Yankees, Pirates Finally Complete A.J. Burnett Trade

Jon Heyman reports that the Pirates’ trade for Yankees starting pitcher A.J. Burnett is finally complete.

Burnett passed the physical and mlb approved the trade. Done deal.

The Pirates acquired Burnett in exchange for minor league reliever Diego Moreno and outfielder Exicardo Cayones. They will pay $13 million on the last two years of the contract Burnett signed with New York.

The deal helps stabilize the Pirates’ rotation, which could benefit nicely from 180 innings of Burnett rather than Kevin Correia (or, digging further down, someone like Jo-Jo Reyes). Assuming Charlie Morton (who had surgery in the offseason) is healthy at the beginning of April, the Pirates’ rotation is likely to be Burnett, Morton, Erik Bedard, James McDonald and Jeff Karstens. That’s hardly a world-beating rotation, and it probably isn’t even enough to get the Pirates to .500, but it’s a lot better than it was a week ago.

For more on the Pirates, be sure to check out Bucs Dugout. For more on the Yankees, there’s Pinstripe Alley.