He’s not front-page news, but AJ Burnett’s where baseball’s at in Toronto right now. They just don’t care too much about stickball up here. Especially in November. So are the Jays going to pick up AJ? Well, I think you might call this one a definite maybe.

“We’re going to make an offer,” general manager J.P. Ricciardi said Thursday. “We talked about some parameters but nothing that’s been concrete.”

Well all that ambiguity’s gone the way of Fernando Tatis. Thursday night the Jays made a solid offer of 5 years, $50 million. Apparently it’s going to take 60 to sign him.

AJ was in Toronto a couple weeks ago and met with Ricciardi, Roy Halladay and Jays pitching coach Brad Arnsberg. Burnett toured the Rogers Centre and was wined and dined before stopping by the Raptors’ NBA season opener with Halladay and Arnsberg, a former Marlins pitching coach who is still close with Burnett.

When asked about the possibility of signing with Toronto, Burnett said he was interested. Really? I wonder why? Could it be the $10+ million/year the Jays are ready to pony up? Drive a Brinks truck up my driveway and I think I’ll be interested in throwing horsehoes in Brest-Litovsk this winter.

The 28-year-old right-hander is the best arm available on the free-agent market. He was 12-12 with a 3.44 ERA for Florida this year, although he struggled down the stretch and was banished from the team in the final week after criticizing manager Jack McKeon and his coaching staff.

Burnett missed almost all of the 2003 season following reconstructive elbow surgery, and his career record is a pretty mediocre 49-50, all with Florida. But he’s one of the few pitchers with a 98 mph fastball and a no-hitter on his resume. Who knows how well that arsenal will translate to the AL.

Marlins general manager Larry Beinfest has said the team won’t attempt to re-sign Burnett. Two reasons why: he’s a jerk, and they can’t afford him.

The Jays really want to promote a 1-2 punch of Halladay and Burnett. The problem is there’s a good chance both guys are on the DL by August. Halladay hasn’t been the same since throwing 266 innings in ‘03. And Burnett is a guy who’s always been banged up.

Ricciardi plans to increase the payroll from $50 million to $85 million in an effort to improve a team that went 80-82. He’s got $170 million to spend over the next couple years. But he’s not going to throw that money around.

Burnett is looking for a five-year deal at $55 million. Ricciardi denied a report that the team already made Burnett a formal offer, but there’s not much time to dick around on this one. I’ve always believed the Yanks swoop in and sweep AJ up. He’s always maintained he wants to stay in a small market, but for a couple million more/year I think he’ll be ready for NY rush hour.

The Blue Jays are also interested in free-agent closer B.J. Ryan, who traveled to Toronto earlier this week for a recruitment trip.

“We thought it went good, but it doesn’t matter how it goes. It matters if they come here,” Ricciardi said.

Ryan had 36 saves and a 2.43 ERA for Baltimore last season. Ricciardi is also interested in free agent designated hitter Erubiel Durazo. I couldn’t tell you why. The last thing the Jays need is a DH who’s going to go .300/15/75.

“We’ve always liked him,” Ricciardi said. But then he’s also always liked John McDonald. So go figure.

Update On The Burnett Story