How Close Were Red Sox To Landing Corbin Burnes? $210M Ace Details Free Agency

The Boston Red Sox proved this offseason that they were willing to start spending like a big-market team again.

Though there were times fans still questioned the team's commitment to spending, the $120 million contract for Alex Bregman that dragged the Red Sox over the projected luxury tax threshold should be proof enough that Boston was committed to getting back into the playoff picture in 2025.

One free agent they weren't able to sign, however, was right-handed pitcher Corbin Burnes. The 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner and four-time All-Star wound up taking a six-year, $210 million contract from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the biggest deal in franchise history.

The baseball world was fairly shocked when Burnes chose the Diamondbacks, and the dollar amount was lower than many experts had projected for the righty throughout the offseason. The Red Sox had already acquired Garrett Crochet via trade at the time of the signing, but was a deadly one-two punch with Burnes on the table?

On Tuesday, Burnes appeared on the Foul Territory podcast and mentioned that the Red Sox had made a similar offer to that of his old team, the Baltimore Orioles. He also mentioned two other teams that were in the running (San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays) and generally said that all of his offers were "competitive."

"Two teams (had) very similar offers, both in the AL East, in Baltimore and Boston. The Giants kind of hung around... Toronto was there, I mean, I couldn't give you a close second just because the number-one team on our list and where we wanted to be was here."

"But there (were) definitely some teams listed among those four that had some big offers out, not necessarily beating what I got, but some good, competitive offers."

Danielle Walter of the Baltimore Banner reported in December that the Orioles' offer ultimately fell short of what the Diamondbacks gave Burnes, so perhaps that's a context clue that the Red Sox didn't meet that $210 million threshold, either.

It sounds, from the tone of everything Burnes has said since he signed, that the 30-year-old ace really wanted to be in Arizona, where he has lived in the offseason for several years now.

Could the Red Sox have swayed Burnes' thinking by blowing his Arizona offer out of the water? Perhaps, but with Crochet atop the rotation, they may have been smart not to overextend for a pitcher whose prime could run out within the next few years.

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