[December 18, 2008] Yankees not deterred by Burnett's injured past Tweet Dec 18, 2008 (Newsday - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- It's so easy to mention Carl Pavano in the same breath as A.J. Burnett that Brian Cashman didn't even bother to spend time on Thursday shooting down any possible comparisons between the two. Instead, when the names Pavano and Burnett came up for the first time during Thursday afternoon's festivities, the Yankees' general manager explained at length why he would go after someone with a similar injury-plagued past so soon after finally closing the books on the four-year Pavano disaster. "You can never stop swinging for the fences," Cashman said. That's the lesson Cashman learned a decade ago, and he recited the story behind it just hours after Burnett was officially signed to a five-year, $82.5-million contract that includes just as much risk as it does reward. When Orlando Hernandez was a free agent, Cashman said he was initially reluctant to chase an international free agent so soon after Hideki Irabu flopped. But Cashman said Gordon Blakeley, who then headed up the international scouting division, told him not to let the Irabu mistake influence his decision. "You can't get gun-shy," Cashman recalled Blakeley saying. And that, Cashman said, is why he'd go for Burnett just as Pavano's four-year, $39.5-million disaster is finally over. The similarities between Burnett today, and Pavano from 2004, are striking. Formerly teammates with the Marlins, they both were coming off 18-win seasons in their walk years before signing with the Yankees. Both careers to that point were defined by potential as much as results. And both pitchers have spent their share of time injured. But Cashman refused to stay away from Burnett just because all the Yankees got in return for their investment in Pavano was a mere nine victories. "I'm not going to tell you A.J. Burnett is going to be here and have five healthy years mowing people down," Cashman said. "I understand and my ownership understands that you know that there is a degree of risk. But the decision we made was obviously to go with the reward side of things to go with the risk." And, for whatever it's worth, Pavano gave the Yankees high marks to Burnett when they spoke toward the end of the season. "He said good things about it, you know," Burnett said. "I was expecting different ... He said it's great and he recommended that I come here. He thought I would truly blossom and start something special." Asked if Pavano gave him any advice on what not to do, Burnett laughed and said, "I only listen to some things Carl says." --- (c) 2008, Newsday. Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]