30 biggest free agent contracts in New York Yankees history

16. AJ Burnett, 2009: Five Years, $82.5 Million

Another Yankee without whom -- say it with us, now -- they don't win the 2009 World Series. Not worth the money, but simultaneously worth it all and then some.

Burnett came guns blazing from the Blue Jays, a surprise addition in the wake of CC Sabathia joining the Yankees. He helped front a surprisingly thin rotation for the Yanks in '09, throwing 207 innings, striking out 195 and leading the league with 97 walks. It was almost an exact replica of what he'd done the season before in Toronto (no notes): 18-10, 4.07, 231 Ks in 221.1 innings pitched.

He's best known for Game 2 of the '09 World Series when he limited Philly to four hits and one run in seven innings, striking out nine and walking two -- and don't forget when he held the Detroit Tigers down in an elimination Game 4 of the 2011 ALDS, bouncing back for a big game after his regular season had gone off the rails.

The Yankees sold Burnett at his lowest after '11, and he bounced back in full with the Pirates, making his first and only career All-Star team in his final season in 2015. A career well-lived.