Yanks Looking At Burnett?

From MLBTR:

Back on July 10th, ESPN’s Jayson Stark said it was “dubious that Toronto would even talk to [the Yankees] about A.J. Burnett.” Presumably this is because the Yankees and Jays are division rivals. It should be noted, though, that J.P. Ricciardi and Brian Cashman matched up on a July ‘02 trade that sent Raul Mondesi to New York for prospect Scott Wiggins.

Yesterday, CBSSports.com’s Danny Knobler wrote:

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi told Toronto reporters that he now doesn’t expect to trade A.J. Burnett. But Burnett’s Friday night start at Tampa Bay attracted more than a dozen scouts, including two from the Yankees. Several of the scouts in attendance didn’t stay for the rest of the weekend series, a clear indication that they were in town strictly to watch Burnett.

So while we have nothing concrete, there are signs that the Yankees are looking at Burnett. The Cubs reportedly had a guy watching him, too. He and Justin Duchscherer are the two best remaining starters who could conceivably be pried loose via trade.

This could be nothing, I mean, scouts go to dozens of games to watch dozens of players and such scouting doesn’t mean a trade will happen, especially with a division rival. However, Burnett does have incredible stuff and he always pitches pretty well against the Yankees and at Yankee Stadium, so that may entice Brian Cashman. Burnett’s home splits this year are terrible, as he has a 5.64 ERA and 1.55 WHIP when pitching in Toronto. His road splits are much more favorable (4.17 ERA, 1.31 WHIP), and he could benefit from a trade. He’s also a walking splint, with injury prone written across his forehead, so do you really want to give up solid prospects to get him? If you do, he could possibly opt out of his contract after the season is over.