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Baltimore Orioles Secure Another High Draft Pick After Corbin Burnes Leaves Organization

If you're going to lose an ace and a Cy Young winner, you might as well be rewarded with a first-round draft pick.

Brady Farkas

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) throws to the plate during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on July 19.
Baltimore Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) throws to the plate during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on July 19. / Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images
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Last week, it was announced that ace pitcher Corbin Burnes had surprisingly signed a six-year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Baltimore Orioles tried to retain him but were unable to, as Burnes wanted to pitch close to his home in Arizona (per reports).

However, all was not lost for Baltimore, as they did officially receive another first-round selection in the upcoming MLB Draft.

Per draft guru Joe Doyle on social media:

The Baltimore Orioles secure the No. 30 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft with Corbin Burnes signing with the Diamondbacks.

They will secure the No. 31 pick if/when Anthony Santander signs for north of $50m elsewhere.

Look, the O's have designs on winning at the major league-level after capturing the American League East crown in 2023 and advancing to the playoffs again in 2024, so losing Burnes is not good news. He carried their rotation in 2024, going 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA.

However, if you're going to lose him, it's certainly a benefit to be given a first-round pick. The O's have one of the top farm systems in baseball and are known for their player development systems, so they will likely be able to turn this pick (and the impending Santander pick) into something useful as well.

Without Burnes, the Orioles are looking at a rotation anchored by youngster Grayson Rodriguez. They also have right-hander Kyle Bradish and just signed Japanese import Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year deal.

The Orioles lost in the wild card round of the playoffs this season, falling to the Kansas City Royals.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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