Burnett is 38-26 in his three years in Toronto. More important, he had his best and healthiest major league season in 2008, going 18-10 with a 4.07 ERA, with 231 strikeouts in 221 1/3 innings. He enters the offseason right behind CC Sabathia as the most-desirable free agent pitcher on the market.

First, of course, he has to enter that market.

Toronto manager Cito Gaston said late in the season he expected Burnett would indeed opt out, and there is a ton of money out there for him. But the Jays haven't given up.

General manager J.P. Ricciardi and interim president Paul Beeston have talked to Burnett and agent Darek Braunecker, seeing where the player's head is at these days.

"We've had some conversations and I would say they've been very productive, Ricciardi told the Toronto Sun. "I think all along we've said we want to bring A.J. back, and I think our talks have been very good and we'll see how they play out."

Obviously, the first thing the Jays would have to do is boost the last two years of the current deal. Staff ace Roy Halladay is slated to make $14.25 million and $15.75 million for 2009 and 2010, something that may be used as a guideline, but Burnett could be expected to command more than that in this pitching-starved game.

Beeston said his meeting with player and agent "went well," adding, "It was a learning experience."