A.J. Burnett has a $12.75 million player option in his contract for next season, but it seems likely that he'll retire instead.

"Maybe this is a hint at which way Burnett is leaning: He kept four game balls from Saturday night's start, the 404th of his career," writes Jim Salisbury. "Would he have done that if he planned to pitch next season?"

Burnett went 8-18 with a 4.59 ERA, 1.409 WHIP and 190 strikeouts in 213.2 innings this season.