Milwaukee Brewers: 3 trade packages the Baltimore Orioles could offer for Corbin Burnes
By Todd Welter
The Milwaukee Brewers are reportedly willing to listen to offers for anyone on the roster.
The biggest trade piece the Brewers have is ace pitcher Corbin Burnes.
Burnes is under team control for the 2024 season and then he is eligible to be a free agent. He is estimated to get $14 million next season.
That might be too high a price tag for the small market Brewers. Instead, they might choose to ship Burnes out to continue to build around their young core of Brice Turang, Sal Frelick, Joey Weimer, Garrett Mitchell, and Freddy Peralta.
The rotation will take a hit, but it is already going to be without Brandon Woodruff. The Milwaukee Brewers can still reinforce the rotation with prospects Robert Gasser and Ethan Small.
There are also some relatively affordable free-agent pitchers and getting a good pitching prospect nearing the big leagues back is another way to put together a starting rotation capable of competing for a postseason spot.
Last offseason’s trade market saw only one deal where a pitcher near Burnes’ status was moved.
Pablo Lopez went from the Miami Marlins to the Minnesota Twins for Luis Arraez and two prospects. Lopez was under team control for two more seasons at the time of the deal.
Burnes being a possible one-year rental will affect what the Brewers can get back.
It will be interesting to see what the Milwaukee Brewers could get for Burnes considering the rumbling out there is teams will look to use the trade market to upgrade rosters. The main reason is teams are losing money on their regional television contracts so avoiding overspending in free agency is one way to save some cash.
The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey speculates the Crew will be looking for a top prospect and a starting pitcher back for Burnes.
The Baltimore Orioles had the best record in the American League but got eliminated in the ALDS quickly because they lacked a top-of-the-rotation starter.
Burnes could bolster their rotation and the Milwaukee Brewers could get a prospect back that addresses third base or first base. The Orioles also have some young starting pitchers they could flip to the Crew.