Corbin Burnes Reveals What He Wants in Free Agency and Baltimore Orioles Have It

The Baltimore Orioles ace spoke about what he's looking for in free agency and it's a good sign for the team.

Aug 4, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. / David Dermer-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles came away with a massive win on Saturday against the Houston Astros, now sitting a half-game behind the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East. It was a gritty 3-2 win for the Orioles, and most importantly, a win is a win at this point in the campaign.

Moving forward, they'll need to continue playing as they did on Saturday, especially on the mound. If there's been one downfall for Baltimore throughout the past few weeks, it's been their pitching staff.

That even includes soon-to-be free agent Corbin Burnes. The right-hander hasn't thrown how he has for much of the season in his past four outings, allowing 20 earned runs in 20 2/3 innings pitched.

Make no mistake, if he throws this poorly towards the back end of the year and in the postseason, the Orioles won't win a World Series. They need an ace, and he's been that for much of the season, but he needs to improve.

Burnes pending free agency brings a lot of questions. When Baltimore traded for him in the offseason, the front office understood this was a situation they'd have to deal with.

He's expected to get at least $200 million in free agency, if not much more. Many contending teams in baseball will likely be making calls to his agent, as he'd make any team a lot better on the mound.

Money isn't the only thing Burnes will be looking for. He spoke with Will Sammon of The Athletic about what he wants in free agency, and his response sounded good for the Orioles.

“I am going to have to do a lot of research this offseason of farm systems, young guys coming up, groups of core guys that are on a team,” Burnes said. “Where does it look like teams are going to be competitive? Where are teams just looking to spend some money to make the fan base happy? Whatever it might be...

"But you never know what’s going to happen each year in baseball. So you just want to provide yourself the best chance to win, hopefully for your entire tenure, hopefully for most of your tenure, whatever it is."

Considering Baltimore arguably has the best young talent in Major League Baseball, he has a chance to win for as long as he decides to continue playing the game if he re-signs.

He'll be 30 years old next season, which is concerning at times, but he hasn't slowed down outside of those four starts.

The Orioles not only give him a chance to win a World Series, but if their front office gives him the type of money he's looking for, it should be the best of both worlds.