The New York Mets have several spots to fill in their starting rotation. Jose Quintana, Luis Severino and Sean Manaea were all key contributors in 2024 but are currently free agents. Could president of baseball operations David Stearns fill one of those open spots with Baltimore Orioles ace Corbin Burnes?
The right-handed hurler has been consistently dominant since 2020. He's produced a 52-31 record with a 2.88 ERA and 1.02 WHIP across 816 2/3 innings. This period has also included four trips to the All-Star Game and four top 10 finishes in Cy Young Award voting. Burnes won the award in 2021 after leading the league with a 2.43 ERA in 167 innings for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Stearns has been open about the Mets wanting to acquire multiple pitchers for the starting rotation this winter. MLB Network Radio's Jim Bowden also said Burnes is New York's top priority right now.
Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller is predicting the Mets will land Burnes on a seven-year, $224 million deal.
"He (Burnes) hasn't had any major injuries during his career, and he only just turned 30," he said. "Given he has logged 190 or more innings in three consecutive seasons and won the NL Cy Young Award in 2021, he's probably the most accomplished starter to reach the open market since (Gerrit) Cole after the 2019 campaign."
Stearns has some extra familiarity with Burnes. His tenure as Brewers general manager overlapped with the ace's time in Milwaukee. So, that could be part of the reason why he's reportedly intent on landing the ace. Bringing Burnes to Queens could give the Mets an enviable one-two punch at the top of the rotation with Kodai Senga.
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