Corbin Burnes, Who Had Been Linked To Dodgers, Traded to Baltimore
The Dodgers’ acquisition of Tyler Glasnow from the Tampa Bay Rays in December figured to put a wrap on blockbuster offseason trades for starting pitchers.
It did – until Thursday.
The Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a trade sending former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes to Baltimore:
Earlier this offseason, the Dodgers were reportedly very interested in landing the 29-year-old right-hander. However, reports started coming out that Milwaukee would likely keep Burnes heading into the new season.
Now, instead of heading to Los Angeles, Burnes joins a very young core of players in Baltimore. Baltimore won 101 games last year with the efforts of young stars Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson.
The Orioles are capitalizing on this early success by bringing in one of the game’s premier pitchers. This puts Baltimore squarely in the American League pennant conversation.
As for the Dodgers, they miss out on adding another ace to their staff. Burnes would have been a luxury for this Dodgers team that has two aces in Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Glasnow. Walker Buehler, the ace of the Dodgers’ rotation in 2022, is returning from Tommy John surgery this year.
Still, the return Milwaukee received is within the Dodgers’ scope. Ortiz, the premier prospect in the trade, ranks 63rd overall on MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects list. In comparison, the Dodgers’ top-ranked prospect, Nick Frasso, ranks 80th on the same list.
It’s entirely possible that Milwaukee did not want to do business with the Dodgers. Teams tend to try and trade players across leagues so they do not have to face the players involved before the World Series.
It’s also possible that the industry consensus around Ortiz and Frasso (or any other prospects on the table for Milwaukee) isn’t shared by the Brewers’ front office.
In any event, the Orioles’ gain is the Brewers’ loss — and a loss for any teams who felt they could have made a better offer for one of the game’s better pitchers.
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
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DODGERS OUTDONE! REALITY CHK-THEY’VE WON 1 W.S. TITLE IN 35 YEARS! STARTERS: YAMAMOTO-NEVER PITCHED IN MLB-OHTANI-TJ SURGERY-QUESTIONABLE BUEHLER-LONG ROAD BACK FROM TJ SURGERY-GLASNOW-HOW MANY INNINGS WILL HE PITCH THIS YEAR?-MILLER-NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME-SHEEHAN-NOT READY PERIOD! DUMBO DODGERS FRONT OFFICE SHOULD’VE WENT ALL-IN ON BURNES-A TREMENDOUS PITCHER. IF THEY DON’T SIGN A NEEDED LEFTY STARTER, I.E., BLAKE SNELL, THEY’RE DUMBER THAN I THOUGHT & LA COULD HAVE ANOTHER DISAPPOINTING YEAR! IF THEY DON’T WIN IT ALLTHIS YEAR, THEN FRIEDMAN & KASTEN WILL HAVE HAVE PROVEN – ONCE AGAIN, THAT THEY’RE INCAPABLE OF WINNING W.S. TITLES & THEY M U S T BE FIRED!!!
Obviously there is no IQ test to be able to post here
I hate to agree with you, but I do. Yes, Yamamoto is a big question mark in the ML and who knows if Ohtani will be effective again as a pitcher. Worried about Buehler too, after as many operations as he’s had. Clayton is just about done, so we can’t kid ourselves there. Was really hoping for Burnes and I have little belief they will get Snell. As always, it seems we are entering another season with a crippled pitching staff possibly doomed for more disappointing injuries.
Happily you’re not making the Dodgers’ decisions. The questions marks will soon be exclamation points.
The Big Blue Dodger Factor says you are full of it. The season hasn’t even started yet and you have already given up by the tone of your post. Everything you said about Buelher, Glasnow and Yamamoto is true to a point. But Burnes could fall on his head or tear an ACL in Spring training and be out for 6 months. This is all based on IF’s. I for one will wait to see what this HISTORIC offseason has done before I start re-analyzing what the Dodger staff is or isn’t. The other thing is this: The Dodgers can’t sign another big name free agent for a simple reason: The luxury tax. They are right at the Cohen level. Go over and they pay 110% on their payroll. That could/would hamstring them from any other moves of note for the rest of the year. We don’t want or need that.
Obviously, Milwaukee did not want to do business with us. You can’t force people to deal with you…
Considering all the scuttlebutt about the Brewers wanting too much in return for a rental year of Burnes, what they eventually “settled” for was much less. Would have been nice to add him to the Dodgers rotation, but it’s okay that he heads to the other league for a year at least. If the Dodgers end up facing him in the 2025 WS, that ‘s a good thing.
I think there may be an issue with other teams not wanting to trade (or even do business) with the Dodgers. The Rockies and Cardinals were reluctant to trade Arenado to the Dodgers. Now, the Brewers trade Burnes to another team. Perhaps they did get more for Burnes than the Dodgers offered. Maybe not. I wonder how many other teams don’t want to do business with the Dodgers. I may be reading too much into this situation. At least the Dodgers have “good relations” with the Rays.
Do you really think if the Dodgers offer the best return in a trade that other teams will turn the deal down for some emotional reason? Or from fear? Or what? It’s a business. Deals are made when both sides feel good about the transaction. And have you considered that maybe Andrew didn’t want to give up the farm for a one year rental? Or that the Dodgers stepped away for some other good reason? Seems like there is this widespread attitude that every free agent and every trade is the Dodgers for the asking. Let’s give some credit to the other 29 teams. Or at least the smart/competitive ones.
If you make the best offer the other club will jump at it. You don’t really think teams are making emotional, irrational decisions in this multi-zillion dollar business, do you? And let’s not forget Burnes is a one year rental. Andrew may not have wanted to pony up a couple of MLB ready players like the O’s did.
Winning a WS isn’t an easy task. The Dodgers must win their division and continue to put a quality product on the field to continue winning the real game, filling the seats, and being one of the most coveted teams in all sports. As long as the Dodgers continue to be very competitive and show their fan base that they are diligently trying to win the World Series every year, they are going to stay at the top of the league. The Dodgers are one of the most productive and lucrative teams in MLB.
Corbin Burnes would have been a great addition, but the Dodgers will find another great arm to add to the rotation. Why didn’t anyone mention our relief pitchers?