Getty Bryse Wilson pitching during a June 9 game against the Detroit Tigers.
The preseason acquisition of Corbin Burnes altered the trajectory of the Baltimore Orioles season. But it cost them 25-year-old Joey Ortiz, who’s emerged as a starting talent with the Milwaukee Brewers.
He’s slugging .281/.381/.472 with an .853 OPS, 6 home runs, and 27 RBIs.
Brewers’ starting pitcher called out the Orioles for trading him, after Ortiz hit a home run to lift his team over the Cincinatti Reds.
“I think the Orioles messed up, I’m not gonna lie to you” Wilson told reporters. “Obviously they get Corbin but that’s a generational player right there. He hits, he plays elite defense. It’s awesome to have him behind us.”
Ortiz was the 63rd ranked prospect in all of MLB at the time of the trade.
But in return, Baltimore received a Cy Young winning ace in Burnes, who’s putting together another award-worthy campaign in 2024.
He’s 8-2 with a 2.14 ERA.
Baltimore Has to Pay Burnes
One caveat to the trade that can’t be ignored is Burnes’ pending free agency.
The Orioles are at risk of losing the 29-year-old to free agency, while Milwaukee will have Ortiz under team control for years to come.
In a June 13 column for Bleacher Report, Zachary D. Rymer predicted that Burnes could earn as much as $288-million over eight years on his next deal.
“Burnes will be coming off his age-29 season, which will make him one year older than Gerrit Cole when he signed for nine years, $324 million after the 2019 season,” Rymer wrote. “Yet even if it’s shorter by a year, the righty’s next deal could at least resemble Cole’s in average annual value. And if so, we’ll be looking at a real whopper.”
And there’s little doubt Burnes will test the market. He said as much in an appearance on “Foul Territory” prior to the trade.
“Obviously, every guy who gets this close to free agency wants to test the market, to see what your true dollar amount is, see what teams really are in on you,” Burnes said on December 19. “It would have to be something that would absolutely blow you away, to get you away from testing the free agent market, being able to choose where you want to go.”
Brandon Hyde on Burnes: ‘Such a Pro’
If anything, the Orioles likely feel the trade is a win-win. Burnes is absolutely beloved in and out of the clubhouse.
Following a June 16 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, skipper Brandon Hyde talked about watching Baltimore’s ace in action.
“He’s just such a pro,” Hyde told reporters postgame. “And nobody sees the in-between starts, the preparation. What he puts into every start is incredible. He just knows how to pitch. He’s got 96 mph cutter and 98 mph two-seamer and keeps the ball down. That’s a really, really good lineup he held in check.”
He pitched 6 innings and threw 7 strikeouts against a Phillies lineup that ranks fourth in runs scored and sixth in batting average.
It was a 10th-straight quality start for Burnes, which is two short of the franchise record, set by Jim Palmer in 1975.
There’s a reliability to his play. The Orioles feel they can win any game where he’s up on the mound.
“He goes out there and gives it his all,” Colton Cowser said on June 16. “He’s a professional, he knows what he’s doing out there. He understands soft contact, strikeouts, things like that and when to get them. He’s always going to keep us in the game.”