Pirates sign Burnett to 1-year deal: 'This is where I want to finish my career'

Veteran right-hander A.J. Burnett forfeited over $4 million to finish his baseball career where he wants - with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The 37-year-old signed a one-year, $8.5-million deal with the Pirates on Friday afternoon, less than two weeks after he declined a $12.75-million player option to remain with the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2015 campaign.

Burnett, who made his major league debut in 1999, said his desire to win a second World Series ring fueled his decision to return to Pittsburgh, where he enjoyed two solid seasons in 2012 and 2013.

“I'm sure I've got one more (season) left in me,” Burnett told Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune. “This is where I want to finish my career, playing for this team and for this city. I want to win a ring, and I want to do it in Pittsburgh.”

As such, Burnett approached Pirates general manager Neal Huntington about a possible reunion, a development that surely delighted the executive tasked with replacing both Francisco Liriano and Edinson Volquez in the rotation for next season.

“He made it clear he wanted to do everything we could to make this work,” Huntington said. “Obviously, the man left a lot of money on the table to choose to come back to Pittsburgh and take care of unfinished business.”

Burnett struggled mightily in his lone season with the Phillies, but a sports hernia dogged him for much of the campaign and Huntington remains optimistic the right-hander can recapture the success he enjoyed in his previous stint with the Pirates.

“A.J. was really good for us ... and on the surface, wasn't as good for Philadelphia,” Huntington said. “There are some indicators that (make) us think there's still a good pitcher here who can still win big games and eat innings.”