'Fair amount of optimism' on Burnett deal
A.J. Burnett - S - New York Yankees
Feb. 10, 2012 - 1:40 PM ET
Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports that there "seems to be a fair amount of optimism" a deal between the Yankees and Pirates involving A.J. Burnett gets done.
We last heard that the Pirates were willing to cover $8 million of the $33 million remaining on Burnett's contract but that a deal could probably go down if they were willing to cover a little more. The Yanks have asked for Garrett Jones in the deal, but that request was rejected by the Bucs. It's a straight salary dump trade that's likely to net very little for the Yanks in return. Both teams report for spring training in less than two weeks, so if they iron something out, it will likely happen sometime over the next week or so.
Source: Jon Heyman on Twitter