The Yankees are not stopping at the $160 million they have promised CC Sabathia. They were working into the early hours today to finalize a deal for A.J. Burnett that not only would mean they had added two electric right-handers – but also that Andy Pettitte’s career in pinstripes may be over.
The Yanks extended a five-year offer to Burnett yesterday, which very well might have pulled them ahead of the Braves for good in what had become a two-team derby.
It is believed the offer exceeded $80M. There was buzz the deal could climb to the same $91.5 million range the Cubs gave Carlos Zambrano.
However, a person with knowledge of the Yankees’ plan said they wouldn’t go that high. Still, the total outlay for two starters will approach $250 million, and there are many in the Yankee organization who want to stop there.
That would mean no Derek Lowe, no Ben Sheets, and not even the $10 million, one-year bid that Pettitte so far has spurned.
In this scenario, the Yanks would front the rotation with Sabathia, Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang and Joba Chamberlain, and then let neophytes such as Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Alfredo Aceves battle for the No. 5 spot.
No final decision has been made in this area, except that the Yanks will not sign both Burnett and Lowe because their contracts both would extend too far into the future. However, there remained some chance the Yanks could be seduced into Sheets’ power stuff on a two-year deal, or yet another reunion with Pettitte.
Burnett, however, was clearly in the Yanks’ designs, despite his long injury history.
“The Sabathia signing should speed things up,” Burnett’s agent, Darek Braunecker said. “There is some speed to it.”
