The Baltimore Orioles grabbed headlines earlier this week after news of the franchise's sale to a couple of billionaires. They are turning heads again, this time for reasons more relatable to non-billionaires, as the O's have acquired star pitcher Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers via a stunning trade that caught everybody by surprise.
In return, the Brewers get southpaw DL Hall, infielder Joey Ortiz, and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick (No. 34 overall).
Orioles rotation instantly get better with arrival of RHP Corbin Burnes
Fresh off a season they can truly be proud of, the Orioles will come into the 2024 campaign with a new major weapon to help them build off of that 101-win journey in 2023. Last season, the Orioles finished 11th overall in the big leagues with a starters ERA of 4.14 and 16th with a starters fWAR of 10.7. With Burnes added to the fold, the Orioles have an elite arm to handle the job atop the rotation.
Burnes has finished inside the top eight of National League Cy Young award voting in each of the last four seasons, a stretch that includes the time he won the honor in 2021. In 2023, he finished eighth in the voting after going 10-8 with a 3.39 ERA and posting a 1.069 WHIP and 127 ERA+. Through his six seasons in the majors, Burnes has managed to rack up a 45-27 record and a 3.26 ERA along with a 129 ERA+. But when isolating the years of his current top-10 Cy Young run, Burnes comes across as a much scarier weapon on the mound. In the last four years, the new Orioles pitcher has a 27-14 record, 2.62 ERA, and a 158 ERA+ through 70 starts.
Trade grade
The Orioles have control of Burnes for only a year, as he's finally going to get a taste of free agency at the end of the 2024 season. However, Baltimore did not mortgage the farm to acquire a top-caliber arm. When it was all said and done in the negotiation process with the Brewers, the Orioles still have all of their top-five prospects intact.
The Orioles did not have to trade ANY of their top 5 prospects to get one of the best pitchers in baseball pic.twitter.com/YZ1Pbz4lvA
— Brendan Mortensen (@BrendanMorty) February 2, 2024
Whether Burnes turns out to be just a season-long rental for them and leaves in free agency or not, what's undeniable is that the Orioles have an elite pitcher to anchor their rotation in 2024.
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