Baltimore Orioles Division Rival Yankees Almost Pulled Off Burnes Trade

The New York Yankees were involved in trade talks before the Baltimore Orioles made a move to acquire a former Cy Young Award winner.

The Baltimore Orioles shocked the baseball world when news came out they had landed Corbin Burnes in a blockbuster trade.

They addressed their glaring weakness by getting one of the best pitchers in the game onto their roster.

Adding the ace to a roster that won 101 games last year is scary for the others in their division and the American League overall.

But, it almost didn't happen.

It was reported by SNY’s Andy Martino that the New York Yankees were involved in trade talks with the Milwaukee Brewers to land Burnes before he was dealt to the Orioles.

Ultimately, they walked away, feeling the price was "too much" to acquire the ace.

Baltimore was then able to swoop in and land the right-hander, giving up infielder Joey Ortiz, pitcher DL Hall and pick 34 in the MLB Draft.

This trade certainly caught the attention of New York's manager as it will be difficult for the Orioles' rivals to get back on top of the division even after they acquired star outfielder Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and signed Marcus Stroman.

Big market teams like the Yankees aren’t used to being near the bottom of their division.

Baltimore made it more challenging for them to reclaim their dominance on the AL East.

The Yankees could still be aggressive and land one of the top free agent pitchers out there like Blake Snell or reunite with Jordan Montgomery to negate the addition of Burnes, but this move by the Orioles signals they are going for it in 2024.

They had a great year in 2023, but it seems like the organization wasn't satisfied and is giving this team as much help to win as possible.