Burnes, Diamondbacks Agree on Deal

The Snakes just landed one of the best pitchers on the free agency market.

Pitcher Corbin Burnes and the Diamondbacks have come to terms on a six-year, $210 million deal, a source close to the situation told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Saturday. The contract contains an opt-out clause after the 2026 season. The Diamondbacks have yet to formally confirm a deal.

Burnes was the main attraction that everyone wanted to get their hands on in this year’s pitching free-agent market. The 30-year-old right-hander is a mainstay in the Cy Young conversation and was one of the elite pitchers in the American League in his brief one-year stint with the Baltimore Orioles in 2024.

Burnes posted a record of 15-9 with a filthy 2.92 ERA and 181 strikeouts in 194 1/3 innings of work over his 32 starts and was selected to the Midsummer Classic as an All-Star for the fourth year in a row. He ranked fourth in the AL in ERA, behind only Triple Crown winner Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros tag team of Ronel Blanco and Framber Valdez, third in innings pitched, tied for fifth in wins and tied for 10th in strikeouts.

The National League Cy Young Award winner with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2021, Burnes arrived in Baltimore in a blockbuster trade between the Brewers and Orioles last February. Acquired to fill the roll of the ace of a playoff contender, Burnes lived up to and exceeded that billing with the Orioles.

Just as effective and nasty in the AL as he was in the NL, Burnes led the Orioles back to the postseason as the AL’s top Wild Card team. Although Baltimore was sent home early in the Wild Card Series by the Kansas City Royals, Burnes was fantastic in his one and only postseason start, throwing a masterful eight innings of one-run ball against Kansas City in Game 1.

Since he first became a starter during the 2020 season, Burnes has developed into one of the most dominant performers in all of baseball.

In his four full seasons as a starter, 2021-24, Burnes has a 2.94 ERA and has averaged 214 strikeouts a year. He captured the Major League ERA title in his Cy Young season with a 2.43 mark, and he won the NL strikeout crown with a career-high 243 K’s in 2022, his second of three consecutive 200-strikeout seasons.

Since 2021, Burnes ranks second in MLB with 858 strikeouts, behind only San Diego Padres Dylan Cease (891). Among pitchers who have made at least 100 starts over that span, Burnes’ 2.94 ERA is tied with Zack Wheeler for the second-lowest, behind only Max Fried (2.87). Burnes has also proven to be durable and has the fourth-most innings pitched (757) of any starting pitcher since 2021, with only Aaron Nola (778 2/3), Logan Webb (761 1/3) and Wheeler (758 1/3) having thrown more.

While a member of the ‘Brew Crew’, Burnes helped lead the Brewers to the playoffs on multiple occasions, before continuing that trend for the Orioles last season. As a starter, he helped the Brewers make the playoffs as a Wild Card team in 2020 and as the NL Central champion in 2021 and 2023. He can also deliver the goods in a relief role and was a key member of the Milwaukee bullpen during the team’s run to the NLCS as a rookie in 2018.

This was Burnes first opportunity to test the free agent market after seven big league seasons. A fourth-round Draft pick by the Brewers in 2016, Burnes is 60-36 with a 3.19 ERA and 1,051 strikeouts in 903 2/3 innings (10.5 K/9) over 199 career games, 138 of them starts.