Burrell ain't so bad... is he?

It's funny what a few ridiculous contracts can do for a guy's reputation. Suddenly, after Carlos Lee's mega-deal and a few other inflated pacts had been offered and signed by some rather mediocre free agents, Pat Burrell is beginning to look like a bargain for the Phillies.

Believe it or not, the Phillies might be lucky they have Burrell.

Check out the latest dispatch from Joe Sheehan in Baseball Prospectus:

It will be interesting to see if Pat Gillick completes the hat trick and trades Pat Burrell, clearing the last of the three massive contracts he inherited a little over a year ago. At $14 million per through 2008, he's pretty much a bargain; heck, he’s 90% of the hitter that Carlos Lee is, and in any given year could outhit the Astros’ $100 million man. Burrell would be a good pickup for a team savvy enough to pick up the money on his deal instead of swapping prospects. The Twins would be a pretty good fit, actually. Maybe the White Sox as well, where Burrell could sit 30 times against the toughest righties.

If they do trade Burrell, the Phillies will potentially have the worst-hitting outfield in the league. A Michael Bourn/Aaron Rowand/Shane Victorino combination would be fairly good with the gloves, and replacement level with the bats. Trot Nixon could be worth a gamble here, or perhaps Aubrey Huff. The Phillies were carried by three hitters during their run late in 2006; it would be a mistake to go that route again.

Here's my theory: Burrell isn't going to hit .222 with runners in scoring position or .167 with runners in scoring position with two outs for two years in a row. In fact, if Burrell had hit just .250 with runners in scoring position, the Phillies just might have made the playoffs last season. He can probably do that by accident in 2007.

At least he should do it by accident.

You heard it here first -- Burrell will be good in 2007. Let's rephrase that... Burrell will be better in 2007 than he was in 2006. For $14 million with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the most prolific offense in the league surrounding him, Burrell isn't the Phillies' biggest concern.

Besides, with the way most people have been writing him off this winter, Burrell should show up in Clearwater in three months with something to prove.

Let's see -- 29 homers, 95 RBIs and .890 OPS? That will work.