Dodgers Never Offered Contract to $210 Million Ace Who Joined NL West Rival

Jan 22, 2025; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Andrew Friedman, President of baseball operations speaks during an introductory press conference for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers pursued a number of top free agents this offseason. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the team was especially aggressive in their pursuits of pitching talent because the front office was hoping to avoid the trade market in July.

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“It's been my goal the last however many years — and I failed miserably at it — but my goal is to avoid 'July to buy,'” Friedman said at the Winter Meetings. “I do not want to buy in July. I feel like the more times I say it out loud, the better chance it has to actually be a thing.”

The Dodgers acquired some of the best arms on the free agent market in Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott, and Kirby Yates.

Snell, Max Fried, and Corbin Burnes were the three best pitchers available this winter. While many speculated the Dodgers would sign Fried, L.A. headlined the winter by signing Snell to a five-year, $182 million deal less than a month after winning the World Series.

According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Dodgers never made an offer to Burnes, who chose to sign with the NL West rival Arizona Diamondbacks in a surprise twist.

"There were supposed to be at least two or three teams who made larger offers to Burnes before he decided to stay home and sign with the Diamondbacks," Nightengale writes. "Well, as it turns out, no one made a higher offer to Burnes. The Orioles stopped at $180 million. The Blue Jays offer was not only low, but was 75% deferred, which Burnes never took seriously. The San Francisco Giants’ pursuit of Burnes stopped before it really got started.

"And no, he didn’t leave any money on the table, with the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers never making an offer."

Burnes ended up signing a six-year, $210 million deal with the Diamondbacks, his preferred team in free agency.

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For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.