Braves make offer to free-agent pitcher Burnett

The Braves continued their dogged pursuit of a rotation ace by making a four-year offer to Toronto free agent A.J. Burnett, an 18-game winner and American League strikeout leader in 2008.

The offer is believed to be worth close to $16 million in average annual value, with a fifth-year vesting option that would kick in if Burnett stays healthy enough to pitch a certain number of innings.

“We’re still working to get more pitching,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said at a news conference Thursday to introduce Javier Vazquez, the veteran right-hander acquired in a trade agreed upon Tuesday.

Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings start Monday in Las Vegas, but general manager Frank Wren said the Braves could add another starter “before we get there. We’re trying every day to get another pitcher. That’s been our focus.”

Wren confirmed the offer to Burnett, who many consider the second-best starter on the free-agent market behind CC Sabathia. The Braves aren’t bidding for Sabathia, who might land a contract worth $25 million annually.

Wren wouldn’t discuss financial terms of the Burnett offer, but said there wasn’t a guaranteed fifth year in the proposal, contrary to a published report. Burnett will be 32 in January.

The New York Yankees were expected to make an offer Thursday or Friday to Burnett. They were waiting to hear what the Braves had offered.

Other bids for Burnett could come from Toronto, Philadelphia, the New York Mets and Boston, though the Red Sox are reportedly focusing on free agent Derek Lowe.

Burnett was a career-best 18-10 with a 4.07 ERA and 231 strikeouts in 221 1/3 innings in 2008. He had ligament-transplant elbow surgery in 2004 and DL stints in 2006-07 for elbow and shoulder soreness.

Since debuting with Florida in 1999, he’s compiled an 87-76 record and 3.81 ERA with 1,278 strikeouts in 1,376 1/3 innings.