Burnett the Wrong Move for Yankees

Did someone in the Yankees front office forget what a disaster Carl Pavano was? It would seem that way with the reported contract AJ Burnett has agreed to.  Hell, these guys were teammates in Florida. The Yankees and Burnett have agreed to a contract that is said to be five years, $82.5 million, about $16.5 per season.  The good news?  Burnett has had an ERA below 4.00 in four of the last five seasons.  The bad news?  He's averaged 170.1 innings pitched over those five seasons.  The two years he pitched over 200 innings were contract years. Coincidence?  You be the judge. The thing you have to like about Burnett is that his strike out rate has been on a bit of an incline the last few seasons although his WHIP has been a bit erratic.  He's always been touted as a pitcher with great stuff but his command of the strike zone has been shaky at times.  At 32 years old this season, it's reasonable to suggest that he won't magically find excellent command any time soon. That's what makes the terms of this deal so puzzling.  The Yankees need pitching, which is obvious, but I don't think they need an erratic pitcher at this price point until he's 36.  Since his first real fulltime season in 2001, Burnett has averaged 156.2 innings pitcher per year.  If the last three seasons are any indicator, they can expect roughly 174.3 innings.  Is that worth $16.5 million?  Joba is expected to give about 160 innings and he's being capped. The Yankees can not sign a pitcher with this injury history expecting 220 innings a year which may be the reason for all the rumors about them pursuing three pitchers total outside of Pettitte.  The Joba-to-the-bullpen fire has been stoked a few times in the previous weeks as the Yankees have agressively pursued starting pitching.  The fear is that the Yankees are sitting on some medical news that they haven't shared, despite proclaiming that Joba would start the year in the rotation. If that's the case, the Yankees may be trying to fill their rotation with as many veteran arms as possible.  But with Burnett's injury history, it would make just as much sense to throw less money and less years at Ben Sheets.  Sheets has ten times the upside of Burnett, is two years younger, and while he is similarly injury-prone, he would require less years and less per year based on an injury he had at the end of last season. There may be something in Sheets medical report we don't know either, but if the Yankees are willing to gamble on a starting pitcher not providing 200+ innings, Sheets stands a better chance of being more effective in the innings he provides.