5 Reasons New York Yankee Fans Are Fed Up with A.J. Burnett

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

To say that A.J. Burnett is having an awful season would be an understatement.

He's the highest paid pitcher on the roster after CC Sabathia. 

But instead of pitching like his ace teammate, he's pitching like he belongs in the minor leagues.

The Yankees can't count on Burnett to pitch a complete game this season, and he's starting to lose faith in himself. 

After using his fastball effectively through the first four to five innings against the Angels, he started throwing his slider, and in essence, took himself out of the game. 

He went on to give up three runs in the bottom of the sixth, putting the Yankees in a 4-1 hole.

Here are five reasons fans are fed up with Burnett.  

He's Making $16.5 Million This Season

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Plain and simple: when you're the second-highest-paid pitcher on the New York Yankees roster, you need to produce. 

He has a 4.60 ERA this season.

4.60

That's just flat out atrocious.

The paycheck needs to match the pitching.

Right now, it looks like Burnett should be paying the Yankees to let him pitch.  

The No-Decisions

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Burnett is the no-decision master this season.

He just keeps throwing them and throwing them. 

I wish I could say the same for him with strikeouts. 

When you're leading the AL with 66 walks, the runs start to pile up.

The unnecessary walks keep putting Burnett in tough spots that he can't seem to get himself out of. 

He has seven no-decisions so far in the season. I'm sorry, but that's just not getting it done. 

Younger Pitchers Are Emerging

Nick Laham/Getty Images

CC Sabathia likes pitching every five days.

Thus, the Yankees need to shorten their rotation. 

The dilemma is that Burnett is the worst starting pitcher, but he's also the second-highest paid. 

Between Sabathia, Hughes, Garcia, Colon, Nova and Burnett—it's easy to see who should go.

But how do you bench a guy who's making $16.5 million this year? There's the problem. 

Nova is 10-4 this season.

The Yankees have won the last seven times he's pitched for them, and he's obviously on a hot streak.

Sending him back down to the minors would be foolish at this point.

Phil Hughes was on his way out before throwing six great innings against the White Sox. The Yankees went on to win that game 6-0 and most likely saved Hughes his job. 

Meanwhile, Burnett hasn't allowed less than three runs per game since June 29th. 

The Yankees Need a No. 2 Pitcher

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Burnett was supposed to be that pitcher, but that obviously isn't going to be the case. 

Sabathia can't pitch every night (even though we all wish he could), so he's going to need some help. 

Bartolo Colon is looking much more solid these days, getting two wins in three of his last starts (one no-decision in a Yankees win).

Freddy Garcia has won three of his four last times out as well. 

Nova is a little young, but Colon or Garcia are perfectly suited to be an adequate No. 2 for Sabathia.

I would pick Colon as the No. 2 and give Nova more time to mature. 

The Yankees Can't Get Rid of Burnett Even If They Tried

Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Who's taking a 34-year-old pitcher with a 4.60 ERA with a 8-9 record?

No one? I thought so. 

There's no way the Yankees are getting rid of Burnett this season.

I can't see any team having an interest in him unless he seriously turns things around.

They can put him on waivers, they can try sitting him, they could even try sending him to a therapist. 

Either way, something has to be done about A.J. Burnett.