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.

Betancourt makes 500th appearance in relief

Relief pitchers don't usually get much press -- especially those who aren't closers -- but only 11 relievers in DMBL history have done what Newark's Rafael Betancourt accomplished last week: the Venezuelan native made his 500th career appearance. And it was a memorable one, a 3-2 win over Blue Ridge at the Cereal Bowl on Saturday. He tossed two hitless innings in relief of Matt Harrison and picked up the win.

Francisco Rodriguez was the last reliever to reach 500 appearances, doing it as a member of Marietta, which acquired him last year from Newark (Rodriguez, by the way, was shipped off for the sixth time in his career this past weekend, going from Las Vegas to Bridgewater as part of the Tim Lincecum-Chris Sale trade).

Prior to F-Rod, it had been three years since a pitcher reached 500 appearances: longtime Hoboken Cutter Jason Isringhausen did it in 2008 before getting dealt to Philly. Next up figures to be Joe Nathan, who's appeared in 18 games this season for Las Vegas, leaving him just 12 games away from 500.

Betancourt appeared in 82 games for Marietta last season, matching the career high he set in his rookie year with Phoenix in 2004. The Sugar Bears plucked Betancourt with the first pick of the third round of this year's draft.

Over his first seven seasons (he took 2009 off), Betancourt averaged 67 appearances primarily as a set-up man. He may have a paltry 14 career saves but boasts a stellar record of 42-16 (.724) entering the 2012 campaign.

Huge, and I mean HUGE deal between Rats and Mites

We interrupt our regular Keeper Fallout schedule for this announcement.

Big trade news today as Las Vegas and Marietta completed a huge 4 players for 11 draft picks deal. Vegas continues to build for a run in 2008 by jettisoning a boatload of picks in exchange for some roster help. The jewel in the deal is designated hitter Jim Thome who gives the Rats a huge power presence in their lineup alongside Matt Holliday. Joining the pitching staff will be A.J. Burnett, who will probably slide into the #3 slot after Chris Young and Erik Bedard. The final two players are relievers Rafael Betancourt and Pat Neshek. With three relievers already protected, this effectively completes the Rat Pack bullpen.

Will team owner Eric Wickstrom even show up at the draft? Well, the Rats had six extra picks already in this draft, so losing a few won't hurt much this year. Let's take a look at what the Rats gave up. For this year, the Rats gave up six picks: the Rats returned the Mighty Men's number one pick (13th overall) and New Jersey's fourth round pick (acquired in the Ichiro deal), which is the third pick of that round. They also surrendered their 6th, 7th, 10th and 13th picks this year (all the first slot in their respective rounds). Vegas further surrendered their 1st, 7th and 10th picks in '09, and their 7th and 14th picks in 2010. The Rat Pack also got Herschel Walker in the deal (oh wait that's a different trade). That's a hell of a lot of picks and one crazy blockbuster. Curious as to how this breaks down? I'm sure there's already a lenghty post on the Ning!