[Strikeout King]

The Pirates and New York Yankees have agreed to a trade that would send right-hander A.J. Burnett to Pittsburgh and are awaiting approval from the commissioner's office Friday, sources said.

The Pirates will send right-handed reliever Diego Moreno and outfielder Exicardo Cayones to New York in return, sources said. Moreno, a 25-year-old from Venezuela, has split the past two seasons between the Class A and Double-A minor league teams. Cayones, who is 20, spent 2011 in Class A.

The approval of the commissioner's office is needed because of the money involved. The Pirates will pay $13 million of the $31.1 million remaining on Burnett's contract, sources said (Burnett is on a year-round contract and already has been paid $1.9 million in 2012).

As a Yankee the past three seasons, Burnett is 34-35 with a 4.79 ERA. He is 121-111 with a 4.10 ERA in 13 seasons with the Yankees, Blue Jays and Marlins.

As soon as the Burnett deal is done, the Yankees will begin the aggressive pursuit of a veteran designated hitter, sources said.

Sources said there is a good deal of sentiment within the Yankees organization to go after Raul Ibanez -- who wants to play for the team -- to be their designated hitter against right-handers, partly because they believe he can give them some days of outfield play.

Although Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui are also available, they are generally regarded as unplayable defensively, sources said.





http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/...ources-say

[LWC]

Burnett is 34-35 with a 4.79 ERA. He is 121-111 with a 4.10 ERA in 13 seasons with the Yankees, Blue Jays and Marlins.

Talk about the epitome of average! Almost a .500 record with a 4 ERA, that is the definition of middle-of-the-road!

However, middle of the road is much better than what the Pirates are used to. Good pick-up for them.