Major League Baseball

BURNETT NOTICE; HURLER GETS GIFT IN ALCS

Published Oct. 12, 2010 10:16 p.m. ET

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A.J. BURNETT will get a start in the ALCS, but not on merit. This is about what others can't do rather than what Burnett can do.

The Yanks may think CC Sabathia is capable of starting twice on short rest if a seven-game series goes the distance. However, they are dubious about Andy Pettitte or Phil Hughes doing it even once - which would be mandatory for both if the Yanks stuck with a three- man rotation going forward.

So yesterday Brian Cashman revealed the team intends to use Burnett in the ALCS against the winner of to night's Rays-Rangers game.

Instantly, my mind flashed to something Paul O'Neill used to say: "When you win a championship, everyone had a good year."

He meant that a title motivated people to fondly remember what you had done to contribute to the title. For example, there is a general recollection that Burnett pitched well last postseason. That is because the Yankees won and Burnett had three strong Game 2 outings. Had they failed to win it all, Burnett's 5.27 postseason ERA and miserable showings in two Game 5s would be recalled more prominently.

Burnett had nearly an identical ERA this year, 5.26, the worst in Yankees history for anyone allowed to make more than 25 starts. That is his stain now, his legacy for this season. So he is getting a gift in the ALCS, a chance to throw some perfume on a skunk of a season.

But can Burnett, a synonym for untrustworthy, honor a gift? He wasted opportunity late in the season when the Yankees were all but begging him to show anything to earn a Division Series start. The ALDS format permitted the Yanks to live without Burnett and with a three-man rotation since only Sabathia would have been needed to pitch short once if the best-of-five went the distance.

However, if the Yankees were to use a three-man rotation and the ALCS went the distance, then Sabathia would have to pitch short in Games 4 and 7 while Hughes and Pettitte would have to do so in Games 5 and 6. So, it is four short-rest starts in a row or Burnett in Game 4 and have the other three starters available on full rest for the remainder of the series.

"I understand that he struggled," Cashman said. "That was before October. October can bring out the most competitive side of people. I know A.J.'s got a lot of competition in him and I know he'd like to eradicate everything that's occurred here in the second half."

Does he have a terrific start in him? Heck, does he have four runs in five innings, just something that would mean the Yanks still have a chance midway through a game? Remember, Burnett had 10 starts of fewer than five innings this year and the Yanks were 0-10 in those games. If he throws up that kind of clinker again, then ALCS Game 4 could make him as untenable in New York as ALCS Game 7 in 2004 finally did to Javier Vazquez (Part 1) or World Series Game 4 in 2003 finally did to Jeff Weaver.

The pitcher who made the most starts of fewer than five innings last year (13) was Joba Chamberlain, due to the Joba Rules and generally poor work, which is why the Yanks went to a three-man rotation. That and MLB providing the blessing of a more off-day-heavy schedule to make it possible.

No such fortune for the Yanks this year. They have worried about Pettitte because of too much age and Hughes because of too little experience, and so they will need a fourth starter in the ALCS. They will turn to A.J. Burnett. Is this opportunity for him or doom?

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