A.J. Burnett arrived in Florida as a central piece of the 1998 trade that sent Al Leiter to the Mets, bringing a high-octane fastball and a curveball that became a nightmare for hitters. During his seven-season run with the club, he emerged as a powerful yet erratic force in the rotation, often balancing flashes of absolute brilliance with a struggle for command.

After bouncing between the minors and the big leagues during his first two seasons, Burnett demonstrated his ceiling on May 12, 2001, by tossing a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. It remains one of the strangest performances in baseball history, as he secured the feat despite issuing nine walks.

During the 2002 season, he authored a campaign that led the major leagues with five shutouts. He demonstrated complete mastery of the strike zone at times, earning 12 wins and 203 strikeouts while allowing only 6.7 hits per nine innings. Although the Marlins won the World Series in 2003, Burnett faced a major setback that October; he was sidelined for the entire season after Tommy John surgery, watching the championship from the dugout as he focused on a prolonged recovery.

In 2005, he enjoyed a durable farewell campaign, logging 209 innings and striking out 198 batters with a 3.44 ERA. He proved he was fully recovered from surgery, though his tenure ended with a tactical exit as he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent following the season. He posted a 49-50 record with 753 Strikeouts and a 3.73 ERA with Florida.

Is this the year Curt Schilling makes it into the National Baseball Hall of Fame? Will Schilling be the only player elected to the Hall this year? After all the tumultuous voting activity of the 2010s, has voting for the Hall returned to "normal"?

Only a crystal ball, or the patience to wait until voting results for the 2021 Baseball Hall of Fame are announced on January 26, 2021, can give us the definitive answers, but of course that doesn't stop us from prognosticating before we learn the results.

For now, the short answers are:

1. Maybe.

2. Possibly.

3. Likely.

2021 BBWAA Hall of Fame Ballot: Executive Summary

With a solid fastball, A.J. Burnett had a long career in Major League Baseball, securing 164 Wins on the Major League level.  Burnett always seemed to be on the cusp of possibly having that elite season, and while he never did, he did lead the AL in Strikeouts once and had over 2,500 Ks in his career.  Burnett made his first All Star Game in his last season in the Majors (2015).