Johnny Damon and his Yankees teammates flailed hopelessly at A.J. Burnett’s high-octane fastball and muscular curveball and wondered, “What if he was on our side?”
The wondering is over. Burnett, 32 early next month, has agreed to a five-year, $82.5 million deal with the Yankees. Contract language and a physical are all that stands in the way of the deal being announced.
And Damon couldn’t be happier.
“All of us saw how he dominated us,” Damon said of the right-hander, who was 5-3 with a 2.39 ERA and held Yankee hitters to a .213 batting average and fanned 72 batters in 71 2/3 innings. “We always said if we had this guy we would have won the past three years.”
Burnett, who forfeited $24 million across two years in Toronto when he opted out of his contract, is one of the elite AL hurlers when right. However, injuries have plagued him.
Still, Damon is wild about teaming Burnett with CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang.
“On most teams, Sabathia, Burnett and Wang would be No. 1 starters,” Damon said. “We have three No. 1 guys.”
And the Yankees may not be done. They continue to talk to right-handers Derek Lowe and Ben Sheets, haven’t pulled a $10 million offer to Andy Pettitte and have stayed engaged with first baseman Mark Teixeira. And Hank Steinbrenner isn’t the only voice who wants to do more than kick the tires on outfielder Manny Ramirez.
“I am sure there is more stuff out there, but I am pretty happy,” Damon said.