Juan Soto is, by far, the top free agent on the market, but Corbin Burnes isn’t too far behind him and the Los Angeles Dodgers have been linked to him.
Burnes is the second-ranked free agent overall, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
“One of the most consistent, durable starters around,” Heyman wrote. “He didn’t pitch for strikeouts this year but was just as effective. The Orioles will try to keep him, but it will probably be hard with at least the Yankees, Mets and other big teams involved. All the high-revenue AL East teams plus the Giants and Dodgers are expected to play for the southern California product. $210 million, 7 years.”
The right-handed pitcher has been a force on the mound since 2020, posting a 52-31 record with a 2.88 ERA and 1.02 WHIP over 816.2 innings.
During this stretch, he has earned four All-Star selections and finished in the top 10 of Cy Young voting four times.
Burnes claimed the Cy Young Award in 2021 after leading the league with a 2.43 ERA across 167 innings for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Few things reveal more about a player’s mindset than their comments following the conclusion of their team’s season.
For the Orioles, Burnes’ remarks after their series loss to the Kansas City Royals do little to instill confidence.
“We’ll see what happens,” Burnes said on Oct. 3. “I haven’t thought much about what’s going on next. It’s going to be a crazy offseason, but still just trying to digest what happened. It was an early exit to what we thought was going to be a long run.”
Burnes became part of the Orioles on Feb. 1, when the team made a major move to acquire the 29-year-old right-hander from the Brewers.
In exchange, they sent infielder Joey Ortiz and left-handed pitcher DL Hall — two highly regarded young prospects — to Milwaukee, securing a proven ace to anchor their rotation.
For the teams pursuing Burnes, it will take a lot more than dollars.
“I am going to have to do a lot of research this offseason of farm systems, young guys coming up, groups of core guys that are on a team,” Burnes told Will Sammon of The Athletic.
“Where does it look like teams are going to be competitive? Where are teams just looking to spend some money to make the fan base happy? Whatever it might be.”
