1. I'll be VERY surprised if the Cards add another year. This is the first time they have offered a four year contract to a pitcher. Apparently it was a stretch for them to do so. So to add a 5th is asking too much. 2. Why is it too late? The Dodgers entered the Furcal race at the last second and landed him. He's not signed yet, so I wouldn't say it's too late. I also suspect that Hendry has been in touch with Burnett's agent a few times this offseason already. Also, with all the mediocre pitchers (aka Clement) getting 9 mil, 10 mil on Burnett could end up being a very good contract. Rumors have him making his decision tomorrow, if the timeframe of the Cubs entering the sweepstakes was less than 24 hours ago, I can't see them having a serious say in the matter. to me, it seems like money talks. there is no real deadline for burnett to make his decision as far as we know. even if his agent is getting ready to call the cards and say yes, if jim calls with a comparable/better offer he's going to give aj the chance to consider it. we might as well make aj the best offer we can, maybe he'd like to work alongside maddux, prior, and zambrano for a year.