The Pittsburgh Pirates have done some impressive things since Neal Huntington came on as general manager, but perception in the free agent world lags reality by a few years—most recently, that's kept the Pittsburgh Pirates from signing the middle-of-the-rotation free agents they covet, like Edwin Jackson. Now they're closing in on the only kind of free agent they can get: The one that's already signed with a big-market team and then disappointed there. An A.J. Burnett trade with the New York Yankees has reportedly been in the works for a while now, with the only question being just how much Yankees largesse the Pirates will have to take on.
↵There's probably no statistical reason for me to be saying this, but A.J. Burnett seems like the kind of guy who might do better in a place where not everybody in the city despises him. His main problem in the Bronx has been a brutal home run rate, but he hasn't lost a ton of velocity and home run rates are more likely than the other peripherals to vanish in a puff of smoke some random year.
↵And hey—he probably wants to be in Pittsburgh, which is a nice change from Edwin Jackson.
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