Corbin Burnes Gives Insight Into How Poorly Baltimore Orioles Handled His Free Agency

The Baltimore Orioles are having major issues with their starting rotation.

Many people expected that to be the case after Corbin Burnes departed and the front office didn't go after a one-for-one replacement.

There was also criticism of the Orioles for letting the ace leave in the first place, but when the details about his six-year, $210 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks came out, it was hard to blame the cash-strapped franchise for not extending him that amount of money.

It's not like Baltimore didn't try to retain him, either.

A four-year, $180 million offer was put on the table, and the $45 million per season would have been the highest AAV for any pitcher in Major League Baseball history.

That's nothing to sneeze at, however, Burnes also gave some insight into his free agency dealings with the Orioles, and it doesn't necessarily paint the franchise in a positive light.

"If they really wanted me they wouldn't have offered me four years. They knew that wasn't going to work. That was one of the things that we were scratching our head at where they kind of got the years from. They were kind of set on those years ... It was just strange because we didn't hear that much from them, just like, hey, we'd love to have you back. Then, it was radio silence. They weren’t spitting out numbers at all. It was like, 'Yeah, we want you,' but it wasn't like, we want you bad, here's this offer," he told Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY.

That's quite the statement.

Sure, Baltimore might have never gone to the total amount of money that the Diamondbacks gave him, but the fact that they went "radio silent" like Burnes said is inexcusable.

The Orioles gave up a strong trade package to acquire him ahead of the 2024 season knowing that their starting unit was a weakness that someone like the former NL Cy Young winner could help solve.

And for the rotation to crumble around Burnes all year and for him to stay steady, the fact that Baltimore didn't prioritize getting something done with their ace says a lot about what took place in free agency.

The other strange part about this is the Orioles offered Burnes a record-setting deal when it come to the amount of money paid per season.

Why they weren't willing to go beyond the four-year mark isn't known, but the fact it cost them a high-end starting pitcher when they already had question marks in that unit is head-scratching.

"Burnes was open to staying in Baltimore, too, but waited nearly a month before the Orioles even made an offer," Nightengale added in his story.

It would be interesting to hear Mike Elias' side to get a better understanding of what happened here, but based on what Burnes has shared, how things were handled by the front office was about as poor as things could have been handled based on the importance of the ace to this team.

Recommended Articles