A.J. Burnett Would Enjoy Being a Cub

Poor A.J. Burnett isn't making any friends north of the border these days. First, he sarcastically tipped his cap to a booing Blue Jays crowd after being pulled from a bad outing. Then, a Chicago Sun Times reporter asked him about a possible trade to the Cubs to which Burnett responded:

"As of right now I'm a Blue Jay, and I'm going to pitch to the best of my ability as long as I'm part of this club," he said. "But if something were to happen and I'd have the opportunity to go to a place where baseball is breakfast, lunch and dinner, that would be awesome.

"Right now my focus is with this club, but if something like that were to happen, I'd accept it with open arms."

Hmmm. Perhaps Burnett was merely trying to be nice knowing the reporter was from Chicago, but it was still probably a little stronger and more honest than the Blue Jays, and especially their fans would have wanted it. Trying not to burn bridges in Chicago before he gets there, he might have burned a bridge or two in Toronto. After Sunday's loss to the Cubs, Burnett was asked about the quote, and about how fans might perceive it:

"Who would not want to play for the Cubs, bottom line?" he said.

In a post-game media scrum, Burnett took pains to emphasize his commitment to the Jays. If Toronto fans take exception to his comments, so be it, he said.

"I don't really care if the fans take it," he said. "If they can't read the part that I said where I'm at right now in my mind, then whatever. I'm a Blue Jay now. I'm a Blue Jay until they tell me otherwise. I'm proud of that." (...)

Teammate Vernon Wells said Burnett "seemed shocked" at the Sun-Times story when the two discussed it before Sunday's game. Wells did not say who initiated the discussion, but was ready with his own answers when reporters approached him.

"[Burnett] knows the situation," Wells said. "He knows he can opt out at the end of the year, obviously. He's a grown man. He can say what he wants to say. All we care about is if he's still loyal to this team, which I know he is."

Sounds like Burnett isn't going to be appearing at any fanfests in Toronto anytime soon, since the fans, and not the organization, seems to be where his ire lies. And it also sounds like Burnett might be using the opt out clause he has in his contract after this season (the third season of five in the contract he signed) if he doesn't get traded first.

We know Burnett hearts the Cubs, but is the feeling mutual? I have to wonder if the Cubs would even want a guy who has had some injury history on his resume. You would think having Kerry Wood and Mark Prior would scare the Cubs off x-rays for good, no matter how long Burnett's been injury free.