Should The Pittsburgh Pirates Trade For AJ Burnett?

When the rumours of a potential AJ Burnett trade to the Pittsburgh Pirates emerged, many believed this was a classic blunder of a struggling team adding an unnecessary veteran player. After all, this would give the New York Yankees of all team some salary relief, a potential prospect and rid them of a poorly performing pitcher in Burnett. And make no mistake – AJ Burnett struggled last season, going 11-11 with a 5.15 ERA. So why would the Pirates want to add a pitcher like this? If you look a little deeper, it turns out it’s possible that Burnett shouldn’t have pitched as poorly as he did. He had an 8.18 K/9, which is in line with his career average. This is despite a declining fastball, as Burnett only averaged 92 MPH on his heater. However the strikeout rate was no fluke, as batters were swinging and missing at 10% of his pitches, again in line with his career averages. At 49%, his groundball rate was as strong as ever. And for the first time in his career, Burne...