WHY TRADING BURNETT FOR BAY MAKES SENSE

(Photo: Getty)

The New York Daily News Stan Chrapowicki had a great piece about the Yankees struggling AJ Burnett and the Mets struggling Jason Bay and asked the very interesting question, would you swap the two? Read about it HERE.

He writes: "It's obvious he's no longer the Bombers' No. 2 starter, and he wouldn't be one in Flushing either, but he wouldn't have to fill that spot in the rotation. Until Johan Santana returns, he could pitch pressure free as the Mets' No. 5 behind Mike Pelfrey, Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee and R.A. Dickey."

Stop right there. This is totally true and while I love Chrapowicki thinking out of the box, to me, AJ Burnett being moved down in the rotation on the Yankees would make just as much sense as perhaps trading him to the Mets for Jason Bay. But look, the world hates AJ Burnett right now. I even wrote WHY BURNETT SEALED HIS FATE after his last horrendous pitching performance and i was convinced, CONVINCED he pitched his way out of the rotation. But he has Joe Girardi wrapped around his finger and was given 1 more shot against the evil Red Sox this upcoming series. Why? Because, while AJ Burnett is a loser, he's not a total loser, he can still pitch in the bottom of the rotation somewhere if not on the New York Yankees. Now, Stan's right, the Mets make sense. Especially in a field like that where nothing leaves the ballpark. He may even turn into a star.

Then Chrapowicki brilliantly ties in Jason Bay. He writes:

"Not only would Bay be back in the league in which he had a career year (2009 with the Red Sox), he would be playing his home games at Yankee Stadium, which has been a launching pad since it opened three years ago. In his year and a half with Boston, Bay proved he could handle baseball's most intense rivalry (remember his game-tying blast off Mariano Rivera two years ago), so putting on the pinstripes should be no problem for him."



Right on Stan. Jason Bay was a star with the Red Sox and he could also be at Yankee Stadium with the way it's built. Lord knows no one is hitting home runs out of Citi Field, right David Wright? Bay provides a big bat in the lineup as a DH and an outfielder on platoon days. Make sense? It kind of does.

Once we have a bat like Bay in the lineup, we can finally utilize our young pitching and stop wasting a spot for Burnett. Look at Ivan Nova, right? He just won number 14 yesterday. We just wrote about Nova in THE RISE OF NOVA, THE FALL OF BURNETT. At this point, I'd take Nova in that #2 role over Burnett any day of the week. Maybe next season Phil Hughes gets right too, he could be #3. How about the kids on the farm, could they then get a fair shot? See what I mean? The pitching falls into order nicely and no headache of Burnett.

I applaud Stan Chrapowicki, great piece, I hope everyone gets a chance to read it. I loved it.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

WHY IT'S JUST BASEBALL SUZYN

(Photo: Getty)

So another Yankees/Red Sox Series has come and gone and it seems the Sox had the Yanks number. While the results weren’t what the Yankees were hoping for, at least it was entertaining. The Yankees came into the series having won 7 in a row and Boston was reeling. In the end, Boston took a 2-1 series win and improved to 10-2 against the Yanks this

season.After Friday, nobody would have predicted that. The Yanks pulled out a 3-2 victory even with a sub-par performance by Bartolo Colon. MSG and 1050 ESPN personality Bill Daughtry was quick to point out that the Mets R.A. Dickey pitched a better game in the Mets 4-3 loss to the Braves Friday night. How do you like that? Colon wasn’t great, but he kept his team in the game.

(Photo: Getty)

What’s the saying? You’re only as good as the next day’s starter? Well, Saturday we saw CC Sabathia, who’s having a monster year against everyone except Boston against John Lackey. Let's face it, the Yankees tee off on Lackey more than Adam Scott and his Titlest. Well, Boston got to CC and his struggles against the Sox continued.



Sunday night saw Josh Beckett vs. Freddy Garcia. Clearly Boston had the edge going into the game. Well, the Yanks had the lead and Mo coughed it up and Phil Hughes flat out ate it late.



On paper, the Sox should have destroyed the Yanks on Friday and Sunday. Their stellar offense should’ve lit up the Yanks reclamation projects. And then Saturday should’ve been a walk in the park for the Yanks. But as a despised broadcaster on an unnamed network likes to say, “That’s why they play the game.” This is why I think SABRmetrics is pointless and you should trust your scouts and what your eyes see on the field.

And here's my best impersonation of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on paper:



John Sterling: "This weekend proves it's just baseball... Nobody in their right mind would’ve predicted it. You know Suzyn... Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe said (pause) the 2-1 pitch to Eduardo Nunez... low. The Yanks would have the best record in baseball if they could beat those pesky Red Sox."



Suzyn Waldman: "That’s a great point John.”



John Sterling: "Here’s the 3-1 pitch, swung on, drilled deep to left. It is high. It is FAR. It is…. It’s foul."

In all seriousness though, the 3 things this weekend proved is that baseball is unpredictable, the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is always fun, and the Yankees are playing well despite the injuries this year, except when they play the Sox and that needs to change if a trip to the World Series is in the cards, bottom line.

-- Lem Allen, BYB Freelance Writer

bybcurmudgeon@gmail.com

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.