Yankees New Pitching Coach Larry Rothschild to Work with A.J. Burnett Extensively

Via Chad Jennings of the Journal News:

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Girardi said this afternoon that [A.J. Burnett] has already reached out to [Larry Rothschild], and the two will get to work this offseason. The problem is easy to diagnose but not necessarily easy to fix.

“Refining his mechanics,” is the way Girardi described it.

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There are a lot of Yankee fans that wish Burnett would just go away, but with three-years and $49 million left on his contract that’s just not going to happen. He’s here to stay.

With that, there is obviously something wrong with him and they need to work to fix it. At least part of the reason why the Yankees fired their former pitching coach Dave Eiland had to do with Burnett tanking when Eiland skipped town for a month, so it is clear that a huge part of Rothschild’s job is to help right Burnett.

Don’t expect miracles, but Burnett has put together some big seasons including 2008-09. So, it is certainly possible that we’ve seen the worst of him and that he’ll rebound a bit in 2011. Hopefully, working extensively with Rothschild will do the trick.

Related Stories

• November 19, 2010 -- Yankees Announce New Pitching Coach Larry Rothschild
• October 26, 2010 -- Yankees Pitching Coach Dave Eiland Had to Go
• October 25, 2010 -- Is The Bronx Zoo Returning?
• October 21, 2010 -- Discussion: Could Yankees Have Won In 2009 Without A.J. Burnett?