Jays won't go five years on Burnett

If A.J. Burnett wants to sign a five-year contract this offseason, it's not going to be with the Blue Jays. On Tuesday, Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi said the club is not willing to add a fifth year of any kind to an offer to re-sign the pitcher.

"We're not going to go to five years," Ricciardi said. "Maybe if some team does that, that would would eliminate us. He may find that he has five years somewhere else and he may not even have to come back to us, knowing that we won't go to five years."

Burnett's agent, Darek Braunecker, said Ricciardi's latest comments don't necessarily take the Blue Jays out of the running to sign the hard-throwing right-hander.

"I'm not going to say that eliminates them or anybody else," Braunecker said. "What I will tell you is, as I've maintained for the last two weeks, is if he wants five years, he's getting five years.

Toronto originally signed Burnett to a five-year, $55 million deal prior to the 2006 season, but the pitcher was 28 years old at the time. Burnett, who opted out of his contract in order to test the free-agent market this winter, has a history of injury and turns 32 in January.

That being the case, Ricciardi said the Blue Jays aren't willing to hand him a guaranteed five-year deal, or a four-year pact that includes an option for a fifth season.

"We won't do five years, period," Ricciardi said. "We did a five-year deal last time, but he was under 30 years old."