Baltimore Orioles Starter ‘Might Prefer’ Playing for Los Angeles Dodgers

The Baltimore Orioles right-hander could welcome returning home to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Oct 1, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) bumps fists with Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) during a pitching change in the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals in game one of the Wild Card round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

When the Baltimore Orioles traded for Corbin Burnes last offseason, they understood the risk of losing him a short year later.

Nonetheless, it was the right decision by the Orioles front office. Baltimore clearly needed an ace-caliber arm, and while it didn't fully work out for them, that wasn't Burnes' fault.

He was excellent outside of a few bad starts after the All-Star break, including his one postseason outing, where he allowed just one earned run in 8.0 innings.

Now that the campaign is over, the Orioles will face the harsh reality of losing him. Perhaps they give him what he's looking for, but history would say otherwise.

The expectation is for Burnes to land a $225-plus million deal, which only a handful of teams around Major League Baseball could realistically do.

Baltimore is one of those teams, and don't let the ownership group say anything differently.

However, there's a scenario where the Orioles get significantly outbid. If there were to be a team that does as such, it could be the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Zach Pressnell of FanSided believes the Dodgers could be where Burnes wants to play, writing that he could "prefer" them over Baltimore.

"There are so many layers to Burnes landing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. First, if Burnes wants to win, there's no better place in baseball than with the Dodgers. LA will have Shohei Ohtani returning to the mound as well as a healthy Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Adding Burnes at the top of that rotation that has players like Betts and Ohtani in the lineup every day would be unfair... The Dodgers have the money to offer Burnes a huge contract because of the fact that $680 million of Shohei's $700 million is deferred money set to be paid to him a decade from now. The Dodgers will be aggressive in free agency, as they always are, but they might not be willing to push all their eggs in Burnes' basket."

As Pressnell wrote, Los Angeles would be unbeatable if things went as planned. That's been said frequently in recent years, but they've been bitten by the injury bug a bit.

If they stayed healthy and added Burnes, they'd easily have the best roster in Major League Baseball.

There's a lot to decide on for Burnes, who could certainly welcome a return home to California.

It's also possible that the Dodgers don't plan to make a big move due to their already ridiculous payroll, which would greatly benefit the Orioles.