A.J. Burnett answered the question before the final word had been directed his way.

"Josh."

The response was in regard to a query regarding who among the early 2000's Florida Marlins young pitchers would ultimately be rewarded with the biggest contract. And even though of a group that consisted of Brad Penny, Ryan Dempster, Beckett, and Burnett, the Yankees' No. 2 starter remains the leader in the clubhouse in terms of most money made, Burnett still stands firm regarding his analysis.

"He would probably say the same thing back then. 'A.J. has got this fastball, man. His stuff is unbelievable.' But when you watch Josh throw, he was so young, so crisp, so pure," Burnett said prior to his team's series finale against the Red Sox Wednesday night at Fenway Park. "He was made to be a big league pitcher."

Burnett said he hadn't followed the news regarding Beckett's recently-signed four-year, $68 million deal. As he explained, since the Yanks' hurler was the first to get in line for recent multi-year deals for front-line starting pitchers, drama like the kind that recently followed his former Marlins teammate wasn't of too much concern.

"They say I set the bar. That's what they tell me," said Burnett, who signed a five-year, $82.5 million deal with New York prior to the 2009 season, a contract that matched up with John Lackey's agreement with the Red Sox. "But to be honest, I haven't really paid attention to it. I don't know all the details about it. I guess when you're the first one you don't have to worry about it."

According to Baseball-Reference.com, entering this season Burnett has made just more than $57 million throughout his career, while Penny has hauled in just over $38 million and Dempster has earned just shy of $35 million. Beckett, meanwhile, enters '10 having made slightly over $40 million.

Burnett says the money isn't the only thing that has changed, a fact that the New York righty says has been reinforced by watching his former rotation-mate.

"I know I've changed a lot. I know he's changed a lot," Burnett said. "I haven't played with him since then, but I know when I talk to him he's always the nice country boy that's always been. But you can tell out on the mound he's really accepted who he is out there and his role as an ace of a team, and what he's supposed to do, which he's doing exceptionally well.

"We had fun down there, man. We were kids. Back then we got to take BP every day. We used to launch balls every day in the upper-deck, Josh and I both, and Penny. There was something about those guys who were on that staff. You could tell they were going to be around for a long time. Penny, Dempster, Me, Beckett. You could see something was in them that was special."