BRADENTON, Fla. -- Giving in enough to make the deal happen, but not enough to feel uncomfortable about it, the Pirates on Friday caught up with the veteran right arm they have chased for nearly a month.
Pittsburgh reeled in A.J. Burnett from the New York Yankees in exchange for outfielder Exicardo Cayones and right-handed reliever Diego Moreno. The penultimate act of the saga will be the approval of Commissioner Bud Selig, who has to sign off on the deal because it includes $20 million from the Bombers.
In other words, the Pirates absorbed $13 million of the two years and $33 million remaining on Burnett's contract. The annual commitment is considerably below the $10 million one-year offers the Bucs had made to a pair of free agents, Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt.
The deal's ultimate act is expected to come Sunday, when Burnett takes his physical -- while his new teammates are going through the first workout for pitchers and catchers. Only then will there be a formal conclusion to a rumored deal that has had a longer run than some TV series.
For raising their share of Burnett's contract from their starting point of $10 million, the Pirates were able to make the deal for the two lower-level prospects who between them have a total of 14 games of experience above Class A.
Moreno and Cayones, both Venezuelans, were still in the lower Minors in 2011 after several years in the Pirates organization.
Moreno, signed as a 19-year-old in 2006, spent most of last season with Class A Bradenton before appearing in seven games with Double-A Altoona. A reliever with a power arm, the righty is coming off an impressive stint in the Venezuelan Winter League, where he had a 3.05 ERA in 17 appearances.
Cayones was signed as a 16-year-old in 2008, and last season batted .228 between the short-season State College Spikes (New York-Penn League) and the Gulf Coast (Rookie League) Pirates.
Soon after his physical, the 35-year-old right-hander will begin trying to fit into the maturing Pirates rotation. Two years after having no starters in their 30s, the Pirates will have three: Kevin Correia, 31; Erik Bedard, 32; and Burnett.
The Bucs already have three other incumbent starters -- Charlie Morton, who is returning from October hip surgery but fully expects to take the ball on Opening Day, James McDonald and Jeff Karstens.
Finding himself in an overcrowded rotation will be an ironic quandary for Burnett.
He landed on the trade market on Jan. 13, after the Yankees dealt for Michael Pineda and signed free agent Hiroki Kuroda on the same day. With CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, Phil Hughes and Burnett, those deals left the Yankees with seven potential starters.
