Burton an emerging middle man

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry

Part of the reason that some executives are reluctant to invest heavily in the middle-relief market is because of its volatile nature. Relievers suddenly develop a pitch, or they lose the feel for a pitch, or maybe they start commanding their fastball in a way they hadn't before. Or maybe they suddenly gained a little extra velocity, or lost some. They suddenly pitch with the necessary confidence, or lose it. Every year, unlikely relievers emerge to become major weapons.

Take, for example, the case of the Reds' Jared Burton. He was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the eighth round of the 2002 draft and bounced around Oakland's farm system for years, enduring major shoulder surgery along the way. Pitching in Double-A in 2006, he compiled a 4.14 ERA in 53 games and was picked up by Cincinnati through the Rule 5 draft.  
 

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

    Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN

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