The Baltimore Orioles have made a major splash.
Baltimore has acquired former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers, both clubs confirmed on Thursday night.
In exchange for Burnes, Milwaukee received infield prospect Joey Ortiz, left-handed pitcher DL Hall and the 34th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Burnes, 29, has been one of the game's top starting pitchers over the past few seasons. He made his first All-Star Game and earned NL Cy Young honors in 2021 by sporting a 2.43 ERA with 234 strikeouts over 167 innings.
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The right-hander was an All-Star again in 2022 when he recorded an NL-high 243 strikeouts to go along with a 2.94 ERA over 202 innings. While Burnes' ERA rose to 3.39 over 193.2 innings last season, he reached the 200-strikeout mark for a third straight year, boasted the NL's top WHIP (1.069) and received a third straight All-Star nod.
Burnes and the Brewers avoided arbitration last month by agreeing to a one-year, $15.6 million deal. Burnes is scheduled to hit free agency after the 2024 season.
Ortiz, a 2019 fourth-round pick, was Baltimore's No. 6-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com. He hit .321/.378/.507 with nine home runs and 58 RBIs over 88 games in Triple-A last season. He also got his first taste of the bigs, hitting .212/.206/.242 over 33 at-bats with the O's.
MLB
Hall, meanwhile, made 29 total appearances for Baltimore over the past two seasons, mostly working out of the bullpen. The southpaw sported a 3.26 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 18 appearances in 2023. According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the Brewers believe Hall has upside as a potential starting pitcher.
The Burnes trade came just two days after it was reported that the Angelos family agreed to sell the Orioles for $1.725 billion. The group purchasing the club reportedly is led by two private equity billionaires, David Rubenstein and Mike Arougheti, and features Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr.
