Allan James "A.J." Burnett (born January 3, 1977 in North Little Rock, Arkansas) is a right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. Previously, he played for the Florida Marlins.
In a seven-year career , Burnett has posted a 59-58 record with 871 strikeouts and a 3.77 ERA in 989.1 innings.
Burnett throws several different types of fastballs as well as a knuckle-curve. His fastball is regularly clocked in the high 90s and sometimes registers 100 mph on radar guns, which makes him one of the hardest-throwing starting pitchers in baseball.
Early professional career
Burnett was an eighth-round pick of the New York Mets in the 1995 amateur draft, but he was traded to the Marlins after the 1997 season when the Marlins dismantled their 1997 World Series championship roster. He was first called up to the Marlins from Class AA Portland in 1999, despite having a record of 6-12 and an ERA of 5.52 with Portland. He played parts of 1999 and 2000 with the Marlins; his first full regular season with the Marlins came in 2001, when he went 11-12 with an ERA of 4.05. On May 12, 2001, Burnett pitched a no-hitter but walked nine batters, which was a very unusual baseball feat. The 2002 season was probably his best to date (as of 2005); he complemented a 12-9 record that year with an ERA of 3.30 and a career-best 203 strikeouts.
Burnett was limited to four starts in 2003 before missing the rest of the season due to Tommy John surgery and thus did not play during the Marlins' World Series championship run. He returned in June 2004 and made 19 starts for the Marlins, going 7-6 with an ERA of 3.68. Even during 2004, his first season back from having the surgery, he was able to throw 100 mph. (He was shut down for most of September 2004 due to a less serious elbow injury.)
2005 season
The 2005 season was Burnett's last with the Marlins before he became eligible for free agency. Like former teammate Carl Pavano did in the 2004 off-season, he wanted to test the market rather than taking whatever new contract the Marlins gave him. Since he was likely to price himself out of the Marlins' budget, he was sought after by several other teams before the July 31 trade deadline, but he ended up not being traded.
Burnett seemed to be pitching his best games of the season right around the trading deadline. After he took the loss in the Marlins' first game after the All-Star break, dropping his record to 5-6, he strung together seven consecutive wins. The last of those wins was on August 19, when he pitched eight shutout innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He then lost six consecutive decisions, including four losses in five starts (with an ERA in that span of 5.93) during the Marlins' failed wild-card chase in September, to close out the season with a 12-12 record despite a 3.44 ERA.
On September 27, 2005, Burnett was asked by the Marlins to leave the team. The request came a day after he made comments criticizing the organization:
"We played scared. We managed scared. We coached scared," he told reporters following the Marlins' 5-3 loss at Turner Field. "I'm sick of it, man. It's depressing around here. A 3-0 ballgame, I give up one run and leave guys on base, it's like they expect us to mess up. And when we do, they chew us out. There is no positive, nothing around here for anybody."
Marlins manager Jack McKeon called Burnett into his office and broke the news. Burnett shook his hand, gathered up his belongings, and left. Burnett has since apologized, saying:
"I have always been a very passionate player and person. I often wear my emotions on my sleeve, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. I hope that my teammates always respect that of me, as I trust they know my commitment to winning. For those I've offended, I offer my most sincere apologies."
Because of his dismissal from the team, Burnett finished the season one inning short of receiving a $50,000 bonus for pitching 210 innings during the season; in addition, he was only two strikeouts shy of having his second 200-strikout season of his career. After Burnett's contract with the Marlins expired general manager Larry Beinfest the Marlins didn't attempt to re-sign him, which was unlikely to happen anyway, given Florida's financial constraints and the market for Burnett.
Burnett had criticized McKeon for not allowing the team's less experienced players to have much playing time. Although probably not because of Burnett's comments McKeon decided to let rookie Josh Johnson, a September callup from the Class AA Carolina Mudcats, make his first major-league start of his career on September 30, 2005. Previously, Burnett was scheduled to make his last start of the year at that game.
Burnett declared free agency on October 27, the first day after the Chicago White Sox won the 2005 World Series.
On the morning of December 6, 2005, at the Baseball Winter Meetings being held in Dallas, Texas, the Toronto Blue Jays signed A.J. Burnett to a five-year, $55 million deal.
2006 season
The Toronto Blue Jays took a bit of a chance by signing Burnett to a five year deal due to his inability to stay healthy, and the 2006 season began with him going on the disabled list when a piece of scar tissue — remnants of his "Tommy John" surgery — broke off in his pitching arm.
He was activated on April 15 and made a start against the Chicago White Sox, giving up four runs in six innings of work. In his next start against the Boston Red Sox, Burnett was removed from the game after only four innings due to soreness in his right arm. He would end up on the disabled list again, this time for over two months. Burnett finished the year on a strong note however, finishing the season with a 10-8 record and a 3.98 ERA.
Source : Wikipedia
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