D-backs, RHP Corbin Burnes agree on 6 years, $210M

Right-hander Corbin Burnes and the Arizona Diamondbacks are in agreement on a six-year, $210 million contract, sources confirmed to ESPN.

After a quiet winter, Arizona gets the best pitcher on the market, while Burnes gets to play for a dangerous NL West team.

Burnes, 30, is everything teams want in a starting pitcher. His production over the last five years is unimpeachable. He goes deep into games and piles up innings. In his limited postseason action, he has been excellent.

He rejected a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer by the Baltimore Orioles on Nov. 19.

Since 2020, when Burnes joined the Milwaukee Brewers‘ rotation for good, he ranks third in MLB in innings pitched (816.2), second in ERA among those with at least 500 innings (2.88), second in strikeouts (946), sixth in home runs per nine innings (0.8) and among the top five in FanGraphs WAR (second with 21.7) and Baseball-Reference WAR (fourth with 18.6).

Baltimore traded for Burnes last offseason, and he spearheaded the Orioles’ rotation, posting a 2.92 ERA over 194.1 innings — his third consecutive season with 190-plus. Burnes’ strikeout rate dipped to 8.4 per nine, and though he stumbled through a troublesome August, Burnes posted a 1.20 ERA in five September starts and then limited the Kansas City Royals to one run in an eight-inning playoff start.

Stuff+ models adore Burnes, too, calling his cutter the best among all starters and all five of his pitches above average. Pitchers with similar resumes to Burnes’ hit the jackpot in free agency, and Burnes was the heavy favorite to receive the second-highest guarantee in the class behind slugger Juan Soto.

The New York Post was first to report Burnes’ agreement with the Diamondbacks.