Neyer on Burnett, lineup

I'm an unabashed Neyer fan, I'll admit it. And he's spot on again about Burnett, which is something I have been saying in the lead-up to his signing:

[Burnett]'s not reliable, and the Yankees have pretty obviously overpaid. Too many dollars, too many years. If the Yankees wanted an impressive fifth starter, they probably could have spent a little less money for a slightly better pitcher. But what's a few million dollars to the Yankees?

I have noted that I love a Burnett contract for three years, like for four and hate for five. Well, Cashman went to a five year deal to land their man. Though, when has eating the extra years of a bad contract prohibited the Yanks from doing anything else they had planned, so why worry about that, right? Ain't my money.

Sure, the Yanks offense is older and on the slide. But it's still pretty good. Says Neyer:

And the offense? Yankee Stadium is (or rather, was) a pitcher's park. Considering only road games, the Yankees finished third in the American League in OPS last year. Maybe that doesn't qualify as "excellent," but it's certainly somewhere between "good" and "excellent." Granted, everybody's a year older and we might expect a slight decline next year. So yes, the Yankees should try to improve their offense … and I'm not at all convinced they can't still afford to do exactly that. Has Brian Cashman suggested that he's finished spending money? If he has, I missed it. In fact, I'll be surprised if the Yankees' Opening Day lineup doesn't look better than it looks right now.

And right now it looks pretty darn good.

I would have LOVED to see Teix in pinstripes over Burnett and gone after Lowe or Sheets on a shorter term deal.