Diamondbacks’ Corbin Burnes acquisition among best, says survey by The Athletic

While the backend of the pitching rotation remains one of the top questions for the Arizona Diamondbacks coming into spring training, their free-agency splash of signing ace Corbin Burnes feels like a no-brainer.

And a number of voters in a panel of 32 anonymous executives, scouts and coaches agree, according to a survey done by The Athletic’s Jayson Stark.

Burnes, who signed the largest contract in franchise history at six years and worth $210 million last December, was awarded the moniker as the most irreplaceable free agent signing. That’s bad news for the Baltimore Orioles, who now have to replace Burnes after watching him leave as a free agent after just one season with the team.

In 32 appearances as an Oriole in 2024, Burnes posted a 15-9 record, a 2.92 ERA (good for seventh in the Majors) and batters hit .226 on average against him. As a team, the Orioles faced pitching rotation woes losing three arms to midseason elbow surgeries and lost starter Grayson Rodriguez to injury last August.

“That’s just a major, major loss for their team,” one voter said to Stark.

“I just don’t think they have a way to get that ace-level pitching,” a rival AL exec said.

Burnes was also voted by at least one panel member as both one of the best signings, and one of the worst. This voter in particular mirrored his two ballots with Juan Soto (New York Mets), Burnes and Max Fried (New York Yankees).

Corbin Burnes is among the best additions

Burnes received 15 votes to finish behind only new Los Angeles Dodgers ace Roki Sasaki (16) as the best free agent acquisition.

Soto received 10 votes to be the worst free-agent signing and nine as the best signing. The panel was a tad mixed on the Soto acquisition.

Most improved?

The Diamondbacks’ other moves to win this season caught the attention of the panel as well.

Arizona received 15 votes in the running for the most improved team in the National League. The team with the most you ask? That would be the Dodgers (32 votes) followed by the Mets (30).

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