Cashman noncommittal about Burnett

No, A.J. Burnett's contract doesn't buy him a spot in the Yankees' rotation.

"His financials won't affect us," general manager Brian Cashman said Monday from his office at the Stadium. "We'll do what's best for us."

Joe Girardi said he will get back to a five-man rotation after this weekend in Baltimore, Burnett's recent performance would suggest he's No. 6 on that list.

Cashman wasn't tipping his hand. "We'll look at it after this weekend," Cashman said. "We're not going to make a decision until we have to. We'll evaluate it and make a call."

Burnett, scheduled to start Friday, is 9-10 with a 4.96 ERA after lasting just 12/3 innings Saturday night in Minneapolis. Once Cashman watched the postgame show on YES, his questions about what Burnett, in the third year of an $82.5-million deal, said coming off the mound, and to whom, were answered.

"The performance was obviously bad," Cashman said. "In terms of the extracurricular stuff, it's just noise. There was nothing wrong with it. He wasn't talking to Joe Girardi. It was silliness."

Cashman repeated much of what he said Aug. 12 at the Stadium in defense of Burnett.

"I think we have six guys on any given day that can get the job done for us," Cashman said.

Cashman didn't dispute Burnett's poor August (1-1 with a 10.70 ERA in four starts) but said until this month started, his season was better than numbers suggest. For instance, Burnett was 0-3 with a 4.83 ERA in July, but Burnett's QERA -- which estimates a pitcher's ERA based on strikeout rate, walk rate and ground ball/fly ball ratio -- in July was 3.87. "We think that's more representative of how he pitched," Cashman said.

Of August there was no parsing. "I don't have an answer," he said. "It's not a month that treats him well."

He said later: "He hasn't pitched like a No. 2 starter. We need more from him."

Sept. 1 call-ups? Cashman didn't say if top prospects C Jesus Montero, RHP Dellin Betances and LHP Manny Banuelos would be called up Sept. 1. "If we put Banuelos on, we would have to know he would be a player for us in October," Cashman said. "I'm not going to bring him up just as a showcase."