New York Post insider Jon Heyman lists the Yankees among the five teams who are reportedly “main players” for former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes. The right-hander spent last season with the Baltimore Orioles after being dealt from the Milwaukee Brewers to enter a heated AL East race, and his market is expected to heat up once Juan Soto reaches a decision in free agency. Both stars are represented by Scott Boras, and both had massive impacts on their respective American League contenders.
Last season Burnes posted a 2.92 ERA across 32 starts, marking the third-straight season making over 30 starts, and he’s widely considered to be the best free-agent starter on the market.
Corbin Burnes Could Be A Free Agent Target For the Yankees
Over the last three seasons, Corbin Burnes is third among starters in innings pitched (590.0 IP) while being one of six starters to make at least 97 starts over that stretch. With a 3.08 ERA and 624 strikeouts, he has been one of the premier aces in the game thanks to a dominant cutter that he pairs with a bevy of secondary weapons including a curveball, sweeper, and changeup.
He’s also mixed in a sinker at times, and Burnes improved upon his cutter over the final month of the season as the Orioles were able to mend some of the losses he had in its movement vertically and horizontally. On top of that, Corbin Burnes added a sweeping slider that generated way more swing-and-miss, and perhaps teams can get him to regain the strikeout numbers he’s lost since winning the 2021 Cy Young Award.
He struck out 35.6% of batters faced with a 143 Stuff+ in 2021, but in 2024 that’s dropped down to 120 with a 23.1% strikeout rate. With the Yankees hot in pursuit of Juan Soto, it seems that they would only be able to land Burnes if they don’t land Soto, but Jon Heyman suggested landing both can’t be ruled out.
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The Yankees are in a heated sweepstakes to land the star outfielder, and while they feel good about where they stand in the sweepstakes, no one knows for certain if they can consider themselves favorites or are on the outside looking in. The bidding process is reportedly more of a blind bid, with teams unaware as to what the others are offering, and its unclear how Scott Boras will carry out the bidding from there.
Some have speculated that the Yankees could get the final say to match or exceed an offer and others believe Boras will simply go until he has the highest bidder. The Yankees are “all-in” on Juan Soto and hope to bring him back, but just as with any star free agent, they’re also going to survey how they can pivot if they lose their generational superstar to another bidder.