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Outside of Juan Soto, starting pitcher Corbin Burnes is arguably the top free agent this offseason, and the incumbent Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly are the two prominent teams when it comes to the starting pitcher's market.
“I think Lauren there are two teams that stand above the others, those are the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but I was told by a source within the last 12 hours or so that nothing is getting finalized yet,” Jon Morosi said on MLB Network. “He is still having broad interest around the major leagues right now in Corbin Burnes.”
It is an interesting battle between the Orioles and Dodgers. The Orioles traded for Burnes last season, knowing that he only had one year before hitting free agency. Baltimore has a new ownership group, so it will be interesting to see if it steps up to keep who was their ace last season. The Dodgers are always an attractive destination and could try to bolster their rotation after the injuries ravaged their rotation last season. Burnes also posted on X, previously known as Twitter, shortly after the Dodgers won the World Series, stirring the pot on his free agency.
When could Corbin Burnes sign his next contract?
There has been a prevailing thought that Juan Soto would hold up the free agent market, and that could hold true for the most part. However, Morosi is not convinced that Burnes will sign after Soto, as his market is seemingly very different.
“And I think Lauren, that he could sign independent of wherever Juan Soto signs, I don't look at there being as much overlap between those two places because when you consider the Burnes market and the Soto market, I agree with what H said off the top about how the Mets are really, I think one of the key drivers in the Soto market, and they're not so much involved in Burnes,” Morosi said. “So I think, yes, Orioles and Dodgers the leading candidates there on Burnes, but by no means is this a two-team race.”
It makes a lot of sense given that the Orioles and Dodgers are seemingly the top contenders for Burnes, and both of those teams do not figure to be players for Soto, although the Dodgers have been mentioned as a sleeper. It will be interesting to see where Burnes ends up for the 2025 season.
