Just Say NO to A.J. Burnett

It's been a while since I've ranted on this subject. But since today I'm in a pissy mood anyway, what the hell. A.J. Burnett, formerly (I pray it stays that way) of the Toronto Blue Jays, is not worth the money being thrown at him. Let's look at the numbers first: Strikeouts are nice but really don't account for THAT much in baseball. The same goes for complete games, shut-outs, and a slew of other sabre(rattling)matrics. See Cy Young winner Cliff Lee. What really matters are wins, ERA, and innings pitched. You want your starter to go seven-plus innings, give up as few runs as possible, and hopefully win the game. It's not rocket science. Of course, the defence that plays behind you, and offence that provides the run support, is going to factor in on the aforementioned statistics. See Cy Young also-ran Roy Halladay. The bottom line is, when your starter takes the mound every five games, you'd like to be sure that he will give you a decent chance to win. A key point here. Starting ... (link)