Beyond Juan Soto, the splashiest trade of the 2023 offseason was Milwaukee's decision to ship Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles. It felt like a watershed moment — like new ownership was finally steering the O's toward annual contention.
Burnes delivered a strong season in the final year of his contract. He made 32 starts and logged 194.1 innings, putting up a 2.92 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. The 30-year-old started in the All-Star game and finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting.
Then, he was a free agent. And Burnes, with his sterling resume and ironman stature, was a hot commodity. Several coastal contenders, such as the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Red Sox, started circling like vultures. The Orioles were up against MLB's most aggressive front offices, with a chance to prove their seriousness under a new regime. And they balked, big time.
Burnes ended up going to the Arizona Diamondbacks on a six-year, $210 million contract, which allows him to stay close to home. In response, Mike Elias did very little, essentially signing 41-year-old Charlie Morton in a lame attempt to paper over the loss of baseball's most steadfast ace.
Elias, as it turns out, didn't completely lay down and give up. The O's actually made a competitive four-year offer, and Burnes thinks Baltimore would've gone to five. In the end, though, Arizona came with six years and gave Burnes the comfort of home, so Baltimore was outbid in the end.
Dbacks’ Corbin Burnes says the Orioles made a four-year offer in free agency and he got the sense they might go to five but ultimately the Dbacks went to six years and $210M for the highest offer and one that let him stay close to home. pic.twitter.com/qkHo2hJgHY
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) April 8, 2025
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Charlie Morton's struggles illuminate gaping Corbin Burnes void for Orioles
It's generally positive news that Baltimore at least made a run at Burnes. The O's gave up a lot to get him and Elias has handed out one (1) multi-year contract since arriving in Baltimore, so at least that trend has a finite lifespan. But to not go the extra mile feels like a catastrophic mistake for a team with an open title window. These opportunities don't last forever, and the O's will continue to struggle if the pitching staff can't support a slug-happy offense.
Morton has been a paragon of reliability over the years in Atlanta, but he hasn't been an ace in a long, long time. At 41, it wouldn't be shocking if he began to decline more sharply, and the early returns in Baltimore are worrisome.
Through three starts, Morton has allowed 17 hits, eight walks and a league-worst 13 earned runs across 13.1 innings. He has an 8.78 ERA and 1.88 WHIP, with a hard-hit rate (62.5) in MLB's third percentile, per Baseball Savant. The O's are getting rocked every fifth game, essentially.
Tomoyuki Sugano, Baltimore's other offseason addition to the rotation, is off to a strong start stateside. But that is the extent of the positives. With Kyle Bradish, Zach Eflin, and Grayson Rodriguez all on the IL, Baltimore's rotation is working the graveyard shift right now. It's a skeleton crew. Those aren't the same thing, but I'm trying to evoke a certain imagery to drive home just how bad this is.
The O's have time to get their ducks in a row, but Elias needs to start probing the trade market with aggression. I'd suggest Dylan Cease or Luis Castillo, if it's possible. The O's just better be ready to pay up when the time comes.