Wild Speculation: AJ Burnett

Welcome to "Wild Speculation." Over the next three days leading up to the MLB trade deadline, SN's David Arnott will use this space to speculate over possible deals. And do so wildly.

AJ Burnett once threw a no hitter while allowing nine walks. The crowd was generally perplexed to find out they'd just watched a no-no, seeing as there were baserunners willy nilly. He's that same guy today, only with far more injury risk: capable of dominating one batter totally and throwing four straight sliders in the dirt to the next. However, contenders will always take a chance on a dude with Burnett's uuuuuuuupside. Where could AJ land by the end of the day?

HERE, FISHY FISHY FISHY!
Come home, AJ. The Marlins are on the verge of adding Manny, an indication they're going all in with their pocket 3's. Burnett would be the Marlins' third nasty stuff guy with boom-bust potential in every start. A straight up trade for the infuriatingly talented Andrew Miller makes the most sense for Toronto, and the Marlins can gamble that Burnett's upgrade and Anibal Sanchez's return carry them to the promised land.

YOU COULD BE IN PICTURES
The Dodgers hit gold when they plucked Brad Penny at the deadline a few years back, and they could certainly hope for the same in this situation. Despite Ned Colletti's best efforts, they're still stacked with prospects. Giving up Andre Ethier for Burnett could make some twisted sense to a team trying to catch the D-Backs and currently struggling with injured pitchers.

But, really, there's only one place for Burnett to go...

WE CAN RIDE THE MONORAIL
Seattle is building a monster pitching rotation, right? Felix is the cornerstone, Bedard is supposed to be the awesomest number two in the majors, and Burnett could put them in the conversation for Best Rotation in Baseball. Trade discussions could start with Jeff Clement and fill in with minor league prospects to finish out the deal. There's no way this can fail for the Ms. Three aces? Come on! Nobody has three aces. I'd expect this deal to receive full Seattle blogosphere approval.

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