Starting pitcher A.J. Burnett is reportedly being shopped by the Yankees. (AP)

After posting back-to-back seasons with an ERA above 5.00, pitcher A.J. Burnett has reportedly been put on the trading block by the Yankees. And New York will even pay for another club to take him off the team’s hands.

According to the New York Post, the Yankees will listen to offers for Burnett and are willing to pay $8 million of the $33 million Burnett is owed over the next two seasons. This may indicate that the Yankees are trying to move Burnett to obtain a legitimate No. 2 starter behind CC Sabathia. The Yankees apparently have too much money on the payroll to get a No. 2 starter through free agency.

Burnett has struggled over the past two seasons with the Yankees. In 2011, the 34-year-old right-hander was 11-11 with a 5.15 ERA. Those numbers are slightly better than his career-worst 2010 season, when he went 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA.

Burnett’s best season in New York was his first, in 2009, when he went 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA and 195 strikeouts. But according to the Post, Burnett has had a drop in velocity over the past two seasons, leading to his struggles.

Tim Wakefield

After two days of rest and a redesigned lineup, the Red Sox struggled through Saturday’s series opener against the Yankees in the Bronx. On Sunday, the Red Sox will send out Tim Wakefield for the first game of a doubleheader to attempt to deliver something that staff ace Jon Lester was unable to accomplish Saturday: a quality start.

Wakefield (7-7, 5.08 ERA) has recorded just one win in the last two months. He is 1-0 in one start against the Yankees this season, an 11-6 win on June 8. In Wakefield’s last outing, an 8-5 loss to the Rays, the knuckleballer lasted five innings and allowed six runs (two earned) on six hits.

The Yankees have a plethora of experience against Wakefield. Derek Jeter has 130 career plate appearances and a .279 batting average against the knuckleballer with four doubles, a triple, three home runs and 12 RBIs. Eric Chavez has the most success against Wakefield, batting .314 with six doubles and two RBIs against Wakefield.

The Yankees counter Wakefield with A.J. Burnett, who seems to have recovered from a string of difficult starts in August when he went 1-2 in five games with an 11.91 ERA over 22 2/3 innings of work. Burnett (now 10-11, 5.28 ERA), is 1-0 through four games in September and started the month with a quality outing against the Red Sox, allowing just two earned runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings.

He did not pitch as well as he had earlier in the month in his last start, a 6-4 Yankees win against Minnesota. Burnett lasted four innings in that game, allowing four runs on nine hits while giving up two home runs.

The Red Sox lineup, which has been occasionally explosive in September but mostly quiet of late, has hit Burnett well in the past. Jacoby Ellsbury has a .344 average against Burnett with two doubles, a home run and two RBIs. Dustin Pedroia bats .333 against Burnett with three home runs and seven RBIs. Pedroia knocked in both runs on a two-run home run against Burnett earlier this month. Read the rest of this entry »

Jon Lester

The Red Sox and Yankees wrap up their penultimate series of the regular season Thursday night in Boston before the Sox welcome another challenge in hosting the Rangers at Fenway. Jon Lester will look to continue his three-game win streak while A.J. Burnett takes another crack at turning around his disappointing season.

Lester (14-6, 3.09 ERA) has been on a roll as of late. After taking two tough-luck losses to start the moth, he’s allowed just one run in each of his last three starts and recorded three straight wins. Since the end of May, 10 of Lester’s last 13 outings have been quality starts. On the other hand, he’s struggled a bit with his control. The left-hander has walked at least one hitter in each of his 25 starts, and he’s given out 16 free passes in five August outings.

Lester has had plenty of experience against the Yankees’ 2011 lineup. In three starts, he’s 2-1 with a 5.00 ERA. The one loss came in Lester’s most recent matchup, a 3-2 defeat on Aug. 5. The Red Sox held a 2-0 lead heading into the sixth inning, but a three-run rally put New York on top for good, just the second time the Sox dropped a game to their division rivals this season.

The 27-year-old has experienced some issues at Fenway this season, going 5-4 with a 3.44 ERA, compared with a 9-2 record and 2.84 ERA on the road. Opponents are hitting .255 vs. Lester in Boston and just .201 away from home. The left-hander has allowed 14 of his 17 home runs against righties, and he has walked 29 more right-handed hitters than left-handed hitters.

