Corbin Burnes Reportedly Favoring Dodgers and Orioles in Free Agency

Is Corbin Burnes down to two teams?

The best pitcher on the free agent market has been drawing interest from clubs all across the league. An ace with elite stuff and a track record to boot, it only makes sense for contenders to be pining over Burnes.

According to longtime reporter Jon Morosi of MLB Network, Burnes might be narrowing his focus on two clubs:

“I think there are two teams that specifically that stand above the others. Those are the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers. But I was told by a source within the last 12 hours or so that nothing is getting finalized yet.”

Morosi also speculated that Burnes would sign somewhere independent of where Juan Soto ends up — meaning that he could coincidentally sign with the same ballclub…or perhaps end up elsewhere irrespective of Soto.

Baltimore would love to have Burnes back. He was the ace of the Orioles’ staff this past year — and was unquestionably among the best starters in the American League. He compiled a 15-9 record with a 2.92 ERA in nearly 200 innings pitched.

Throughout his career, the 2021 Cy Young Award winner has been named to four All-Star games.

While most figure the Orioles will do everything they can to keep Burnes, the Dodgers should not be counted out. Getting a premier starting pitcher appears to be atop the list for LA this offseason. Burnes would give the team proven production and offer a guy with durability in the form of innings pitched — something the current stable of Dodgers pitchers struggle with.

Burnes has pitched most of his career in the National League — something that could help LA. He also is a native Californian having grown up less than two hours from Dodger Stadium in Bakersfield. Burnes also attended college in the state at Saint Mary’s.