This Corbin Burnes Free Agency Quote Might Bode Well For Red Sox

If the Red Sox are ready and willing to spend big this offseason, then we have to assume Corbin Burnes will be ready and willing to listen.

Both the Sox and Orioles have legitimate 2024 hopes they'll try to satisfy, but the Baltimore right-hander will be a major talking point when the offseason gets here. After some quiet years on the pitching market, Burnes headlines a free agent class of pitchers who could make major impacts on a new team (not to mention get paid in a very big way).

The former Cy Young Award winner has been a really nice fit for the O's, who acquired the righty from the Milwaukee Brewers in a trade before the 2024 season. No one has taken the ball more than Burnes, who made his 26th start Thursday night. The workhorse, whose 91 starts since 2022 ranks fourth in all of baseball, is 12-6 with a 3.28 ERA in his first season with Baltimore. The Orioles have legitimate World Series hopes, and Burnes anchoring a young rotation is a big reason why.

Regardless of how the Orioles' season plays out, Burnes will earn himself a massive contract in the offseason. The soon-to-be 30-year-old spoke with The Athletic about his foray into free agency, and one part in particular should be of interest to Red Sox fans hoping to see Boston land the big fish.

"I am going to have to do a lot of research this offseason on farm system, young guys coming up, groups of core guys that are on a team," Burnes told The Athletic. "Where does it look like teams are going to be competitive? Where are teams just looking to spend some money to make the fan base happy? Whatever it might be.

"I think I can provide value in helping to elevate some young guys on the staff. Is it a group of young pitchers where maybe they missed the postseason this year but they have the pieces to do it now and for the long term? … That's important, knowing that you can provide more value to a team that's going to be in the postseason and maybe elevate some young guys."

If you want to look at it through red Sox-colored glasses, that sounds like what Boston is trying to build. MLB Pipeline ranked Boston's farm No. 7 in baseball following the trade deadline. That's largely based on top-end talent knocking on the door of the big leagues, too. It's not like there's a ton of long-term projection. The organization's top three prospects -- Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel -- are all in Triple-A, as is fast-rising Kristian Campbell.

(Quick pause here to note Burnes' incumbent team, the Orioles, has Pipeline's No. 3 farm system.)

Certainly, if you want to nitpick, that only two of Boston's top 10 prospects based on MLB Pipeline's rankings are pitchers (Nos. 9 and 10, at that) doesn't exactly satisfy Burnes' desire or willingness to help develop young hurlers. However, he could be extremely beneficial for players like Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck or Garrett Whitlock, young pitchers who have already made an impact at the big league level.

But the Red Sox are clearly building something. They have overachieved in 2024 with a solid young nucleus (led by the likes of Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran, Cedanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu) and have a popular manager, Alex Cora, locked in for the foreseeable future. If this winter is the time to take that "next step" and start throwing around big money, Burnes certainly makes sense.

The price will be considerable. Burnes is a Scott Boras client, and his contract will reflect that as much as it does his ability. The Athletic's Tim Britton projected a potential extension for Burnes at eight years and $260 million. That probably won't happen with Baltimore, and perhaps he'll land that on the open market. Aaron Nola's deal (seven years, $172 million) he signed prior to 2024 might be an ultra-conservative comp, too. That's probably why ESPN's Kiley McDaniel felt comfortable projecting Burnes could land a deal of "almost surely over $200 million," hypothesizing it would be "reasonable for Burnes and Boras to aim for the third-biggest pitcher guarantee of all time, besting the $245 million that Boras got (Steven)Strasburg five years ago."

The Red Sox have been resistant to throw around that sort of money for any player in recent years, with the extension for Devers being the main exception. They've been especially hesitant when it comes to pitchers in their 30s. That's not to say they haven't been willing to go big, as evidenced by the seven-year, $217 million contract they gave David Price right before he turned 30.

One other thing worth mentioning: A national MLB insider recently included the Red Sox among teams who could make a push for Burnes this winter.