Pirates buy out veteran Burnitz
Bucs opt to not pick up 2007 option for outfielder
By Ed Eagle / MLB.com
PITTSBURGH -- Veteran outfielder Jeromy Burnitz's tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates will come to an end after just one season.
General manager Dave Littlefield confirmed Tuesday that the Pirates will not exercise their option to bring Burnitz back for a second year at $6 million. Instead, the Pirates will pay a $700,000 buyout to Burnitz, thus making the 37-year-old a free agent.
"Nothing has been finalized at this point," Littlefield said, "But I have spoken to Burnitz's agent and told him that we will not be exercising the option for '07.
"When we originally signed Burnitz, we felt that we wanted to sign someone to a one-year contract -- in his case with a club option -- with the idea of giving some other players time to see how they developed. Right now, our feeling is that we're going to look in another direction, whether that's internal or through a trade or maybe through another free agent."
The Pirates signed Burnitz last January with the hopes that he would add much-needed power to the lineup from the left side of the plate. But Burnitz, who has hit 315 career home runs, struggled to a .226 average in April and was never able to get on track. Burnitz was reduced to a platoon role by mid-summer, and he made just one start in the field during the final month of the season.
Burnitz finished the year with a .230 batting average, 16 home runs and 49 RBIs in 111 games.
While Burnitz is certainly on his way out, southpaw reliever Damaso Marte could be back for another season in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have a $3 million option on Marte for 2007 with a $250,000 buyout, and Littlefield said that he has begun discussions with Marte's representatives.
Marte, 31, went 1-7 with a 3.70 ERA and appeared in a career-high 75 games while earning $2.25 million with the Pirates in 2006.
"Marte is tough against left-handers. He's had a lot of success at times in the past, and he was very effective at times in his role with us," said Littlefield.
"It's hard to find left-handed pitching. There's just not much of it out there. It's a luxury that we have. If [the contract is] something that makes sense at the right price, we'd like to have him stay. We'll see how this goes."
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