When pitchers and catchers report to George M. Steinbrenner field in Tampa, FL for spring training tomorrow, a pitcher will be missing. The Yankees were able to unload A.J Burnett to the Pittsburgh Pirates, with New York picking up about $20 of the $33 million left on his contact. At first the thought was to pitch A.J every 5th day and let him eat innings for you, he's durable and good for 30+ starts a year. Once the Yankees were able to trade for Michael Pineda and sign Hiroki Kuroda for the rotation, it became very apparent that A.J was going to have to battle for a spot in the rotation. A.J was not going to be comfortable battling for the rotation, he wasn't comfortable battling in games. (he would have his good games but overall was very inconsistent) Now that the Yankees have pitching, they were able to dump A.J and paying most of what was left on his contract was going to be the only way. If Larry Rothschild (Yankee pitching coach) who is one of the best pitching coaches in the game couldn't fix A.J, I don't know if a change of address will work.
Jorge Posada will also not be there, he retired last month. It will be strange not seeing Jorge in camp. For the most part he was not all that visible last year when he was a full time DH, and only caught in one game.
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