End Of The Line: A.J. Burnett

End Of The Line is an occasional offseason series that will take a closer look at the career of DMBL players leaving the league after the 2016 season. Today, we look at Allan James "A..J." Burnett, who leaves his mark on the league in a number of ways.

A.J. Burnett might not be anyone's obvious choice for the Hall of Fame. He could be considered to have a slightly better career than Mark Buehrle and not quite up to that of Tim Hudson. Yet he leaves his name all over the league's history books.

Burnett was drafted no less than seven times and was involved in one of the biggest trades ever. He's responsible for one of 17 no-hitters in league history and one of two for the Las Vegas franchise. He saw the postseason with some regularity between Stanhope/Marietta, Las Vegas and San Francisco, ultimately playing for eight franchises in 14 seasons.

The Arkansas native finishes his career with 384 starts, ranked 12th all-time, just ahead of Kevin Brown (362) and C.C. Sabathia (363), and trailing Pedro Martinez (387) and tied with Bartolo Colon (384), who plans to pitch in 2017. Burnett ranks 13th in wins with 154, behind Tim Hudson (156) and ahead of Sabathia (139), and is 10th in losses with 131, ahead of Roger Clemens (126) and trailing Mike Mussina (139) for a solid .540 career win percentage.

Burnett leaves DMBL as one of only nine pitchers with more than 2,000 strikeouts (2,148); only five other pitchers have more strikeouts (John Smoltz, Curt Schilling, Clemens, Martinez and Randy Johnson). He ranks 11th with 2,466 2/3 innings pitched to go with 27 complete games and 8 shutouts. He finished his career with a 4.48 ERA and a 1.433 WHIP.

Burnett was drafted three times before he even reached the DMBL mound, the first two times as an ineligible prospect:

• 1999, 3rd round, Honolulu Sharks
• 2000, 12th round, Keystone Gamblers
• 2001, 8th round, Carolina Mudcats
• 2004, 16th round, Stanhope
• 2012, 15th round, Las Vegas
• 2015, 13th round, Blue Ridge
• 2016, 12th round, Livingston

His first DMBL-eligible season was 2001 yet he didn't make his debut until 2002 with Philly. At the 2003 trade deadline, Philly sent Burnett to Carolina for a 3rd rounder. Although his combined 12-13 mark wasn't anything special, his 230 combined innings were by far his career high until his final season. He also pitched 6 complete games (including 4 in 12 starts with Carolina).

The workload must have taken its toll because he stepped away from DMBL for the 2004 season. That didn't phase the Mighty Men of Stanhope, which selected him that year with the 1st pick of the supplemental draft (16th round) despite his ineligibility and protected him heading into 2005.

Burnett's three-year stint with Stanhope/Marietta started a 6-year run of 32+ starts (2005-10), including three straight 200-inning seasons (2006-08) book-ended by 199- and 198-inning seasons in 2005 and 2009, respectively.

Coming off a six-game defeat to Newark in the 2008 DMBL World Series and five straight postseason appearances, Marietta pulled the trigger on a massive rebuild, sending Burnett to Las Vegas for a truckload of picks just before the 2008 protected deadline. Burnett was packaged with DH Jim Thome and RPs Pat Neshek and Rafael Betancourt for 11 draft picks. Six picks in the 2008 draft: a 1st, 4th, 6th, 7th, 10th, and 13th; three in 2009, a 1st, 7th, and 10th; and two in 2010, a 7th and 14th.

Burnett promptly announced his presence with authority in Las Vegas. By April, he threw the 7th no-hitter in league history -- the first in four years -- blanking a powerful Newark offense. That year saw a career-high  217 strikeouts to go with a sparkling 15-3 record. He followed that up with 210 strikeouts and 14-8 mark in 2009.

The Burnett deal paid off for Marietta too. After slogging through the 2008 season and getting the No. 1 overall pick in 2009, the Mighty Men returned to the DMBL World Series, knocking off Newark in seven games.

After three productive seasons in Las Vegas, Burnett was shipped to Bridgewater for a 10th rounder just ahead of the 2011 protected deadline. Bridgewater didn't agree with him and he suffered through his worst season: 6-15, 6.52 ERA, 111 strikeouts and just 139 1/3 innings in 31 starts. Meanwhile, Las Vegas was busy finally clinching its first DMBL title.

A favorite of Las Vegas ownership, Burnett would be reunited with the Rat Pack in 2012, taken as a reclamation project in the 15th round, the final pick of the regular draft. He scuffled in his second stint though, making 9 relief appearances in 2012 and 17 at-best mediocre starts in 2013.

New ownership moved the team to San Francisco for 2014 and Burnett had a bit of a resurgence. He went 17-9 despite a 5.17 ERA with 196 Ks in 200 1/3 innings, contributing to San Francisco's 2014 championship run and his first title.

In 2015, Burnett found himself unprotected again and Blue Ridge took a chance on him in the 13th round but didn't exactly pan out, going 1-4 in 6 starts with an ERA near 8.00.

Livingston got great value out of Burnett as a 12th round pick last year. Judging by his stats, he looked rejuvenated and maybe even had some gas left in the tank. He tossed a career-best 242 innings (his most in 13 years), to go with 195 strikeouts, 14-10 mark, 4.46 ERA and 5 complete games in his final season.