In what is easily the most stunning move of the winter so far – sorry, Luis Severino in Sacramentoyou were cheated – the Arizona Serpents paid a surprising amount of money ($210 million over six years) for free agent right-hander Corbin Burnes.
The best starting pitcher available on the market was reportedly actively sought by San Francisco and Toronto. He instead opted for a team of D-backs that didn’t appear to be in dire need of rotation reinforcements, but nonetheless seized the opportunity to add elite talent to its roster. Early reports indicate the Giants and Blue Jays offered larger offers, but lower taxes in Arizona helped amplify the Snakes’ offer. Additionally, Burnes and his wife, Brooke, welcomed twins earlier this year, and signing with the Snakes will give him significantly more time in their Scottsdale home.
Even though Burnes seems to have given up bigger gross numbers to lower taxes and the comfort of his family in the desert, let’s not act like he signed a minor league contract with an invitation to practice spring. No, he didn’t end up getting a particularly long contract of eight or even nine years – which is what many expected him to get, especially after Max Fried signed an eight-year contract — but Burnes’ average annual value of $35 million tied Stephen Strasburg for the sixth-highest ever for a starting pitcher. And with an opt-out option reportedly included after two years, Burnes could re-enter the market after 2026 at age 32 – Blake Snell’s current age – and cash in again elsewhere if he continues to excel and decides to give up the rest of his activity. take care of the Snakes. Clearly, this contract provides Burnes with a combination of immense financial security and personal comfort while adding an asset to a roster ready to compete.
There’s also an element to this deal that significantly lessens the shock factor: there’s a bit of deja vu involved here. Nearly a decade ago, this same franchise came out of nowhere in December to sign star right-hander Zack Greinke to a six-year, $206.5 million contract after Greinke opted out of the three-year, $71 million contract. of dollars remaining on his contract with the Dodgers. At the time, Greinke was two years older than Burnes is today, but he was also in the middle of his prime and coming off an even better season than Burnes in 2024, having led the NL in ERA and WHIP and finished second. in Newfoundland and Labrador, Cy Young votes. The Dodgers were seriously interested in retaining Greinke, but were not willing to go as far as Arizona.
While the contract size and stature of the pitcher surprisingly attracted to the Snakes appear similar, there are also stark differences between these two titanic signings. Greinke joined a D-backs team that hadn’t had a winning season since 2011. He was a veteran ace recruited to anchor a young rotation of talented but unproven weapons such as Robbie Ray, Patrick Corbin, Archie Bradley and Shelby Miller. Arizona seemed to be heading in the right direction – and it finally reached October 2017 after a disastrous 93-loss campaign in Greinke’s first season in the desert – but it wasn’t exactly joining a proven winner.
Conversely, Burnes joins a hungry D-backs team that is just a year away from an NL pennant and within striking distance of another playoff appearance in 2024. Additionally, he becomes the main attraction on a pitching staff full of veterans, including two who just signed big contracts last winter in Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery. Montgomery’s terrible-horrible-not-good-very-bad 2024 seems to leave him as the odd man out – the D-backs would surely love to give up his contract via a trade – but a healthy E-Rod should welcome Burnes alongside righties Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly atop a very accomplished rotation. Add in 26-year-old Brandon Pfaadt, who projects to be one of the best No. 5 starters around, and Arizona appears to have assembled one of the deepest starting lineups in the National League.
This huge commitment to Burnes also represents something of an anticipatory move, with Gallen and Kelly set to enter free agency next winter. The D-backs have some decent pitching depth in the upper levels of their farm system, but nothing resembling a future ace that could step in if/when Gallen and Kelly leave. Burnes now largely fills this potential void – at least for 2026 (don’t forget the opt-out clause!).
After a terribly quiet first month of the offseason, Arizona burst onto the scene in recent weeks with two aggressive moves to reaffirm its relevance in the National League hierarchy, first acquiring first baseman Josh Naylor from Cleveland to replace Christian Walker and now this mammoth deal with one of the best starting pitchers on the market. With the absence of key offensive contributors Joc Pederson and Randal Grichuk, some questions remain about the depth of the roster, and the bullpen – an obvious weakness – also has holes.
But Burnes was one of the few players left on the market who can significantly raise the floor and ceiling of a roster, even if he doesn’t appear to fill an obvious need in Arizona. This is a huge win for the D-backs as they look to keep their window of competition open and a blow to Burnes’ finalists – San Francisco and Toronto – who once again fell short in their quest for a superstar.
