A.J. Burnett

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Yankees and Pirates are “moving forward” in talks about a deal that would send pitcher A.J. Burnett to the Pirates.

Burnett struggled to an 11-11 record and 5.15 ERA in 2011. However, he has made at least 32 starts in each of the last four seasons, and he struck out 8.2 batters per nine innings, exactly in line with his career average.

The Yankees reportedly are interested in moving Burnett so that they can clear some payroll and address other needs on the club. Specifically, manager Joe Girardi recently told reporters that he would like to add a left-handed bad to DH and offer some flexibility in the field. Raul Ibanez represents one possible fit.

While the Yankees have shown a willingness to pay much of the remaining $33 million due to Burnett over the next two years (the last seasons of a five-year, $82.5 million deal Burnett signed with New York prior to the 2009 season), there seems to be a remaining financial gap to bridge.

The New York Post’s Joel Sherman tweeted: “Yankees telling  Pirates absorbing $10M of AJ’s $33M isn’t enough, won’t do deal at that level,” Sherman said, adding, “I’m surprised. Thought Yanks would be happy to defray any of Burnett’s $ to move on from him.”

The Pirates have also told the Yankees that they will not include first baseman/outfielder Garrett Jones in a deal, according to the Post-Gazette.

You heard him on with our own Rob Bradford and Michael Felger on the Dennis and Callahan program. Now read what Joel Sherman wrote in his column in the New York Post on the Mark Teixeira signing. He has some interesting perspective and comparisons on how the Yankees approached the Teixeira signing and what they learned from not signing Carlos Beltran several years ago. Sherman’s colleague Mike Puma breaks down how the Yanks grabbed Teixeira from the Red Sox in the 11th hour negotiations with Scott Boras. ‘Tis the season for spending sprees and Mike Lupica of the Daily News writes that Teixeira signing shows the spending never ends in New York. Neil Best of Newsday writes the spending spree of the Yankees is raising eyebrows in a down economy.