On Tuesday night, a report on ESPN.com indicated that Toronto was willing to explore potential trades for the right-handed pitcher. But Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi, who is currently at the GM Meetings in Orlando, Fla., was quick to clarify the situation.

"We're not shopping him," Ricciardi told the Canadian Press. "We don't want to move Burnett, we want him to help us win next season. But if someone was to wow us with an offer, we'd have to listen."

Burnett signed a five-year, $55 million contract with Toronto prior to the 2006 season, but he can choose to opt out of his deal after '08. That fact has led to speculation about the Jays possibly looking to deal the hard-throwing Burnett before potentially losing him to free agency.

As things currently stand, Burnett is still a large part of the picture for next season, when he's slated to pitch behind ace Roy Halladay in a rotation that was one of the American League's top groups last year. At the end of this past season, Ricciardi said that it would take a significant offer for the Jays to consider moving any of their starters.

"If we do anything on the trade market, I don't see anything being major," Ricciardi said. "It'd probably be more minor. We'd have to really get blown away to do something major. Everybody's going to want our kids on the mound, but we really don't want to give those guys up."

That sentiment was similar to the comments Ricciardi made on Tuesday night, when he said Toronto would be willing to listen to trade proposals for Burnett. That didn't mean the Jays were putting the pitcher on the trading block.

"We like having A.J. here," Ricciardi told ESPN.com. "He gives us a good opportunity to win in 2008, and that's our main objective right now. But we're open-minded. If someone blew us away, we'd be foolish not to listen. If someone came to us tomorrow and said, 'We'll give you this, this and this for him,' we'd be foolish not to look at it."

Burnett is scheduled to make $12 million next year, and again in 2009 and 2010, if he elects to remain with the Jays. If the 30-year-old hurler decides to opt out of his contract after the upcoming season, Toronto would receive a pair of compensation picks in the following First-Year Player Draft.

In his first two campaigns with the Blue Jays, Burnett has been plagued by a variety of arm issues.

He's posted a 10-8 record in each of the past two seasons, with a combined 294 strikeouts in his 46 starts. Last year, Burnett, who has had 10 stints on the disabled list in his nine big league seasons, missed roughly two months with a right shoulder issue. He was sidelined for nearly the same amount of time in 2006 with a right elbow injury.