WHY WE NEED TO FORGIVE & BURNETT

Whatever’s happened before with AJ Burnett is the past. We're going with a clean slate right now Ladies and Gentlemen. After all, many of the Yankee fans have written him off, but not so fast, the Yankee brass has not, at least that's what they want you to think.

Sure, they tried to unload him, but no one was biting so they pulled him back and Cashman quickly presented a smoke and mirrors trick to try and convince Yankeeland that he back’s AJ Burnett suddenly. (Read HERE.) Look, I’m not stupid, I know AJ’s been less than stellar, but it is what it is… AJ Burnett…never a truly outstanding pitcher, but instead, a good pitcher with problems.

Now that we officially know that, let’s remember who we have and enter Spring Training with him completing for a spot in the Yankees rotation like everyone else. After all, Freddy Garcia is, Phil Hughes will, Manny Banuelos may... so why not let AJ do it too. It’s only right.

Instead of killing this guy and crucifying him, we need to now put our differences aside and back him. Look, even great pitchers like Jack McDowell came to the Yankees and looked like they could be a perfect match, but then even he fizzled just as fast as he showed up. AJ Burnett is no Jack McDowell, he loves us fans... McDowell flipped us off. But the point is, pitchers sometimes can't handle New york pressure. It gets in their head... but one thing you can’t do is get down on your New York Yankees, you still need to back them. I’m not preaching here like Don Imus in Odd Jobs (Now that IS an obscure Pop Culture reference), but I’m just making a point, you get what you get and you don’t get upset. That means, we know what we have with AJ and until we come up with a solution to fix the problem, AJ Burnett is a pitcher for the New York Yankees and we need to support the guy.

What are we going to so, ship him off to Chicago to be with Theo and the Cubs and get Alfonso Soriano in return? Or trade bad contract for bad contract and send him to the Chisox for Adam Dunn? Actually, I love that idea. All these scenarios have been talked about and nothing is happening. So, now we do what we do as Yankee fans... We take a deep breath, and much like we did when Carl Pavano was the Opening Day pitcher for us in 2007, we support our guy, even if we hate him and we ask him to do what he’s supposed to do… his job. You never know, this could be AJ Burnett’s best year ever… maybe… if we give him alittle love…

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and look for the hashtag #BYB. Also, join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.