I admit that I was wrong about the A.J. Burnett Trade

Back in February, when the Pirates and Yankees consummated a trade that sent veteran starting pitcher A.J. Burnett to the Pirates in exchange for prospects and money, I went on the blog Bucsdugout and expressed my displeasure with the trade not once, but twice. Actually, I expressed my displeasure quite a bit, and this led to a two or three week blood-bath between myself and everyone else on Bucsdugout.

There were many bench-clearing incidents as several pitches came up and in from both teams as neither side was willing to back down.

It got so bad at one point that I had Burger King in a headlock and repeatedly pummeled him in a fashion similar to what former Pirates catcher Jason Kendall did in his fight with Gary Sheffield way back when.

Cocktailsfor2 and I had several face-to-face confrontations after things started heating up over the Burnett trade, and I got so frustrated and mad at him that I spit right in his face. That's just classless. You never spit in another guy's face. You punch him; you talk about his woman; but you never spit in his face.

My grudge over the arguments about the Burnett trade got so bad that, at one point, I even wrote a spoof on the Top Five Pirates Prospects for 2012 where I suggested that Chase d'Arnaud was the second best prospect in the Pirates' entire organization.

Joking or not, that was just uncalled for--although, my pick of Brad Lincoln at number 4 is looking better and better with each passing start.

However, even though Burnett is only six starts into his Pirates career, I must admit that I was probably wrong about the deal. As of this posting, Burnett is 2-2 with a 4.78 ERA. The ERA might look bad on the surface, but that's mainly due to his 12 run disaster in St. Louis recently. In his other five starts, Burnett has given up two runs or less. Also, his whip (see, I kind of know what that means now) is less than it was over his previous four seasons. Most of the people on Bucsdugout argued that Burnett was going to be better simply because he would be pitching in a weaker NL Central after spending years in the tough AL East.

So far, that sentiment is proving to be accurate.

Also, after I lamented on the thought of bringing in another washed-up veteran pitcher, most of the people on Bucsdugout countered with the argument that Burnett would be a great influence on the Pirates young staff.

Well, as far as James McDonald is concerned, that was another accurate sentiment. Burnett and McDonald reportedly became fast friends in spring training, and now McDonald is having a break-out year and is among the league leaders in strikeouts in the National League.

I don't know if Burnett's addition will help lead the team to their first winning season in two decades, but it's apparent that his addition to the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates was a good one.

It takes a big man to admit that he was wrong, and I am that big man.