Sean Burnett Has a Kid, Gets Cut

There's not many people that can manage to feel bad for professional athletes. Getting paid huge sums of money to entertain and play a kids game isn't exactly a profession that many people find worthy of sympathy. Still, it's not all smooth sailing for every athlete. Some guys spend most of their lives playing baseball and still manage to get a raw deal. Pirates' pitcher Sean Burnett is definitely one of those guys.

The Pirates made Burnett a first round pick out of high school in 2000 and he mostly cruised through the minors towards his major league debut in 2004. After a good beginning with the Pirates (he won five starts in a row at one point), he had some elbow pain and needed Tommy John surgery, resulting in him missing all of 2005. Since he's come back, he's struggled with arm strength and control and turned in two subpar years in AAA, finally resulting in
him being dropped off the 40-man roster this winter in favor of Ray Olmedo.

This spring, new Pirates' GM Neal Huntington asked Burnett to move into the bullpen and he responded beautifully. In ten innings he only allowed one run and three hits, striking out eight. Given his history, that might not be enough to make the pen on most teams, but the Pirates only had three bullpen spots filled when camp opened this year and Burnett far out-performed most of the other candidates for a spot. Still Burnett found himself on the outside yet again this year because he can be demoted to AAA while Evan Meek has to make the team as a Rule 5 pick and Phil Dumatrait is out of options. Unfortunately, he had to receive the news over the phone because he was out of camp. He was out of camp because he was celebrating the birth of his first child.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Huntington said Burnett was "angry, frustrated, and disappointed," over being cut. Indeed.

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