The Baltimore Orioles were mired in a painful rebuild to begin the 2020s, and yet here they are, having emerged as one of the teams best positioned to contend for the foreseeable future. On Thursday, the Orioles pushed even more chips to the center of the table when they traded away infielder Joey Ortiz, southpaw pitcher D.L. Hall and the 34th pick in the 2024 draft to the Milwaukee Brewers for ace Corbin Burnes.

Burnes has been the subject of trade rumors aplenty over the course of the offseason, and although the Brewers quelled those talks for a while after agreeing to a contract with the 29-year old pitcher in mid-January, the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner is now headed to the Orioles to front a rotation that was in need of reinforcement.

Even Corbin Burnes appears to be intrigued by the idea of joining the reigning AL East champion and the fastest-rising team in the MLB, as evidenced by his reaction to news of his trade to the Orioles.

“👀,” Burnes wrote in an Instagram comment, via the official MLB Twitter (X) account.

What an exciting prospect it would be for Orioles fans to see a bonafide ace arrive and lead the starting rotation — the team's most pressing area of need last season. Kyle Bradish has done an admirable job in heading the rotation, but Burnes gives the Orioles the pedigree they would want to see as they try to ward off the other would-be contenders in the AL East.

Burnes had a strong 2023 season, as he pitched to the tune of a 3.39 ERA across 32 starts (193.2 innings pitched). But he may have a bit more room for positive regression; his strikeout and walk rate both declined last season, and if he gets those closer to his career averages, then he could be even better as he heads into free agency.

That brings us to the biggest question surrounding the Orioles' acquisition of Corbin Burnes — will they be able to keep him beyond 2024? The Orioles are under new management, so perhaps the top brass shows more willingness to splash the cash than in the past.