Philly Sports Jabronis
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — As A.J. Burnett took the PNC Park mound on July 6 in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform, he was saluted with a video board montage that ended with, “Thank you, A.J.”
Wrong sign-off. It should have said, “Till we meet again.”
The Pirates and the veteran right-hander met again on Friday, when he agreed with the club for a 2015 contract at $8.5 million.
A year after following his homing instincts to Philadelphia, Burnett followed his heart back to Pittsburgh.
“This is where I belong,” Burnett said on a conference call with reporters Friday afternoon. “This is gonna be my last season. I got one more in me. I want to win a ring, and I want to do it in Pittsburgh.”
After 1 disappointing season in Philly, Burnett has resigned with the Pirates. Photo credit – www.pittsburghsportsreport.com
Even in leading the National League in losses this past season, Burnett displayed the doggedness that had made him such a popular Pirates rotation anchor in 2012-13, and that made it easy for general manager Neal Huntington to quickly make it happen when he expressed a desire to return.
Burnett logged 213 2/3 innings this past season, ranking seventh in the NL, despite pitching all year with a hernia corrected surgically soon after his last start.
“I’m ramping up, and expect to be good to go from the start of Spring Training,” Burnett said. “There was never really a lot of pain. I’d say I was [pitching] at about 85-90 percent all the time.”
“We feel the hernia entered into his [2014] performance, and there were some other factors,” Huntington said. “We have indicators that show he is still a good pitcher who can win games and eat innings. He’s happy, healthy and motivated to finish his career on a great note.
“A.J. reached out to me not long after he became a true free agent, and it came together quickly.”
What a difference a year — and a personal 8-18 season for a 73-89 team — make.
One year ago, Burnett prioritized pitching closer to his East Coast home and cast his lot with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Now he favored being closer to first place than to his front door. After rejecting two different 2015 options in his Philadelphia contract, his half of a mutual option and then his own player option, he instructed agent Darek Braunecker not to negotiate with any team other than the Pirates.
Burnett’s player option had been for $12.75 million.
“He’s a man who left a lot of money on the table,” Huntington said. “He wants to take care of unfinished business.”
Burnett is still owed the $7.5 million signing bonus on the deal he made on Feb. 16 with the Phillies, payable starting on Dec. 15. But that remains Philadelphia’s responsibility.
Burnett’s 2015 salary is in line with the $8 million he earned from the Bucs in 2013. His former team, the Yankees, were paying the balance of his $16.5 million salary.
After the Pirates had declined to extend him a qualifying offer of $14.1 million, Burnett signed on with the Phillies — and unwittingly signed on for their disappointing season that ended in the NL East cellar.
As the season was winding down, he clearly was leaning toward pitching one more season, but not in Philadelphia for a team that appears to be entering rebuild mode.
“While the season was going on, I was totally committed to the team. The fans were great,” Burnett said. “I didn’t want to go anywhere at the time. Once the season ended, I started thinking about it.
“I’m lucky I had the opportunity to be able to go out where I want. There is no other place I want to be. I was really happy here. I had a great time, great teammates.”
The dusk of Burnett 1.0 was not that great. When manager Clint Hurdle chose to bypass him for Game 5 of the 2013 NL Division Series in St. Louis and instead handed rookie Gerrit Cole the ball, Burnett had an irate reaction which some felt influenced his decision to leave.
As Burnett 2.0 dawns, the 37-year-old right-hander threw more dirt on the hatchet buried long ago by Hurdle.
“We both have learned a lot about each other. If I had to do it all over, I would handle it differently, sure,” Burnett said. “It’s all water under the bridge. I’m looking forward to taking the ball every five days.”
