Michael Sanserino of the Post-Gazette reports that the Yankees and Pirates have reached agreement on their deal that would send A.J. Burnett to Pittsburgh. We’ve heard, separately, that the Pirates will send minor-league reliever Diego Moreno and another prospect to the Yankees, and will pick up $13 million on the two years remaining on Burnett’s contract.
The deal will be officially complete once Major League Baseball approves it and Burnett and the other players involved take physicals.
We’ll see how accurate all that turns out to be, but this has to have been the longest, most drawn-out trade of all time, at least to those of us who follow the Pirates on a 24-hour news cycle. Anyway, Burnett should provide a nice boost to a rotation that badly needed it. He’ll likely replace Kevin Correia. He’ll benefit from the friendlier confines of PNC Park and from a move from the A.L. East to the N.L. Central. He’s old enough that his decline could come quickly, but this looks like a nice move toward respectability for the Bucs.
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