The Orioles Miss Out On Yet Another Big Time Starting Pitcher As Corbin Burnes Signs a 6-Year, $210 Million Deal With The Arizona Diamondbacks

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You hear that wet fart noise? That's the sound of the Baltimore Orioles offseason so far! Everyone and their mother expected them to land at least a starting pitcher or two but no one thought that heading into the new year it would only be Tomoyuki Sugano that they added. I thought they had a legit shot to bring back Corbin Burnes who was great for the Birds and frankly, the only player who showed up for them in the playoffs but that is out the window now as Burnes signed a 6-year, $210 million deal to head home out West with the Diamondbacks. Nightengale reported that the Giants and Blue Jays offered more but Burnes couldn't pass up that home cooked meal and 30 minute drive home I guess, not surprising at all. 

His wife lives there, he has 3 kids out there and was flying back and forth to Phoenix in-between starts last year to be with his newborn twins so I get it, home is home. But man, with THIS ownership? The money that they have? Guys choosing ARIZONA over Baltimore? If a guy wants to go somewhere, he's going to go, no matter the money, but we all assumed that with the amount of money the new ownership has that they could blow these offers out of the water. They could be competitive for free agents and make a splash. I haven't heard anything close to a splash yet. 

We heard the Boras rumor mill stirring when it was reported that they wanted more than Max Fried got ($218 over 8 years), then we were told that he was looking for over $245 Million, turns out neither of those things happened and he took less to be at home. It sucks because that is an offer that the Orioles should have beaten. That's not a monster number, it's not $330 over 8 years, it's a doable deal. I'd love to know what the O's actual offer to Burnes was, I mean were they in the ballpark? Was it $215-$220 and he just wasn't going to be moved by another $10 Million? Again, I get that if a guy wants to go home he's going to go, but at least have a plan ready to go if you knew that going into free agency. 

This isn't really a Boras move too, taking less money to stay somewhere but the agent does work for the player at the end of the day, not the other way around. Happy for Corbin that he got his money and gets to be close to his family, can't really put a price tag on that but man is it deflating for the O's and their fans. We're still waiting for "liftoff" that we were promised in 2022, we're still waiting on ownership to open a checkbook and make this team more competitive. Yankees added pieces and got better, Red Sox added pieces and got better. The Orioles have now lost their ace and likely a guy who hit 44 homers for them last year and have only added Tyler O'Neill and Gary Sanchez to go along with Sugano. That isn't enough! That isn't enough for a team that has been swept out of the playoffs in embarrassing fashion the past 2 seasons. It's not enough for a fanbase that now feels like they've been mislead and lied to by folks in the warehouse that they were going to make big time moves. Sure they've spent money, but it's not on the impact players that this team NEEDS. 

With Burnes off the table, where do the O's pivot to? Because there needs to be a backup plan. It should have never come to this because they should have already signed a Nathan Eovaldi or someone of that caliber. Fans weren't expecting Max Fried and Burnes and Roki Sasaki. But they also weren't thinking that the only pitcher added would be a 35-year old Japanese rookie. What's the move from here? No one in this farm system is untouchable, you go out and make a trade to make this rotation what it needs to be so they can be competitive in the AL East. You trade Heston Kjerstad if needed, you trade Coby Mayo if needed, you trade Samuel Basallo if needed, trade them all to get a legit ace, like they had last year. This team is ready to win, we're done glazing the prospects and farm system, it's past time to win at the major league level. We know how smart the front office is, we know how these guys helped turn Houston into winners, it's past time for that to happen in Baltimore. 

Much like the rest of the fans, I'm pretty fucking annoyed. This team hasn't gotten better and now the best pitcher available is old friend Jack Flaherty who hated that he was traded back in 2023 and had a fit every time he put on the O's uniform. So what is the move going forward? Are they going to run the Burnes play back again and trade for Dylan Cease?  Move prospects for a guy on an expiring contract and then do this same song and dance next year when he's a free agent? They need that horse on the mound and right now they don't have it, Corbin would have been that again if he had come back but the search for the ace is back on. I love Grayson Rodriguez and Zach Efflin but a legit stud #1 guy to go ahead of them on the bump is what this team needs, they didn't get it in the offseason. Talk about a kick in the nuts man. 

Do they overpay for Cease like they should have done for Garrett Crochet? Somehow convince Roki to want to come to Baltimore? Make a move for a guy like Nick Pivetta? Trade major league talent to Seattle for one of their guys? Who knows but it better be something, Rodriguez, Efflin, Kremer, Sugano, Rogers/Povich/McDermott/Suarez? That rotation has talent at the top but as a whole it ain't scaring anybody. Disaster of an off-season for this ball club, needed to make impact moves and has really only made lateral moves. No one is more trusting in this ownership group and front office than I am, but this is frustrating and doesn't really inspire a ton of hope for the 2025 season. Have to spend money to be competitive, have to. Spending won't guarantee a World Series but man, more times than not it's a hugeeeeeee help in getting there. Realistically there is probably NOTHING that the Orioles could have offered Burnes to get him to live across the country from his family, which is perfectly okay but to not have anything in place if and when he signed somewhere else is disappointing and frustrating for these fans and team. 

At leat the O's were in on a bunch of guys, hang the banner.