San Francisco Giants' Path to Corbin Burnes Clearer After Red Sox Make Move

The San Francisco Giants' path to signing Corbin Burnes just became clearer after the Red Sox spent on someone else.

Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

The dream free agency signing for the San Francisco Giants is of course signing Baltimore Orioles superstar ace Corbin Burnes, a move that would be the cherry on top to a perfect offseason in the Bay Area.

Signing the 2021 National League Cy Young winner has started to look fairly realistic, but the Giants were always going to have competition for the most sought after free agent pitcher available.

Fans who are hoping to see this dream become reality got a dose of good news on Monday when the Boston Red Sox — a team seen to be a serious suitor for Burnes — agreed to terms with Los Angeles Dodgers free agent right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler on a one-year, $21 million contract.

After the Red Sox acquired Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet via trade during the Winter Meetings, the chances that Crochet was going to be Boston's splash in the starting pitching department were high, but they were still seen to be a threat in the Burnes pursuit.

Now, having handed a large financial commitment to a different righty combined with the trade for Crochet, it seems more likely than not that the Red Sox aren't going to be doing anymore big game hunting in free agency.

San Francisco was already the frontrunner to sign Burnes, but removing a contender like Boston who had money to spend only clears the path further for Burnes to end up with the Giants.

In terms of other potential suitors, San Francisco will still have to fend off the Toronto Blue Jays who are ready to spend and build upon a talented young core which has largely underachieved to this point.

But reports have indicated that Burnes — a Bakersfield native — would prefer to pitch on the West Coast after spending the first six years of his career with the Milwaukee Brewers in the Midwest before heading to the East Coast in 2024 when he was traded to the Orioles.

Burnes is not expected to sign a deal until after Christmas so Giants fans will have to continue to be patient and let the situation play out, but Buehler signing with Boston is certainly a good sign while things continue to trend in the direction of a new ace in San Francisco.

Willy Adames — who San Francisco handed a seven-year, $182 million contract to be the team's new shortstop — was teammates with Burnes with the Brewers for two and a half years with the Brewers and has said he has been calling Burnes to try to recruit him to the Giants.

Current San Francisco ace Logan Webb — who would form a dynamic duo at the top of the rotation with Burnes — has said the same.

The Giants still need to present a competitive offer to get the deal done, a number that will likely exceed $250 million when all is said and done. But the way things are going, San Francisco has a good chance.