The Yankees are hitting .243 with eight home runs against Lester in 295 combined plate appearances. Derek Jeter is the only Yankees hitter with a plus-.300 batting average against Lester. In fact, he’s the only Yankee hitter with an average above .250 vs. the left-hander. In his team-high 48 matchups with Lester, Jeter is hitting .333 with two RBIs, two walks and nine strikeouts. Mark Teixeira is hitting .235 with a home run, three RBIs and 14 strikeouts in 39 plate appearances, while Alex Rodriguez is at .188 with three home runs and nine strikeouts in 35 matchups with Lester.

Things have gotten progressively worse for Burnett (9-11, 5.31 ERA) in 2011, and its looking less and less likely the $82.5 million pitcher will even make the playoff rotation. New York fans may have been encouraged by Burnett’s win over Kansas City two weeks ago — his first since June — but the right-hander allowed three runs on 10 hits and did not pitch through the sixth inning. After that outing, Burnett gave up seven runs to the Twins in 1 1/2 innings and nine runs to the Orioles in five innings. In the month of August, Burnett is 1-2 with an ERA of 11.91 in five starts.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tim Wakefield

With American League East dominance on the line, two seasoned veterans will take the mound for the Red Sox and Yankees Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. in New York. Joe Girardi will look to A.J. Burnett to keep Boston’s offense in check, while Terry Francona will counter with Tim Wakefield to challenge the division leaders.

Wakefield (2-1, 4.40 ERA) was stellar in his first two starts of the season, both coming in late May. The 44-year-old was 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA as a starter this season, but the White Sox managed to solve the knuckleballer in Chicago on June 1. Wakefield surrendered four runs on seven hits through six innings; not terrible, but not good enough to get his team the win.

Wakefield has become all too familiar with the nemesis from New York, as the Yankees have seen him in 484 combined plate appearances. In fact, Derek Jeter has faced Wakefield 127 times — more than any other hitter in major league history. Alex Rodriguez is third on the all-time list with 103 plate appearances, and Jorge Posada is sixth with 93. Wakefield has held all three of those hitters under .280.

Jeter has hit a triple, three home runs and 11 RBI against the knuckleballer, while Posada has hit four homers and 15 RBI. Rodriguez leads the Yankees with seven longballs off Wakefield, but also has a team-high 21 strikeouts. Robinson Cano has had the most success against the knuckleballer, hitting .304 with four doubles, four homers and 12 RBI in 47 plate appearances.

Burnett (6-3, 3.86 ERA), has been as unpredictable as ever this season, pitching brilliantly one night and horribly the next. He won four of his first five starts this year, but his win-loss record has been mostly dependent on the Yankees offensive production. New York has scored over six runs a game in Burnett’s six wins, but only eight runs combined in his three losses.

The 12-year pro got the month of June off to a good start with a win over Oakland in his last outing. Burnett allowed just two runs and three hits in seven innings while striking out five and walking three. In the start before that, however, the right-hander had struggled with his command. In a loss on May 27 vs. the Mariners, he was pulled after issuing five walks in just five innings.

With 266 combined plate appearances against the Yankees starter, the Red Sox are well aware of how wild Burnett can be. Still, he has struck out 62 Boston batters against 28 walks. Dustin Pedroia has exercised the most patience against Burnett, drawing 10 walks in 40 career plate appearances to go along with two homers, four RBI, and an even .300 batting average.

David Ortiz is on the other end of the spectrum, striking out twelve times in 40 plate appearances. He leads the team in K’s vs. Burnett, but also leads the way in home runs (3), doubles (5) and RBI (9). While Pedroia and Ortiz have seen the right-hander 40 times each, Carl Crawford has the most experience against Burnett. In 59 plate appearances, Crawford has a team-high .315 batting average with a homer, three doubles and five RBI.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Red Sox responded from two straight nights of Yankee blowouts with a decisive 9-3 win over New York, Sunday night at Fenway Park. The Sox pounded out nine runs on 10 hits, with all of the runs getting charged to Yanks starter A.J. Burnett. J.D. Drew, Jeremy Hermida, and Adrian Beltre each had two hits for the Sox. Jon Lester got the win, his third. (Click here for a recap.)

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE RED SOX

- David Ortiz can still hit the fastball: One of Ortiz’ most encouraging swings of the season came with the count full and two runners on in the fifth inning. Burnett came in with his third straight fastball of the at-bat, a 95 mph heater which the Red Sox’ designated hitter turned on, hitting a blast to deep right field where it bounced into the stands for an RBI double.

- Jon Lester had his ‘A’ game: Lester turned in his fourth straight solid start, only allowing solo homers to Nick Swisher and Alex Rodriguez in his seven-inning outing. When it was all said and done the lefty struck out seven, walked two, gave up just four hits and the two runs in lowering his ERA to 3.71.

