Baltimore Orioles Ace Predicted to Leave in Free Agency for NL Team

The Baltimore Orioles front office needs to do whatever needs to be done to keep their ace around.

Jul 30, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) delivers a first inning pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles will have the most coveted free agent on the market this offseason outside of Juan Soto. When they traded for Corbin Burnes in the offseason, they understood the risk involved. 

While it's not a guarantee that the Orioles will lose Burnes, the right-hander will have many options. He's arguably been the best pitcher in Major League Baseball this season, currently owning a 2.71 ERA, 3.48 FIP, and has struck out 137 hitters in 149 2/3 innings pitched.

With new ownership in place, there's a chance that Baltimore will hand him the type of contract he's looking for. They have to be mindful of some of their future free agents they'll eventually have to pay with all of their young talent, but if they can sign Burnes to a contract for the next few seasons, even if that means giving him more money to take a smaller contract in terms of years, it'll keep their World Series window open for the foreseeable future. 

Remember, the focus of the offseason in 2023 for the Orioles was to land an ace-caliber pitcher. If they lose Burnes, they'll be searching for the same thing they were looking for just a year ago. 

Many believe that'll be the case, including Michael Brakebill of FanSided, who predicted that Baltimore's Cy Young candidate will bolt for the New York Mets.

"The most coveted free agent starter this year will be Corbin Burnes, and the two finalists will be the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets. As stated above, the Dodgers will bring back Buehler, and therefore, their rotation will be mostly set with Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Buehler in the top four spots. Consequently, they can avoid getting as aggressive as to fill out their rotation. 

"The Dodgers, like the Mets, have over $90 million coming off the books this winter. Still, they will spend a considerable chunk of it to acquire Juan Soto while the Mets wind up with Burnes, who are much more desperate to land a top-tier starter to pair with Kodai Senga."

The Mets will have plenty of money to spend, as owner Steve Cohen has indicated multiple times that he's willing to spend as much as he needs to in this upcoming offseason to win a World Series in 2025.

Money always talks, but the Orioles could have the upper hand here. He's already played a season in Baltimore, and if this team continues to be a World Series contender, he might favor that over leaving for another team, which would be his third in as many years.