Someone in the Yankees front office will have some explaining to do after an ongoing investigation reveals the person responsible for trying to sell struggling pitcher AJ Burnett on Craigslist.
The ad in question offered the services of the hurler for a mere fraction of the money the Yankees are already paying him. Burnett is in year three of a five-year contract that will pay him $82.5 million when all is said and done.
“I considered renting him for my beer league,” said Butchie, the man who e-mailed us the listing. “I couldn’t get the rest of the guys to kick in on the $50 per game price tag.”
Burnett has become the lost man on the playoff-bound Yankees team. The team desperately tried to move him in the offseason, but could not find a suitor willing to eat his bloated contract.
“While I believe he could win 15 games in the NL, he just has a certain stigma associated with him that I wouldn’t touch,” a rival GM mentioned. “Someone probably would have taken a shot at a discount, a blind goat could win 15 in the National League.”
Before the post was pulled from the website, a Japanese team reportedly called the Yankees and made an offer. Yankee brass chose not to comment, but a leak confirmed the offer was $2 million and a Matsui to be named later.
