Orioles Trade For Corbin Burnes
John ‘JJ’ Misiewicz
Staff Writer
The Baltimore Orioles have traded for former NL Cy Young award winner Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers to boost the pitching staff.
The Orioles have acquired Burnes for infield prospect Joey Ortiz, left-handed pitcher D.L. Hall, and the 34th pick in the 2024 MLB Amateur Draft. After winning 101 games in 2023, the Orioles decided they needed to make a move to win now, with their rotation being the focus.
Burnes was a popular trade target this offseason and was rumored to teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers throughout the offseason, as if they needed more help. Burnes, ever since breaking out in the shortened 2020 season, has been remarkable for the Brewers. With an NL Cy Young win in 2021 and having not missed an all-star game since before the pandemic. Burnes had made it clear that this season would’ve been his last in Milwaukee if he stayed there.
Milwaukee, who won the NL Central with a 92-win season, seems like they are rebuilding with this move, despite what Brewers general manager Matt Arnold has told media outlets. The Brewers have struggled in the past few years to capitalize off of the arms in the rotation, with guys like Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Josh Hader and Devin Williams all on the staff at one point.
The Orioles, coming off a 101-win season and getting swept in the ALDS to the eventual champion Texas Rangers, decided to add to the emerging pitching staff in a big way. They shattered all expectations from baseball experts had going into the year after winning 83 games in 2022. They have a solid group of hitters, lead by catcher Adley Rutschman, and still have Jackson Holliday, the number one prospect in baseball according to MLB.com, in their farm system.
Ortiz, the 63rd ranked prospect according to MLB.com, was expendable from the Orioles point of view, with Holliday, as well as 30th ranked Coby Mayo looking to fill out the rest of the Orioles infield in the next few years. Ortiz has shown an ability to hit to all fields and has been praised for his defensive capabilities. He could potentially take over at shortstop if/when Willy Adames decides to leave town.
Hall, a first-round pick out of high school in 2017, has only pitched 33 innings total across two stints in the show. He has flashed the potential to be a solid mid-rotation starter but wasn’t able to emerge over talents such as Grayson Rodriguez.
Burnes is now the ace of a team that has talented arms behind him in Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish, a young talented lineup that isn’t done adding top prospects, and a new owner who isn’t as cheap as John Angelos. The Orioles look to be World Series contenders for quite a while.
Contact JJ at john.misiewicz@student.shu.edu