Yanks, Pirates closer to deal for Burnett

Although a deal was not reached Thursday in the talks that would send A.J. Burnett to Pittsburgh, discussions moved forward to the point that the Pirates know which players will go to the Bronx if they agree to pay $13 million of the $33 million remaining on his contract.

A source said an agreement might come by Saturday, possibly as soon as Friday. A deal would have to get the OK of the commissioner's office because of the amount of money involved.

The teams have been close to a deal for more than a week, with the same obstacle blocking it. The Pirates have offered to pay $10 million of Burnett's remaining contract and the Yankees' response has been some form of "either agree to pay more or give us better players."

The Pirates have been reluctant to do either, but it appears they're more willing to pony up the extra money -- from the Yankees' perspective, the acceptable total is in the $13-million-to-$15-million range -- and trade B-level prospects to the Yanks.

If and when a deal for Burnett is reached, the Yankees will resume their search for a DH, with Raul Ibañez the top target and Johnny Damon still in the mix.

The Yankees' message has been that they're not desperate to move Burnett, and sources have said the team is prepared to have him report with other pitchers and catchers Sunday.

Speaking Thursday at the Yankees' minor-league complex in Tampa, pitching coach Larry Rothschild steered clear of speculating about the trade. "Who knows what's going to happen?" he said. "I go forward with the plans he's going to be here."

SEE PHOTOSYankees Opening Day starters

Rothschild said he does not anticipate things being awkward if a trade doesn't occur and Burnett does report Sunday. "Maybe it will be [awkward], but I'm not going in anticipating that," Rothschild said.

Rothschild said he spoke to Burnett a handful of times during the offseason about continuing to work on some of the mechanical tweaks the pair made toward the end of 2011.