Girardi: Burnett must produce or else

MINNEAPOLIS -- Joe Girardi's defense of A.J. Burnett was absolute and unconditional Saturday night, largely consistent for a manager who rarely scolds a player in public.

The morning after, Girardi again defended the pitcher and his tendency to wear his emotions for everyone to see.

The latest example came when Burnett was pulled after 12/3 innings and uttered an expletive, which many thought was directed at Girardi, as he left the mound.

But while again reiterating Burnett was expressing his frustration over a pitch that didn't go his way, Girardi addressed the issue most important to Yankees fans: the righthander's spot in the rotation.

Despite being in the third season of a five-year, $82.5-million deal, Girardi said there were no guarantees the rest of the season, and by extension the playoffs, for the struggling Burnett.

Does that make Friday in Baltimore, Burnett's next outing, a big start? "We need him to bounce back," Girardi said.

Burnett will be trying to bounce back from his worst start as a Yankee, one that dropped him to 9-10 and ballooned his ERA to 4.96. It's a higher ERA than he had at this point last season -- 4.80 -- when he finished a career-worst 10-15 with a 5.26 ERA.

"You can look at the numbers and say, they're kind of similar to last year," Girardi said. "Is it the same? I don't know. Bottom line is you have to right it . . ."

The emotion Burnett displayed Saturday was not the first time it's surfaced on the mound. Most recent before then was Aug. 3 in Chicago when Burnett, handed a 13-1 lead after three innings, was removed after 41/3 and wasn't happy coming off the mound.

"A.J.'s not as good controlling his emotions as other people," Girardi said. "He's going to wear them on his sleeve. I don't have a problem with it. Everyone else does. I don't because I played with players who didn't control their emotions. Did Paul O'Neill wear his emotions on his sleeve?"

Girardi said how Burnett handles his emotions is out of his hands. "You're responsible for your actions, there's no doubt about it and some people's actions are going to be questioned more than others," Girardi said. "But I'm not going to tell a person how to respond and that you should hold your feelings in. I'm not the one to determine if the way A.J. vents is the right way. That's not my job. My job is to make him better as a player. I can't tell him how to act. A, I'm not a psychiatrist and B, I'm not God."