Dodgers Rumors: Predicting a Corbin Burnes Trade to LA

Could the Dodgers really be in on the Corbin Burnes sweepstakes this coming summer?

Whatever Andrew Friedman wants, Andrew Friedman gets. At least that's the way it feels like baseball people who don't root for the Dodgers feel about LA. The president of baseball operations has orchestrated several blockbuster deals over his tenure with the Dodgers. And, in the eye of one MLB writer, he could have another cooking this summer at the trade deadline.

Brandon Scott, a columnist with Bleacher Report dropped a predictions article that should get fans in LA excited. The scribe is attempting to predict where every top player with the most rumors attached will end up this year.

He has the Dodgers pulling off two shrewd moves... 

Corbin Burnes to LA
Shohei Ohtani to LA

Let's focus on the Burnes prediction. Here's what he had to say.

The Brewers aren't looking to trade their best players unless they're non-contenders leading up to the deadline, but Burnes has acknowledged a fractured relationship with the franchise that would lead one to believe the end is in sight.

If the lack of a long-term deal is not disappointing enough for Burnes, the fact that he went to arbitration with the Brewers for roughly $750,000 (and the team won) has to leave a stain.

The Dodgers, however, should be motivated to pounce.

Little context to the practice here, but yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers would love to add Corbin Burnes. So would 28 other teams in the league. Burnes won the NL Cy Young award in 2021 after leading all of baseball in ERA and FIP (2.43/1.63). He followed that up with a fine campaign in 2022 where he placed seventh in Cy Young voting while tossing a career-high in innings.

Now, players with Cy Young awards under their belts usually aren't cheap to acquire. But, the Dodgers do absolutely have the prospect capital to get just about any trade done. The question by the trade deadline for Andrew Friedman and company will be, do we need someone like Burnes?

Even if the projected starting rotation stays healthy, it's still not quite the most imposing group with World Series aspirations.

Julio Urias is a bona fide ace but heading toward free agency. Clayton Kershaw is still a top 10-15 pitcher in baseball but has back issues and a left arm with a lot of mileage on it. Tony Gonsolin was an All-Star in 2022 but has been mostly below average in his postseason career. Dustin May got off to a great start in 2021, but that was only five games before his elbow gave out. And Noah Syndergaard hasn't been Thor since, like, 2016.

The reality for LA is that much of the club's success on the pitching side of things -- particularly starting pitching -- will hinge on the success of rookie arms.

If Ryan Pepiot can step up and cement a spot in the rotation somehow, then things are looking better. If Gavin Stone can follow up his minor league pitcher of the year season this year and bring it to the big leagues, things are looking much better. If Bobby Miller can rise up to the hype and dominate big league hitting, then things are looking great.

But all that adds up to a lot of ifs.

Corbin Burnes is one of the top pitchers in baseball. He wants out of Milwaukee and the Brewers are shaping up to be bad once again. It's a club that needs to rebuild and the Dodgers can help get them on the right track in that regard.

Do I think a trade happens? Well, I think there's a better chance of the Dodgers acquiring Burnes than Shohei Ohtani... but I'd put that chance at less than 30%.