From The "Piling On" Files

("Why hast thou forsaken me, landing area?!"  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Welcome to the party, Joel Sherman!  In his column today, Sherman becomes the latest to dump all over A.J.'s world.  Some of the highlights include:

- "Burnett’s 4.96 ERA this season ranks 10th worst in Yankees history for a pitcher with enough innings to qualify for the ERA title. His 5.26 last year is third worst. If he doesn’t improve in 2011, he is going to be the only pitcher in team history with two of the 10 worst marks."

- "It makes sense his 4.72 ERA in 92 Yankee starts is by far the worst mark in team history for anyone allowed to make even 80 starts. The next worst is the 4.33 of Scott Kamieniecki."

- "The Yankees have won a major league-best 275 games since Burnett’s 2009 arrival. They had lost a major league-low 175 games — five fewer than Philadelphia, 16 fewer than the Red Sox.  Yet Burnett is 32-34. He has lost as the Yankees have won more than any other team in the sport."

- "The bar is this low now on Burnett: The Yankees are hoping to get something, anything out of him; hoping he does not kill them."

- "At a time when the Yankees have won more than anyone, Burnett has figured out how to be a loser."

Jesus tap dancing Christ that is bad.  And I can't say I disagree with Sherman's last point.  It's sad that A.J. has become a punchline, a living exhibit of pitching mediocrity in a Yankee uniform, but it's the truth.  And whether the reasons are mechanical, mental, emotional, or meta-physical, the results are all that matters now and they clearly aren't good enough.  If his start against the Orioles this weekend is his final one of the season, so be it.  He's certainly earned that fate with his performance.

I guess all we can hope for at this point is for A.J. to not completely shatter under all this piling on and kill himself.