Corbin Burnes sent SS Joey Ortiz, LHP D.L. Hall, or a 2024 draft pick to Baltimore in exchange for Burnes.

Corbin Burnes sent SS Joey Ortiz, LHP D.L. Hall, or a 2024 draft pick to Baltimore in exchange for Burnes.

One of the largest questions going into the offseason was what would happen with Corbin Burnes. With only one year of collective control left and a big contract, it looked like a trade was likely to happen.

The trade has happened, and Spring Training is coming up. Tonight, the Brewers gave Corbin Burnes the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for shortstop Joey Ortiz, right-handed pitcher D.L. Hall, and the 34th pick of the 2024 draft.

Burnes was always going to be a free agent, so it was likely that the team could get something of value in trade for him in the final year of team control.

Many teams were interested in the former Cy Young winner; it was just the question of who could match the Brewers’ offer.

Joey Ortiz and D.L. Hall are both newcomers in the Orioles system who just made their debuts and are under team control for six years. Ortiz hit just.7 out of 33 in 15 major league games while playing for the Orioles in 2023.

In the 2019 draft, he was picked up in the fourth round. He hit.321/.378/.507 in Triple-A, with 9 HR or 58 RBI. He was ranked #97 overall and #6 on MLB.com’s 2023 prospect list for the Orioles.

To understand the job of Brewers general manager Matt Arnold, you have to understand this contrast.

Arnold is constantly juggling the need to keep filling baseball’s No. 3 ranked farm system with top, controllable, Major League-ready prospects while also trying to extend the longest run of sustained success in the team’s history (five postseason appearances in the last six years).

The Brewers thought it was a good idea to do the second thing because Burnes would be free to sign with any team after the 2024 World Series.

It was his “down year” in 2023, but he still pitched 193 2⁄3 innings, had a 3.39 ERA, a 3.81 FIP, and struck out 200 batters.

The Baltimore Orioles and the Milwaukee Brewers announced Thursday that they had traded for former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes. In exchange, the Orioles got infielder Joey Ortiz, left-hander DL Hall, and the 34th pick in the 2024 draft.

Even though the Brewers had trade offers for Burnes all winter, some teams thought they would keep the 2021 National League Cy Young winner because of how close spring training was getting.

The Orioles came up next. They won 101 games in 2017 and have what might be the best young core within the major leagues, but there were some concerns about their rotation.

Getting Burnes on land could help settle the questions. He is 29 years old and will be a free agent after the 2024 season.

Last year, the 29-year-old went 10-8 with a 3.39 ERA as well as 200 strikeouts in 193 innings, helping the Brewers win the NL Central title.

Burnes had 243 strikeouts in 202 innings the previous year, which was the most in the NL. His ERA was 2.43 in 167 innings pitched in 2021 when he struck out 234 batters and only 34 went for walks. Seven additional significant league teams have Opening Day payrolls that are less than $100 million.

He joins Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells, and John Means in the Baltimore rotation. Bradish and Rodriguez had the best as well as third-best ERAs in the American League in the second half.

It’s possible that Milwaukee could have traded Burnes at the last moment or lost him to free agency, but they chose to move him instead.

“It’s always hard to decide to trade a player like Corbin,” Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said. “I believe the main idea is that we’re happy about what we’re getting back.”

And the truth is that we only had one year ahead with Corbin. I believe Corbin made it clear that this would be the final season with the Brewers.

Milwaukee gets rid of Burnes’ $15.6 million salary, and Baseball Prospectus says the team’s Opening Day payroll will be $92 million.

The Orioles’ owner, John Angelos, agreed earlier this week to sell the team to David Rubenstein, a billionaire. The price of the team went up to about $90 million.