A.J. Burnett may retire after season

Rob Biertempfel writes that A.J. Burnett is considering retiring after the season, and if he doesn't, he wants to continue as a Pirate.

“I enjoy it here and I enjoy these guys,” Burnett said Thursday after pitching three innings in his final spring training tuneup. “If I was to keep playing, I wouldn't want it to be anywhere else but Pittsburgh. My wife and I talk about it now and then. But it's something I've got to put on the back burner. I'm just going to concentrate on this season, one start at a time.”

Burnett is a free agent after this season. We'll see if he sticks to his guns if some other team makes an offer. But I hate to be too cynical about it. This is exactly the sort of thing you want good players to say. Also, it's nice to think about a Pirate considering retirement without it having anything to do with not wanting to play in Pittsburgh (Derrek Lee) or the game passing him by. And if Burnett has another season like the one he had in 2012, and then retires as a Pirate, he'll never have to buy his own drink in Pittsburgh again.