North Side Notch

Ken Rosenthal reported today that talks between the Pirates and Yankees in a deal that would send starter A.J. Burnett to the Bucs is “at an impasse.”

He also added that the “soft” deadline for a deal to be done is Saturday, which is when Yankees’ pitchers and catchers report to Tampa for Spring Training. The Pirates now stand as the only team where a deal is likely to get done as it was leaked that there was a little interest by the Indians, but that ended very quickly. Also, the Angels are willing to make the trade, but thanks to Mrs. Burnett (who lives in Maryland) and is afraid of flying, Burnett will not approve a trade to the West Coast (Hooray Pteromerhanophobia). There was also a fourth team interested, but they aren’t very serious about the deal.

It looks like the Yankees are just going try to milk this negotiation for all it’s worth. I can’t see the Pirates budging much on the offer as they currently have all the leverage in this thing. We should know soon enough, though, if Burnett will be a Pirate or not.

From ESPN’s Buster Olney:

Pirates and Yankees have a framework of a possible AJ Burnett deal in place, and they are now working through conditions of that framework.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) February 12, 2012

The Burnett deal is not done, but the Yankees and Pirates have a lot of common ground, and Pittsburgh is the clear frontrunner as of 2/12. — Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) February 12, 2012

The Pirates and Yankees haven’t agreed on final players or dollar amount, but they’re talking within that common ground to settle details. — Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) February 12, 2012

Could something happen today?

UPDATE – 11:18 AM:

From new Pirates.com beat writer Tom Singer:

We’ll soon know if #Yankees bluffed about AJ market. Potential deal with #Pirates in place, NY just asking around 2 see if some1 beats it

— Tom Singer (@Tom_Singer) February 12, 2012

Looks like something could be happening really soon.

UPDATE – 11:58 AM:

From CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman:

#yankees don’t love the 2 minor leaguers #pirates offered for aj. best guess, it still gets done, with pitt paying $13-15M of aj’s $33M

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) February 12, 2012

It’s good to see that the Pirates aren’t giving in much. The money here sounds fine and if the Pirates don’t have to give up anything all that great in return it is a steal. The Yankees really don’t have much leverage here as they are desperate to get rid of Burnett’s contract, so the Pirates are definitely negotiating from a position of strength and should be able to get Burnett for very little.

Also, Joel Sherman from the NY Post just tweeted out that he feels a deal getting done today is doubtful.

UPDATE – 12:59 PM:

Ken Rosenthal reports that signs are pointing to a deal getting done but that both sides are still trying to get the most out of each other. He expects the Yankees to pick up $19-$23 million of Burnett’s remaining $33 million contract and receive “multiple” minor leaguers in return, none of them being on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster.

From Jon Heyman:

The Yankees and Pirates are continuing to talk about a possible A.J. Burnett trade that could lead to more activity in the form of a couple free-agent signings by the Yankees. As of Thursday night, the teams were thought to be a few million apart in the Burnett negotiations, but they were still talking and there is some hope for a deal.

Heyman also goes on to mention that a big reason as to why the Yankees are looking to trade Burnett is to free up some additional money to sign a free agent (Raul Ibanez, Johnny Damon, Eric Chavez).

I think this deal, ultimately, gets done.

UPDATE – 11:25 AM:

Heyman was on 93.7 The Fan this morning and says he thinks the deal will go through and that Garrett Jones is no longer on the trade table. He also believes that if the deal gets done, he expects the Yankees to eat about $23 million of Burnett’s remaining $33 million left on his contract.

UPDATE – 4:31 PM:

Some more from Heyman:

word is, #pirates willing to pay $10M of aj’s $33M. #yankees have been pushing for something closer to a 50-50 split

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) February 10, 2012

#yanks also seek ok prospect back, which pirates hadnt agreed to. still, despite the differences, decent chance to happen

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) February 10, 2012

“OK prospect?” Not quite sure what that means. But it seems like there is still a lot of optimism to the deal happening.

UPDATE – 5:05 PM:

Sources: #Yankees, #Pirates continue to talk Burnett. Not hitting a wall but also not close to deal. Pirates also looking at other SPs #MLB

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 10, 2012

According to reports, the “other SPs” seem to be John Lannan and Joe Blanton. This could mean that the Pirates are actually going after these other pitchers or using it as leverage against the Yankees.

More news on the A.J. Burnett front.

Apparently there are some legs to this story and the speculation that the Yankees want Garrett Jones appears to be true.

My feelings on a Jones for Burnett and cash trade are very mixed. With as mediocre as Jones is, the deal, in theory, makes sense. However, outside of Jones, the Pirates outlook at first base looks quite bad. Burnett would help shore up the rotation, but losing Jones would create a pretty big hole.

The Yankees really seem like they want to move Burnett, so hopefully talks will go on.

We heard some rumblings about the Pirates possibly inquiring on starter A.J. Burnett earlier this offseason, but it did not amount to much. Today, Ken Rosenthal wrote that the Pirates are believed to be one team that is considering a trade for the highly paid veteran.

First off, Burnett has a list of 10 teams he put on his no trade list. Amazingly, the Pirates are not among those 10 teams. Also, Burnett is set to make $33 million over the next 2 years, so the only way the Pirates could add him to the roster would be if the Yanks were willing to pay a decent amount of that.

Burnett has been a pretty big disappointment for the Yankees after signing a 5-year, $82.5 million contract following the 2008 season. However, Burnett’s peripherals are still pretty good and his xFIP has well-outperformed his ERA over the past 2 years. A move out of the rough AL East into the NL Central could be just what Burnett needs to bounce back from his days in NY.

Some speculation is that Garrett Jones would be involved in a deal for Burnett. The problem there is that if you trade Jones, then that leaves a pretty gaping hole at first base, which is already a big area of need for the club.

I can’t see having Burnett in the rotation as a bad thing, so this should be an interesting story to follow over the next few days.

Roy Oswalt, you are dead to me.

Well this sucks. Basically, the Pirates are the unpopular boy in high school who gets rejected by the hot cheerleader without getting the chance to show what he can do.

What makes news like this even more unnerving is that the stigma that is associated with the Pirates is a huge Catch-22. No one wants to sign with the Pirates because they don’t want to be a part of a loser. Unfortunately for the Pirates, it is going to be tough to lose that reputation unless we win. How do you win? You need good players.

This just goes to show how important drafting successfully is for a team like the Pirates because that is really the only hope in building a winner at this point.