In a power move in the AL East, the Baltimore Orioles have reportedly acquired Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers, according to The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal.
Shortstop prospect Joey Ortiz and lefty reliever D.L. Hall will head back to the Brewers, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The Brewers are also getting the 34th pick in the 2024 draft. (Competitive balance picks can be traded.)
Burnes is expected to make around $16 million in 2024 will be a free agent after the season, which explains the lack of star prospects in the package.
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The Orioles won the AL East with a supremely young team in 2023. Despite a good and young rotation—and a full season of John Means—the Orioles attempted to improve their rotation via free agency but didn’t agree to terms with any bigger names. They instead take the approach by using their bounty of prospects—and the pipeline that follows.
Burnes has been one of the best pitchers in MLB since 2020, winning the Cy Young in 2021. Over that time, he’s compiled a 2.68 ERA (2.84 FIP) over 622.1 innings. His 17.9 fWAR over that time are second to only Zack Wheeler (which, yes, is the season after Wheeler left the Mets).
The Orioles were just sold to private equity owners this week. This is the first move of their new ownership.
