A possible $85 million steal..........and some thoughts on March Madness

Ask someone to list the New York Yankee off season acquisitions and they will do it in this order - CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and AJ Burnett. Perhaps, depending on who you talk to, Sabathia and Teixeira will switch places in the lineup, but AJ is always, always taking the bronze.
Why?
The simpilest explanation is that most Yankee fans and media personalities just don't have a lot of faith in Burnett and his five year, $85 million contract. His history of injury, his inability to string two strong seasons together, and his penchant to disappear in seasons that aren't walk years have made AJ a big question mark in most people's minds.
By the way, I happen to agree. Burnett, of the big three, is the least sure thing. Sabathia is a horse and while he has pitched essentially four seasons in his last two years, racking up over 500 total innings, he has shown no signs of slowing or breaking down. Some guys just have a rubber arm, go ask David Wells, who could probably pitch 6 strong innings right now if he had to. Teixeira is 28, has never been injured, and seems to have many of his best years ahead of him. Barring strange, unforseen injuries, it would appear you could pencil those guys in for games and innings played through the course of their contract.
Burnett is a different story.
The big right hander has never pitched back to back 200 inning seasons, been placed on the DL many times over his 10 years career, and is 31 years old. When the Bombers inked him to a five year deal, a lot of people viewed it as a mini-Carl Pavano mistake. In fact, Burnett is close friends with the Raja of Rehab himself. Not a feather in his cap.
But have you watched Burnett at all this spring? He's looked amazing. Already, in the middle of March, the man is throwing his fastball in the mid-90's and breaking off devastating curves. He looks to be in mid-season form and, according to him, he isn't even exerting himself at this point.
Now, I know spring doesn't matter, and if we aren't going to push the panic button because Sabathia has gotten shelled this March, we shouldn't start polishing the Cy Young for Burnett either. Hitters are behind, most games don't feature the team's everyday lineup, and a 96 mph fastball probably looks like a 206 mph pitch right about now.
But this isn't some kid just making a first impression. Everyone knows how good Burnett is. His talent is unquestioned. One of the reasons why the Yankees decided to invest soooo much money in the right hander is because last year, each time he took the ball against the Bombers, it was a win. He was dominant. He was devastating. And he was just as good against the Yankees arch rivals, the Red Sox.
Burnett swears he "figured it out" last season with the help of Roy Halladay. Instead of trying to throw the ball through a brick wall every single outing, he learned to spot his pitches and take something off when need be to keep his arm healthy. That's why he was able to pitch 211 innings and feel no side effects whatsoever for the first time in his career, he insists.
That might be wishful thinking. By the middle of this season he might be right back on the shelf with some sort of arm issue.
But let's assume or a moment that he did figure something out last year. If that's the case, and this guy can give the Yankees over 200 innings, he is going to be one of the best pitchers in the game. He will be steal for the money. Yes, an $85 million steal.
Now, for March Madness predictions:
*I think Pittsburgh has an easy route to the Final Four. Yes, they have Duke, Villanova, Gonzaga, and Florida State, but those teams just don't match up physically with them. Perhaps a team like Duke can pull DeJuan Blair away from the basket and make him cover outside, perimeter players, thereby negating his physical superiority. But, in truth, none of those teams will be able to defend and rebound with Pitt. And teams that played somewhat small in the Big East were eaten up by Pitt. Notre Dame, a poor man's version of the Blue Devils, couldn't put up a fight against the Panthers. If they play their game, I think they walk through the East bracket.
*Louisville is the number 1 overall seed, and they deserve it. True, they got lucky not having to play Uconn and Pitt twice during the season or once during the BE Tourney. But they still navigated through the conference and won both the regular season and tournament titles. But look at their Midwest bracket. I mean, talk about a nice little slap in the face, huh? Michigan State as the #2 seed, Kansas as a #3 seed, and Wake Forrest as a #4 seed. Look at that. MSU was a possible #1 seed, as was Kansas until getting knocked out of their conference tourney by Baylor last week. Wake Forrest spent a few days as the #1 team in the country and, even though they haven't played well lately, they are as talented as anyone.
I think this is a special year for the Big East, so I will choose to believe in the Cardinals to make it to Detroit, but the road is gonna be very, very hard.
*How much did Syracuse's remarkable run the BE Tourney take out of them? That, to me, is the most interesting question in the South bracket. If they have some juice left, I think they beat Oklahoma and move on to face UNC in the elite 8. If they are outta gas, they could be a second round casualty.
I don't know what to think of Oklahoma or Blake Griffin. Great players can carry teams to wins on their own, and when you have a team that is already pretty good, that can be a recipe for tremendous success. Personally, I am going to go with Griffin and his star power. I look for a Carmelo Anthony-esque trip to the big game, with a cage match of historic proportions against UNC in the elite 8.
*To me, the question in the West is whether Uconn plays consistent basketball. They won't need to against Chatanooga and perhaps not even against Texas A&M or BYU in the second round, but Washington and/or Purdue, or even Miss. State are talented teams that could pose problems.
But I think this will be a Uconn, Memphis matchup in the elite 8, and if Uconn is playing well by that point I think they have too many answers for Memphis. I know everyone talks about how special Memphis' defense can be, but it won't be any better than Pitt and Uconn was able to put itself in a position to beat Pitt both times they played. Memphis is not as good as the Panthers and don't have the offensive answers that Pitt now does. It would/will be a low scoring game, but I think Uconn will join Pitt and Louisville as three BE teams in the Final Four ala 1985.