It's Time for a Jesse Litsch Thread

[dennistokyo]

I understand what you're saying, it's just that he makes too much cash. The farm can really use the picks. A few years of solid picks is what the Jays need, so the more they have, the better.

[Michael Bradley]

I understand what you're saying, it's just that he makes too much cash. The farm can really use the picks. A few years of solid picks is what the Jays need, so the more they have, the better.

Draft picks are great, but you'd have to be confident that Burnett could be replaced. For example, if the Jays were able to trade Rios for Lincecum in the off-season, then losing Burnett for picks would have been fine as the rotation would have had enough talent to move on without him. In this case, the Jays would have to be very confident in Purcey (or even Cecil) to be able to hold down Burnett's spot next year, and that's in addition to expecting Marcum, McGowan, and Litsch to 1) continue their great performances moving forward and 2) stay healthy. Neither of those options are guaranteed. That's way too much risk for my liking.

The best case scenario (which has a 0% chance of happening) is Burnett having a great year in 2008 and not opting out. That would mean the Jays would have him in 2009 and 2010 for $12 million annually. In the current market, Burnett is well worth that salary. Unfortunately, the likely scenario (should he have a great year) is that he'll opt-out and sign a much more lucrative five year deal with another team (probably his last big contract). That's one contract in which Ricciardi gave all the leverage to the player, so it's a helpless situation from Toronto's end.