Featured Columnist IVDecember 27, 2024
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Free agent beginning pitcher Corbin Burnes is hoping to safe a significant bag this winter.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that Burnes is “in search of a deal price no less than $245 million, which might match the seven-year, $245 million deal Stephen Strasburg signed in December 2019 because the third-highest assured contract in historical past for a beginning pitcher.”
He added that the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays “have been thought of his two most probably touchdown spots.”
Burnes, 30, is a four-time All-Star and the 2021 NL Cy Younger winner. He had a powerful 2024 marketing campaign for the Baltimore Orioles, ending 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 181 strikeouts in 194.1 innings (32 begins).
He misplaced his solely postseason begin for the Orioles, although that got here right down to Baltimore’s offense going chilly in opposition to the Kansas Metropolis Royals, as Burnes gave up simply 5 hits and a run via eight innings of labor, putting out three.
As for his free-agent market, Feinsand famous that the San Francisco “has had a proposal on the desk, however sources have indicated that the Giants could also be getting impatient, prompting them to think about different methods to enhance the membership by way of free company.”
The Blue Jays, in the meantime, want to enhance after a disappointing 74-88 common season that noticed them end final within the AL East. With the New York Yankees making a flurry of strikes to offset the lack of Juan Soto and the Boston Purple Sox being busy as properly, the Blue Jays danger remaining on the backside of the AL East.
That, in flip, might make it tough to persuade stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette to stay with the membership for the long run.
Including Burnes—whereas hoping the core group returns to the shape that noticed it attain the playoffs thrice in a four-year span between 2020-23—might assist the Blue Jays hold tempo within the aggressive AL East. It could definitely be an announcement of intent, particularly if Burnes finally ends up getting the pay day he is reportedly in search of.
