Yankeetorial: By the way, Cashman is right about AJ Burnett

I feel no need to restate my creds as a psychopathic Yankee fan looncake.

I favor capital punishment for players who quit on us. I maintain a large open kettle of oil at 400 degrees. During games, I often cut my hands, throwing karate chops at the mirror, like Martin Sheen awaiting an assignment in the opening sequence of "Apocalypse Now." My greatest Yankee fan in history was the hero who salted Ed Whitson's driveway with nails.

But I am here to defend AJ Burnett.

Yes, Yankiverse, I'm talking to you.

In recent days, Burnett has become the Obama to our Tea Party, the Ringo to our Beatlemania, the anchovies to our everything-on-it pizza. And it's all about money -- skootz, cabbage, whipsoom, jazzbling, cappacappadooshmama. 

Say the critics: We pay him too much to be 8-9.

Listen: That shit is for the KC Royal fanbase. Want to whine about money? Root for the Marlins. You can pro-rate every hit, figure how much it cost the owner (who - let's remember - is a billionaire that pretends to be a millionaire) and cheer the team's cheapness. 

The Yankees spend money. Understand? Some of it flies out the window. Players get hurt. They get old. That's life. The antidote is simple: Spend more money.

AJ Burnett is 34, entering the final stage of a nice career. With run support, he could easily be 11-6, rather than 8-9. (Each check on the graphic represent a game he could have won, with help.) And that bullshit about him being a loser? Remember the 2009 World Series, when he shut down the Phillies.

This crap about sending him to the bullpen or Scranton - that's Houston Astro fan base stuff.

Yesterday, Brian Cashman went to the airwaves to publicly defend Burnett. It shouldn't have been necessary. We have two months of baseball left. That's a lifetime. Amazingly, we're still in the hunt. In October, anything can happen.

But make no mistake: We don't win this without AJ Burnett.