrowski's pocket. Dombrowski was the Marlins' GM when the club traded for Burnett.
The Rangers desperately need pitching and aren't far from Burnett's Arkansas roots.
What about the Astros if Clemens decides to retire? Braves manager Bobby Cox is a Burnett fan, while Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty always seems to find a way to add pitching.
The Diamondbacks sniffed around on Burnett last winter. The Angels, Padres, Giants and Mariners all could get involved as well if Burnett shows a willingness to relocate to the West Coast.
When the bidding formally commences, the hard questions will be posed. Teams will want to know about Burnett's makeup and his messy exit from South Florida, but Darek Braunecker, the pitcher's Arkansas-based agent, welcomes that opportunity to set the record straight.
"It's going to be an issue to the point that clubs are going to want an answer to, 'Why did this happen? Why did you say these things?' Braunecker said. "We'll be perfectly capable of addressing that with each and every one of them."
Braunecker is also prepared for questions about Burnett's 49-50 career mark, which is barely better than the 47-53 mark that got Kris Benson an average of $7.5 million a year from the Mets last winter.
"We'll talk about how A.J. had four pitching coaches in four years," Braunecker said.
Indeed, Burnett's prized right arm bounced from the care of Rich Dubee to Arnsberg to Wayne Rosenthal to Mark Wiley.
Should Burnett have held his tongue on that fateful Sunday in Atlanta? Were his comments destructive and misguided? Of course, they were.
Nor should he have gotten into a shouting match with third-base coach Jeff Cox in a Turner Field break room. But that doesn't make Burnett into Latrell Sprewell, his supporters say.
It should be pointed out, they add, that Burnett wasn't simply speaking in self-interest. Read between the lines, and he was clearly taking up for his teammates, especially some of the younger ones who had been thrown into the fire of a wild-card chase.
No way was Burnett alone in his complaints about clubhouse negativity. He was just the only one foolish enough to say so publicly.
"This year everybody acted like they had everything figured out," one Marlins insider says. "The whole A.J. thing, he shouldn't have said it like that, but he was speaking for a large group of the team."
Just another reason why Burnett still figures to grab a huge slice of the free-agent pie this winter.
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