PITTSBURGH -- Left-hander Sean Burnett cleared waivers and
was sent outright Thursday to the Pittsburgh Pirates' Triple-A
Indianapolis farm club.
The move removes Burnett from the club's 40-man roster, but he
will attend spring training next week as a nonroster player.
Burnett was the Pirates' first-round draft pick in 2000. He won
five consecutive starts shortly after being recalled in 2004, but
he needed reconstructive left elbow surgery later that year. He
also had an operation to repair his left shoulder, a problem
related to his elbow injury.
Burnett has not pitched in the majors since, and Pirates scouts
said his velocity was down when he recently made six winter-ball
starts in Venezuela.