Baltimore jumps straight to contender with Corbin Burnes trade

The Orioles went into the playoffs last season as the team to beat, the one team who could be seen as a legitimate giant killer. As it turned out, they were unprepared for the sweeping run that the Texas Rangers were on. But who could blame them? Nobody could withstand the withering Rangers October last year.

Bad luck, perhaps. Or bad timing, facing the Rangers just as they were swinging into top gear. But for every upswing, there is a backswing to match it. And for Baltimore, like every other team in the major leagues, that was their rotation. Depth and strength is needed to push them over the hump.

In one fell swoop, the Orioles have made themselves not only playoff contenders, but serious challengers for the World Series.

Yes, it is way too early to talk about the Fall Classic. Spring training is still a month away and there is many a slip twixt a cup and a lip.

But Baltimore have to like their chances with Corbin Burnes in their rotation.

Burnes is a true ace, one of the best five or ten arms in the game and his time at Milwaukee has been borrowed ever since their contentious arbitration hearing last off-season. Burnes came away feeling that the Brewers had thrown him under the bus and that bridges were effectively burned by the club.

With that in mind, the Brewers had no choice but to trade the three-time All-Star and 2021 NL Cy Young winner. Next year, they would have gotten nothing for him whereas today they got rookie infielder Joey Ortiz, left-hander DL Hall, and their Orioles’ 2024 Competitive Balance Round A draft pick which is number 34 overall. The Brewers made out alright.

But the fallout for the Orioles is much more immediate. Burnes was 10-8 in 32 starts last season, with a 3.39 ERA and 1.07 WHIP, striking out 200 in 193.2 innings.

In his six-year career so far, Burnes is 45-27 with a 3.26 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, striking out 870 in just 709.1 innings pitched. Burnes will now slot right in at the top of the Orioles’ rotation, with Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodríguez, and John Means backing him up.

What looked so much like a Dodgers run at the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers is now starting to look a little more nuanced. And the Orioles may have already given themselves more than a fighting chance.