A.J. Burnett Signs With Yankees For Five Years, $82.5 Million

Baseball was warned that the Yankees were desperate for starting pitching and would do anything to improve it, bad economy or not. With Friday's signing of A.J. Burnett to a five-year, $82.5 million contract, baseball has learned that the Yankees aren't kidding.

This deal is still pending a physical, which anybody who knows A.J.'s history knows isn't just a mere formality. And that will be the worry going forward. With Carl Pavano still fresh in the Yankees' synapses, it's a bit surprising that the Yanks would sink all that money into the injury-prone Burnett ... especially if they continue their spending spree and throw another $80 million down on Derek Lowe (you'd think not with Burnett in the fold but I'm not convinced), or even another $10 million on Andy Pettitte. When it's all said and done we may be talking about $82.5 million for what could turn out to be a fourth starter behind CC Sabathia, Lowe, and Chien-Ming Wang.

Now if Burnett works out, Yankees fans will be saying "Wow, this guy's our fourth starter!" Not bad. But which Burnett will pitch for the Yankees, the one who was dynamite against the Red Sox (2-0, 2.60) and Yankees (3-1, 1.64) last season, or the injury-prone Burnett?

Then there's the matter of the Braves, who were also chasing Burnett. Might they now turn towards Ben Sheets to upgrade their rotation behind Tim Hudson and Javier Vazquez? Or will the Yankees sign Sheets too? The way they're spending, don't rule anything out.