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Corbin Burnes is opening up about his free agency and how he ended up a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Burnes was the Baltimore Orioles' ace last year, going 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA and an All-Star nod. Though the O's remained in the running to retain him until the end, he settled on Arizona — both because of the terms of the deal and because Phoenix is close to home.
Dbacks’ Corbin Burnes says the Orioles made a four-year offer in free agency and he got the sense they might go to five but ultimately the Dbacks went to six years and $210M for the highest offer and one that let him stay close to home. pic.twitter.com/qkHo2hJgHY
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) April 8, 2025
“I just don’t think we necessarily matched up on the years it was going to take to get to a dollar amount for me to stay there,” Burnes told reporters of his negotiations with Baltimore. “Now, I can’t guarantee I would have gone there had this offer not come around. It’s just kind of one of those things, the way it was lined up, us living here, [if] these guys are gonna be serious and have a fair offer then this is where we’re going to be.”
Burnes still insisted that his agent, Scott Boras, was working with the Orioles to make a deal happen up until the end. He ultimately decided on the Diamondbacks, who gave him a six-year contract worth $210 million.
“We never told them that we weren’t going to go there,” he continued. “I know Scott was still in negotiations with them up until a couple days prior of us signing here. This deal here came together very quick…when the Diamondbacks came in, they came in hot and heavy and I’m excited we got it done in a matter of 72 hours. It was quick.”
Burnes' first two starts with Arizona haven't gone exactly to plan. The New York Yankees, who he has a career 1.93 ERA against, scored four runs off of him in his first start of the year. Five days later against the Washington Nationals, he gave up four more. In 11.1 innings this season, he has issued seven walks and given up 11 hits.
