The prospects going back for Burnett aren't anything special, as this is just a salary dump for the Yankees. Exicardo Coyones is a tweener outfielder, who doesn't have the bat for a corner, but doesn't have the defense for center. Diego Moreno is a pitcher with a lot of arm strength, but one who lacks command. Both of these players were available in the Rule 5 Draft this past December, but neither were picked up. There's nothing to be had with either of them, and they're only included because by definition, "trade" means something has to go both ways.
But Burnett going to the Pirates is actually very interesting. A pitcher who's made at least 32 starts in each of the past four years shows both durability and effectiveness. In this day and age of max-effort pitching, avoiding injury could be considered a skill, but also being able to make that many starts without being pulled form the rotation shows a talent level which is considerably above replacement level.
Moving from the American League East to the National League Central should benefits Burnett in two ways. The first is leaving the toughest division in Major League Baseball and joining a division which includes the Cubs and Astros. The second is the park switch. Moving from New Yankees Stadium to the more pitcher friendly PNC Park is a move which should also aide Burnett.
In 2011, Burnett fell out of favor with the Yankees due to his inability to keep his ERA under five. But the majority of Burnett's problems were related to his home run rate, which the move out of Yankee Stadium should help account for. In 2011, his HR/FB ratio was 17%, which is in line with sluggers like Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, and Adam Lind. Essentially, Burnett was giving up home runs as if he was facing a middle of the over hitter during every at bat. His career mark is 11.3%, and he had never been above 11.6% with the Yankees before 2011. Moving into an easier division with a pitchers' park in Pittsburgh should help remedy this.
Looking back at the statistics again, we can highlight Burnett's xFIP. xFIP is a statistic which tries to predict a pitchers ERA if he had league average defenders behind him at every position of the field. It differs from regular FIP by adjusting home run rate back to league average, while still accounting for the pitchers' home park. In 2011, Burnett's xFIP was 3.86, right in line with Ryan Vogelsong, Jered Weaver, Shaun Marcum, and Trevor Cahill. Weaver got considerable Cy Young consideration, while the rest of that list are generally considered to be top of the rotation talents.
Burnett's xFIP isn't the only thing that hints that 2011 was a worst case scenario. He's going into his age 35 season, but his ground ball rate improved in 2011, and was above his career average (49.2% against 48.9%). His strikeout rate was also in line with his career mark, at 8.18 K/9 vs 8.22 K/9 for his career. While control has never been his strong suit, the 3.92 BB/9 was also in line with his career mark, and actually lower than his 2010 mark, and something a team can deal with for a pitcher who's flirting with one strikeout per inning.
He's owed $33 million over the next two seasons, and the Yankees' have agreed to pay for $20 million of that. He's showing the skills of a middle rotation starter, and since the Pirates didn't have to give up anything on consequence in the deal, it can be looked at almost as a free agent acquisition. On the open market, Burnett would have been in line to get much more than a 2 year $13 million deal, so while this is just a salary dump for the Yankees, the Pirates get a good deal in the trade.
Pittsburgh most likely fancies themselves as a contender for their division this coming season, with Albert and Prince out of the division, and Ryan Braun looking at a 50 game suspension. They can use Burnett as a front of the rotation starter, and keep him throughout the tenure of his contract, or deal him at the 2012 trade deadline or during the next offseason if he bounces back and puts up better numbers this season.
It's an opportunistic move by the Pirates which should payoff for them by either helping them over the hump in 2011, or providing a trade chip for them whenever they feel necessary. Burnett is a violative pitcher, who is always at risk of a blowup, but he also represents the only arm in the Pirates' rotation who has the stuff to dominate an opponent (much like Francisco Liriano of recent Twins teams), and I think this move benefits Burnett, the Pirates, and the Yankees.
The Yankees are looking use the money that they saved on Burnett to sign a bat to fill the designated hitter spot which was left open by the trade of Jesus Montero and retirement of Jorge Posada. They've been rumored to be interested in Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez, but they've yet to be connected to anyone who can actually still handle a bat.
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