- Marco Scutaro got things off on the right foot: The first three balls in play by the Yankees were all grounders to short, which Scutaro fielded flawlessly. He also kicked things off in the first with a leadoff single, which would accompany two walks on the night. Scutaro came into the game hitting .333 when leading off the inning (13-for-39) with five walks. He also was hitting .287 with a .353 on-base percentage in the leadoff spot.

- A.J. Burnett started: While Burnett has started this season in style (coming in with a 4-0, 1.99 ERA), he continued his trend of failing at Fenway. The Yankees starter succumbed to nine runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings. The outing pushed his ERA at the home of the Red Sox to 12.68 in five starts over the last two years.

- The offense was opportunistic: Five of the Red Sox’ nine runs came with two outs, with Adrian Beltre (2), Ortiz, Jeremy Hermida, and Kevin Youkilis. Hermida’s RBI was one of three on the night for the outfielder, who launched his fourth of the season in the fifth inning.

WHAT WENT WRONG ABOUT THE RED SOX

–Catcher Victor Martinez went 0-for-5 and stranded four runners, ending his modest six-game winning streak in which he hit .375.

–Outfielder Darnell McDonald went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, all against right-handed pitchers. While he is hitting .368 with a 1.323 OPS against left-handed pitching, he is hitting just .184 with a .516 OPS against righties.

It is the meat grinder division.

Pitchers rarely emerge unscathed from the American League East, a division rich with teams that expose the flaws of pitchers. One need only consider the first two games of the Red Sox-Yankees series, which has seen ace-caliber talents CC Sabathia, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and A.J. Burnett record four no-decisions, zero quality starts and a combined 7.65 ERA. All four starters — armed with some of the best stuff in the majors — have been driven out of their games early thanks to opposing lineups that drive up pitch counts with ferocious intensity.

Yet all four have shown an ability to survive and thrive in the most challenging division in baseball, which is why all four find themselves gainfully employed for years to come. The Sox made an $82.5 million wager this offseason that John Lackey is a pitcher capable of delivering a similar impact. If so, then the Sox — in Beckett, Lester and Lackey — could feature a rotation top three that hasn’t been seen in the AL East for years.

As pointed out here, it is incredibly rare for one team to feature three pitchers in the majors who achieve the basic measures of success of 200 innings and a sub-4.00 ERA. It is nearly impossible to assemble such a group in the AL East:

–Since 2000, there have been 24 rotations with three or more pitchers who notched 200+ innings. Just two of those came from the AL East, and none since 2003.

–Since 2000, there have been 33 rotations with three or more pitchers who had sub-4.00 ERAs. Just two of those came from the AL East, and none since 2002.

–Since 2000, there have been just 11 rotations with three or more pitchers who notched 200+innings and produced a sub-4.00 ERA. Just one of those came from the AL East, in 2001.

Suffice it to say that if a team can have three such elite pitchers, it will achieve a huge competitive advantage that would lay a formidable foundation for a playoff berth.

According to ESPN.com, the Red Sox won’t offer pitcher Josh Beckett a contract extension of more than four years. The report, which cited a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations, suggested that the Red Sox have concerns about Beckett’s shoulder that have led them to cap their offer at four years. While the Sox signed John Lackey to a five-year, $82.5 million deal this offseason, the club’s chief health concern was with Lackey’s elbow, rather than his shoulder.

Lackey owns a career record of 102-71 with a 3.81 ERA. A.J. Burnett owned a career 87-76 mark with a 3.81 ERA when he signed his five-year, $82.5 million deal with the Yankees prior to the 2009 season. Beckett, meanwhile, has a career 106-68 mark with a 3.79 ERA, making it natural to expect that he would be in line for a contract along the lines of his current and former teammates.

But as WEEI.com reported in February, Beckett’s shoulder presented different concerns than Lackey’s elbow issues, making it possible that his contract situation could be viewed as different than that of Burnett and Lackey. Beckett was told in 2000 that he would need surgery on the labrum in his right shoulder, but was reassessed by Dr. James Andrews, who helped him on a non-surgical path that has kept Beckett’s arm healthy for the past decade. Most recently, Beckett passed his insurance physical this spring.

The Red Sox and Beckett have declined comment on discussions about a contract extension for the pitcher this offseason, beyond making clear that both parties are interested in continuing the relationship beyond the 2010 season. Beckett, who turns 30 on May 15, is set to earn $12.1 million in 2010, the option season on a three-year, $30 million deal he signed with the Sox in 2006.