There might be no better pitcher on the market than Corbin Burnes.
The 30-year-old right-hander is a free agent for the first time in his career, and a familiar team is the favorite to bring him in.
The Mets, who are seemingly in on every big-name free agent this offseason, are a +450 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook to land Burnes, who is expected to get around a $200 million deal.
The Amazin’s are trailed by the pitching-hungry Red Sox (+500), Cubs (+550) and Orioles (+600), who are all also likely to be big players in free agency.
A trio of West Coast teams — the Padres (+750), Dodgers (+800) and Giants (+850) — also have an outside shot at Burnes, per DraftKings.
The Yankees (+1000) are expected to be less of a factor in the Burnes sweepstakes than, say, Juan Soto.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Mets | +550 |
| Red Sox | +600 |
| Cubs | +650 |
| Padres | +750 |
| Any other team not on this list | +750 |
| Dodgers | +800 |
| Giants | +850 |
| Tigers | +900 |
| Yankees | +1000 |
| Diamondbacks | +1100 |
| Astros | +1500 |
Burnes has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for more than a half-decade now.
Since establishing himself in the Brewers’ rotation in 2020, Burnes has made four All-Star teams and finished in the top ten of the Cy Young vote four times, and likely a fifth time this season.
In 2021, Burnes had one of the most dominant seasons from a starting pitcher in recent baseball history, posting an MLB-best 2.43 ERA and a 1.63 FIP en route to the NL Cy Young award.
After being traded from Milwaukee to the Orioles last offseason, Burnes had a 2.92 ERA over 194 ⅓ innings in 2024.
Over the past five seasons, Burnes ranks top five in innings pitched, strikeouts and ERA among pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched.
Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.