Corbin Burnes, the former Cy Young-winning pitcher who was arguably the top option available on the free agent market, reportedly left more money on the table from the Toronto Blue Jays when he chose to join the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.
According to multiple reports, the Blue Jays' offer to Burnes included more money than the $210 million over six years he got from the Diamondbacks.
Corbin Burnes turned down more money per year and overall but the big benefit in addition to the $35M per year, low state tax in Arizona and opt out after two years is he and his young family live in the Phoenix area. @BNightengale said CB had bigger offers from SF and Toronto
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 28, 2024
That makes Burnes' decision to join Arizona another tough pill to swallow for the Blue Jays' front office, which has experienced a series of failures in the last two years.
The Blue Jays fell short after pursuing a trade for former MVP Cody Bellinger, and were left empty-handed after high-profile pursuits of the top options in each of the last two off-seasons, Juan Soto this year and Shohei Ohtani a year ago.
As MLB.com's Keegan Matheson notes, Burnes, who finished fifth in American League Cy Young voting in 2024 with a 2.92 earned-run average and a 15-9 record for the Baltimore Orioles, represented a chance for the Blue Jays to solidify their rotation moving forward.
Corbin Burnes was the #BlueJays' opportunity to extend the window of their rotation with Bassit gone after 2025, Gausman gone after '26 and Berríos holding an option after '26.
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) December 28, 2024
They're running thin on ways to do that right now... but this all comes back to the farm system.
Veteran pitchers Chris Bassitt (2025), Kevin Gausman (2026) and Jose Berrios (2026) are all likely to depart in the next two seasons, after Yusei Kikuchi was traded at this year's deadline.
To add to the issues on the pitching side, the Blue Jays are reportedly not close to a contract extension for home-grown superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Toronto finished the 2024 season last in the AL East for the first time since the 2013 campaign at 74-88.
