Tigers interested in Burnett

[RockSports17]

DETROIT -- The Tigers are now in line in the pursuit of A.J. Burnett. That line will start winding at next week's general manager meetings.

Unlike the last two offseasons, when the Tigers had needs to fill at several different positions, team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said this week that Detroit's focus this offseason will be on pitching, most notably adding a veteran starter to fill the rotation spot vacated by free agent Jason Johnson.

Detroit's chase for the biggest name among free agent starters has begun. Burnett's agent, Darek Braunecker, confirmed that he's had discussions with the Tigers since he filed for free agency last week. Teams cannot talk contracts with free agents until next Friday, but they can make introductory calls, even visits, and talk anything but money.

One such visit generated headlines a couple days ago with a trip to Toronto as part of the Blue Jays' courtship effort. The team gave a tour of the Rogers Centre to Burnett, who had dinner with former Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay and took in a Raptors game with courtside seats.

No such visit is planned yet for Detroit. Braunecker said Toronto was a unique situation in that the timing worked best for both sides to have a visit this week. Burnett will most likely visit other cities later, once the GM meetings have been completed. Next week's meetings in California will allow Braunecker to meet face-to-face with representatives of several clubs, including the Tigers.

Already, it's a long list. Braunecker said "probably 70 percent of baseball" has expressed some interest in Burnett, whose combination of age and pitching repertoire has made him arguably the top free agent on the market at any position. He hopes the GM meetings will give him a better idea where all those teams stand.

From there, the visits should continue. However, Burnett's tour of cities is expected to be more low-key than that of his former teammate, Carl Pavano, last winter. Pavano's visits to Detroit, New York, Baltimore, Seattle and Boston, among other cities, generated as much or more interest from fans as teams, including his much-publicized trip to Detroit last December.

Braunecker wants Burnett's visits to simply "give him an opportunity to make a very educated decision when the time comes," he said.

All of the perceived front-runners to land Burnett's services have some sort of connection to him. The Blue Jays, who have been aggressive in their pursuit from the outset, have pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, who formed a bond working with Burnett as the Marlins pitching coach in his previous job. The Orioles are expected to be a major pursuer in part because Burnett's wife is from the Baltimore area.

Detroit's link runs through the front office. While Dombrowski was the Marlins general manager, he acquired Burnett, then a Mets prospect, in a trade for Al Leiter when Florida had to break up its 1997 world championship club. Burnett made his Major League debut late in the 1999 season before joining the rotation full-time the following summer.

Burnett posted a 49-50 record for his Marlins career, but his wins and losses belie his performance. He has allowed just 719 hits in 853 2/3 innings, never allowing more hits than innings pitched in any of his seven big league seasons, and he owns 753 career strikeouts. His win total tops the Marlins career list.

The lanky right-hander with a power arm went 12-12 this past season, but posted a career best with 209 innings. With trade rumors swirling, he posted wins in seven consecutive starts from July 19 to Aug. 19, scattering seven earned runs on 40 hits over 52 innings in that span. He slumped after that, going 0-6 over his final seven starts of the season.

The combination of his performance at this age and the abundance of teams looking for pitching are expected to create a fierce competition for his services. Yet the Tigers, who were widely believed to be the runner-up in the Pavano sweepstakes last winter, are expected to be among the more aggressive teams in the pursuit.

Dombrowski was not selective when asked what he's seeking in a pitcher.

"We're looking for somebody we think can help us win some games," Dombrowski said. "That's really what our biggest goal is."

Dombrowski is also looking for a closer, another position where they've started to identify their targets. The Tigers have had early discussions with top free agent Billy Wagner, the Phillies stopper who visited New York earlier this week. He's reportedly seeking a guaranteed three-year deal.

Link

If Burnett can keep healthy, and be productive, it could really help improve this club. What we need most out of this offseason is pitching. Pitching seemed to be our worst point on last year's club. A pitcher like Burnett is what we need.

[General]

They were interested in Pavano, why not Burnett?

[love_that_reefer]

If Burnett couldn't get along with an old fart like McKeown, why is he going to get a long with another old school guy like Leyland. That's why I don't want him in SF because Alou is also old. Plus there are too many egos (Bonds takes up 9 egos) on the Giants for Burnett's lack of team play.