Mood Music - I Feel Free by Cream

According to our "Hey, man!" Jon Heyman, the Yankees and Pirates are still talking about A.J., and not just in that "He's so dreamy!" kind of way cause tomorrow is Valentine's Day. No, apparently Buctown would wind up paying $13-$15 million of A.J.'s $33 million dollar contract, and give up two non-roster guys and maybe the rapper who sang Buctown II. If the Pirates are indeed willing to pay $15 million of A.J.'s contract, I'd pull the trigger on this faster than Han Solo did on Vader!

Captain Derek Jeter of the USS Clutchterprize recently stated how he feels the AL has gotten stronger this offseason. He also mentions how he thinks Bobby V will add some excitement to the Red Sox as their new manager. He's still excited to be playing the game, and as a fan of excitement, it's hard not to agree with him. Jeter hitting well this year will definitely excite me, and yes I do mean in "that" way! Make it so, Jeter.

Phil Hughes has also been apparently working hard this offseason. He knows that he has to "proves he deserves a spot" this Spring Training. I can't speak for anyone else (well I could but that would be rude) but I'm rooting hard for Hughes to get the 5th spot in the Yankees rotation. I really feel he still has a lot he can offer.

Vladimir Guerrero apparently wants to be the Yankees DH, as per Buster Olney. Hey, we all want things. I want a working model of the Epyon Gundam.

Non Yankees stuff after the jump...

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Now, I can't be that sure as I'm getting older and such, but I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before how I think Yankees fans are unbelievably spoiled. Okay, now that I've given you a moment to catch your breath from this shocking revelation of mine, allow me to just say that this won't be as much as a rant like the last time, but rather much more of an explanation of why Yankees fans, including myself, are spoiled by the Yankees' success, as well as the difference between the type of spoiled fans.

I had been thinking of holding this off for a later IGYARticle, since it's still reminiscent of the rant after the trade. I can assure you that this will have less profane bickering geared towards the fanbase I'm pretty ashamed of. However, what has prompted this piece so soon is because of the latest news to come out of the Merry Ol' Land Of Rings. That news, of course, is the impending outcome of the possible trade regarding a Mr. Allan James Burnett.

More after the jump, me hearties...

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Good morning Pinstripe Alley. There's not all that much going on in the world of baseball right now. Well, except of course for the whole AJ Burnett thing, but I'm sure no one here is interested about that, right?

The Pinstriped Press

As of right now, the Yankees and Pirates are supposedly trying to iron out a deal that would send AJ to Pittsburgh. The Yankees definitely want something back for AJ, even though they seem willing to pay for the majority of his contract. However, the Pirates seem reluctant to give the Yankees anything of real value to them. Honestly, it's hard to blame either team at this point. We'll keep you updated as soon as anything is tweeted, since tweets are fast and plentiful in the sports world.

Kevin Kernan wrote a decent post regarding AJ and why he thinks AJ has got to go. It deals a bit with the new found NYC love for Jeremy Lin of the Knicks, who has burst onto the basketball & pun scene. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I do agree with the idea of giving younger arms a chance to shine. I will say though that even though I'm in no way a big fan of basketball, since I have sports on in the background at work all the time, Linsanity is exciting to watch as a New Yorker. /obligatory Lin pun

Over at ESPN, Andrew Marchand wrote a piece on Joba and what his future is for the Yankees. Personally I don't like to think about what they did to Joba that much. So I won't. Lalalala we didn't ruin him lalalala. Seriously though, here's hoping he recovers from his surgery.

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The proposed A.J. to the Pirates deal has been well-chronicled by Pinstripe Alley, and we will continue to bring you any breaking news we hear (and encourage you to Fanshot it if you see something first!). Four teams are supposedly interested in acquiring A.J. with the Yankees paying most of his salary, and Buster Olney has confirmed that Pittsburgh "is the clear frontrunner." As one person tweeted to him, Olney is "the first person to use Pittsburgh and front runner in the same sentence in over twenty years." Justin Bopp at MLB Daily Dish attempted to analyze how much A.J. Burnett is worth over the next two years. Also don't worry, amateur sports psychiatrists of the world, Burnett does not seem to be perturbed about the rumors.

There is a rumor going around that a player (not Garrett Jones) the Yankees could be getting back in return is RHP Nick Kingham, a 20-year old who was their 4th round pick in the 2010 draft and was ranked by MLB.com as Pittsburgh's #12 prospect. Kingham had an impressive 2.15 ERA, 3.51 FIP, and 1.9 BB/9 in 15 starts last year with the low-A State College Spikes. We'll see what happens as the day goes on, although it doesn't seem like a deal is getting done today. It certainly seems like something will happen in the next few days.

The New York Times published a good off-season summary for those of you who have avoided baseball since the Yankees lost to Detroit in the ALDS. Most people know about the Albert Pujols & Prince Fielder signings as well as the Montero/Pineda trade, but did you realize that seven teams have switched general managers? Changing GMs is a big organizational move, and it's remarkable that so many teams have done so.

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