The Orioles will be haunted for years if their ace Corbin Burnes lands with one of these rival teams.
The Baltimore Orioles have quite the young core of offensive talent. Their top homegrown talent has all come up as position players. So, as the Orioles looked to contend with their strong offensive core, they made an offseason trade to acquire ace Corbin Burnes.
Burnes was exactly that for the Orioles. In his one season with the team, he made 32 starts, securing 15 wins with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.
In the postseason, Burnes made one start where he went eight strong innings of one-run baseball in a 1-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals.
Now, Burnes is a free agent and the Orioles are tasked with signing him back. He’s going to be the top priority for Baltimore this offseason, but if they miss out on him, they can’t afford for him to land with one of these three teams.
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3. Toronto Blue Jays
The worst part about a team losing a starting pitcher is that just about every team in the league is going to be after them, especially when they’re as good as Corbin Burnes is.
Among the teams that will be pursuing Burnes this offseason will be just about every team in the AL East with the Orioles. One of these teams signing Burnes would be the worst-case scenario for Baltimore because it would task their lineup with facing Burnes multiple times a season.
The first team that could haunt the Orioles by signing Burnes is the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays sold at the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline in an attempt to dump their expiring contracts and reload for the 2025 season. Now that the expiring contracts have been traded with prospects being added, the Blue Jays will be reloading their roster with talent in free agency.
If Toronto lands Burnes, it will give them a solidified ace, allowing them to compete with any team in the world every fifth day. Toronto will be buying in a big way this winter and landing Burnes would steal him from the Orioles, haunting Baltimore for years to come.
2. Boston Red Sox
As stated above, the biggest nightmare scenario for the Orioles would be Burnes landing in the AL East. The New York Yankees already have a ton of pitchers competing for their rotation, while also going after a historic Juan Soto extension, so they’re out.
The Rays could sign him, but it wouldn’t exactly be a nightmare situation for the Orioles. All that leaves is the Boston Red Sox, who would be the worst possible AL East team for the Orioles to lose their ace to.
Boston is going to be very aggressive in free agency this offseason. They were just a few players away from being serious World Series contenders in 2025. Oftentimes, they’re connected to free-agent starters like Jack Flaherty or Max Fried. These two have a direct connection to Boston pitcher Lucas Giolito.
But if the Red Sox had their pick of the litter, they would want Burnes. And Boston has the money to acquire him if they get very aggressive.
Not only would Burnes landing in Boston put him in the Orioles’ division, but it would add one of the best pitchers in the league to a very talented team. It would be one of the worst-case scenarios possible for Baltimore.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
I debated whether this one should land at the top spot on the list or if this team shouldn’t be on the list at all. It’s the Los Angeles Dodgers. Let me explain.
So, obviously, Burnes landing with the Dodgers would practically break baseball more than the Dodgers have already broken it. It’s the worst-case scenario for everybody in the game, as well as the future of baseball. It would pair Burnes alongside Ohtani and Yamamoto for the next few years.
And Burnes is seemingly open to the move to Los Angeles, as it would give him the money and the chance to win that he’s searching for.
But is it realistic? Could the Dodgers do it? Would the Dodgers do it?
My thought here is no. Los Angeles is going to be more focused on reloading their roster with their own free agents like Blake Treinen, Walker Buehler, Teoscar Hernandez and Jack Flaherty. If they opt to re-sign all of their expiring free agents, it’s hard to imagine they will be able to find $30 million to $40 million a season to pay Burnes.
But this hypothetical idea is a complete nightmare for the league, not just the Orioles. If Burnes ends up in Dodger Blue, just give the 2025 World Series to Los Angeles.
