The San Francisco Giants are among the MLB’s top bidders for star free agent Corbin Burnes, whose market began heating up after Max Fried signed the largest deal ever handed out to a left-handed pitcher ($218 million). After a mediocre 2024 season, a new front office has been put in place in San Francisco, and Buster Posey is hoping to bring in some premier talent to shore up a roster that’s lacked star talent for years. Willy Adames signed with the Giants right before the resolution of the Juan Soto saga.
Jeff Passan reports now on ESPN that the resolution for the Corbin Burnes sweepstakes could take some time, as the industry expectation is that he’ll sign after Christmas.
Corbin Burnes Expected to Sign After Christmas, Giants Hot in Pursuit
Few pitchers can stack up to Corbin Burnes, who took the world by storm when he won the 2021 NL Cy Young in his first full season as a starting pitcher. He showed promise in 2020 when he pitched to a 2.11 ERA in the COVID-shortened season, and since that point in time, he’s been arguably the best pitcher in baseball. Burnes is second in fWAR (21.7) and fourth in ERA (2.88) among MLB-qualified pitchers, and that’s thanks to his durability and elite-level stuff.
In each of Burnes’ last three seasons, he’s recorded at least 190 IP and made at least 32 starts, and the Giants are hoping they can import the star onto their roster. Last season, he enjoyed a strong lone season in Baltimore as he pitched to a 2.92 ERA in 32 starts with a 23.1% strikeout rate, tossing a gem in the Wild Card Series as well, and most contract projections peg him to make somewhere between $240 million and $250 million.
Some speculate whether he’ll get a nine-year deal, topping the years given to Max Fried with a higher AAV as well, and the Giants have the salary space to do so.
At only $167 million, the San Francisco Giants have yet to even reach the first threshold of the Luxury Tax, and the addition of Corbin Burnes on a long-term deal would help them replace Blake Snell’s production. The star left-hander departed for the Dodgers after just one year in the Bay Area, signing a five-year megadeal exceeding $180 million, but Burnes is certainly the kind of pitcher who can make Giants’ fans forget about his absence.
Pairing Burnes with Logan Webb would give San Francisco one of the best duos in baseball, and Burnes would benefit from playing behind an infield that has Matt Chapman and Willy Adames on the left side of the infield. As a former California native himself, Burnes is familiar with the West Coast, but that’s not the only comfort that San Francisco would give the stud ace.
He would have allowed eight fewer home runs over the last three seasons had he played all of his games at Oracle Park, thanks to its favorable conditions for pitchers. As Corbin Burnes has missed fewer bats over the years, the need to prevent damage contact with harmless batted ball contact has become more important, and it could extend Burnes’ shelf life as a frontline starter if he plays somewhere with low home run rates.