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A.J. Burnett: Pittsburgh Pirates Can Snare Free Agents, But Only If They've Already Disappointed

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.

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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.

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And hey—he probably wants to be in Pittsburgh, which is a nice change from Edwin Jackson.

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