WHY TRADING BURNETT FOR BAY MAKES SENSE

(Photo: Getty)
The New York Daily News Stan Chrapowicki had a great piece about the Yankees struggling AJ Burnett and the Mets struggling Jason Bay and asked the very interesting question, would you swap the two? Read about it HERE.

He writes: "It's obvious he's no longer the Bombers' No. 2 starter, and he wouldn't be one in Flushing either, but he wouldn't have to fill that spot in the rotation. Until Johan Santana returns, he could pitch pressure free as the Mets' No. 5 behind Mike Pelfrey, Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee and R.A. Dickey."

Stop right there. This is totally true and while I love Chrapowicki thinking out of the box, to me, AJ Burnett being moved down in the rotation on the Yankees would make just as much sense as perhaps trading him to the Mets for Jason Bay. But look, the world hates AJ Burnett right now. I even wrote WHY BURNETT SEALED HIS FATE after his last horrendous pitching performance and i was convinced, CONVINCED he pitched his way out of the rotation. But he has Joe Girardi wrapped around his finger and was given 1 more shot against the evil Red Sox this upcoming series. Why? Because, while AJ Burnett is a loser, he's not a total loser, he can still pitch in the bottom of the rotation somewhere if not on the New York Yankees. Now, Stan's right, the Mets make sense. Especially in a field like that where nothing leaves the ballpark. He may even turn into a star.

Then Chrapowicki brilliantly ties in Jason Bay. He writes:

"Not only would Bay be back in the league in which he had a career year (2009 with the Red Sox), he would be playing his home games at Yankee Stadium, which has been a launching pad since it opened three years ago. In his year and a half with Boston, Bay proved he could handle baseball's most intense rivalry (remember his game-tying blast off Mariano Rivera two years ago), so putting on the pinstripes should be no problem for him."

Right on Stan. Jason Bay was a star with the Red Sox and he could also be at Yankee Stadium with the way it's built. Lord knows no one is hitting home runs out of Citi Field, right David Wright? Bay provides a big bat in the lineup as a DH and an outfielder on platoon days. Make sense? It kind of does.
Once we have a bat like Bay in the lineup, we can finally utilize our young pitching and stop wasting a spot for Burnett. Look at Ivan Nova, right? He just won number 14 yesterday. We just wrote about Nova in THE RISE OF NOVA, THE FALL OF BURNETT. At this point, I'd take Nova in that #2 role over Burnett any day of the week. Maybe next season Phil Hughes gets right too, he could be #3. How about the kids on the farm, could they then get a fair shot? See what I mean? The pitching falls into order nicely and no headache of Burnett.

I applaud Stan Chrapowicki, great piece, I hope everyone gets a chance to read it. I loved it.

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