Burnett is clearly a decent option, and would be much better than no move at all, assuming they don’t give up too much for him. If he’s healthy, he’ll opt out and they’ll be in good shape. But if he hurts himself and doesn’t opt out, we would be in trouble.

I thought I heard on BSG that Burnett would veto a trade to Philly as he has a no trade clause. Does anybody know if this is true?

I’ve heard all sorts of different stories regarding Burnett’s no-trade clause. Until someone says something definitive otherwise, I’ll assume he’s a possibility. And J’s exactly right—if he doesn’t want to come to the Phils, that probably suggests we shouldn’t want him either (as well as that he needs smarter people advising him).

No shame in coming around to Burnett, dajafi. But this saga is certainly going to be an interesting one, for several reasons: (1) that we’re on his no-trade list, as mentioned above; (2) his contract situation; and (3) how the contract situation will affect his value.

If he’s going to opt out, then his value is only that of a rental—and one who won’t even garner Type A compensation in the offseason. In that case, I’d give up a Golson/Castro type package, or maybe a Donald/Castro type package (though I’d prefer the former), but I certainly wouldn’t mix and match any of the top prospects. If I’m Ricciardi, I have to seriously consider those deals, since Burnett is likely to opt out at the end of the season anyway (again, without compensation).

Of course, in the unlikely scenario that Burnett were to waive his opt out clause, I’d certainly surrender Golson, Donald, and a B-list prospect to bring him to Philly. He’d be equivalent to signing a great free agent starter on a 2 year, $24 million deal. Not gonna happen though.

Lastly - since Utley’s up in a minute here - Joel Sherman says the Phils actually made an offer on Burnett, but that the Jays were “thoroughly unimpressed” with it. Link here.

I’m with you 100% on Golson. I do hope it’s just a bargaining position, though the drafting of uber-tools guy Anthony Hewitt this year frightens me into believing that Gillick & Co. actually consider Golson can’t miss.

At this point, Burnett is my Option #1 because he can be had for less (even if he is only a rental). But if the Phils can’t get anything done, then they’d have to give serious consideration to Option #2, a Bedard deal. I’d certainly be reluctant to give up Carrasco, but unless they want to make a push for Greinke, Bedard’s the only other #1/2 type starter on the market. Carrasco/Golson/de Fratus for 1.5 years of Bedard isn’t a bad tradeoff, in my opinion at least.