Diamondbacks to sign Cy Young-winning RHP Corbin Burnes

The Arizona Diamondbacks and ace right-handed starting pitcher Corbin Burnes have agreed to a six-year contract, the club announced on Monday.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman first reported the deal on Friday night.

The surprising deal is worth a reported $210 million, the largest contract in franchise history, beating out Zack Greinke’s $206.5 million. His contract has a reported opt-out after 2026 and deferred money, Arizona Sports‘ John Gambadoro reported. Burnes has a $10 million signing bonus and will earn $20 million each year for the first two seasons. That number increases to $25 million per year over the final four seasons, and $60 million in deferred payments will be rolled out over six years after the contract ends.

So I expect the Corbin Burnes contract to be $20 million per year in the first two years and $25 million per year in each of the following four years. Deferred payments of $60 million to begin in 2031. https://t.co/Qj0plnfsfX

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) December 29, 2024

Burnes won the 2021 National League Cy Young for the Milwaukee Brewers after winning the ERA title at 2.43 and has been an All-Star in each of the past four seasons.

Last year with the Baltimore Orioles, he produced a 2.92 ERA in 32 starts with 181 strikeouts and 48 walks in 194.1 innings pitched. In seven MLB seasons, the 30-year-old owns a 3.19 ERA and has finished in the top 10 of the Cy Young voting five times. His 2.88 ERA since the start of 2020 is second lowest in MLB behind only Max Fried.

And he has been dependable, having surpassed 193 innings pitched for three straight years. Aaron Nola is the only other pitcher in MLB to do so.

3 ⬆️ 3 ⬇️

Corbin Burnes strikes out the side in the 1st inning. pic.twitter.com/iHF3ZKk3rm

— MLB (@MLB) September 26, 2024

Burnes has a deep arsenal, throwing mostly cutters, curveballs, changeups and sliders last year with sweepers and sinkers mixed in, according to Statcast. His slider produced a 46.3% whiff rate. His sinker averaged 97 mph in 2024.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays offered Burnes bigger contracts. The pitcher lives in Scottsdale and has twin babies at home, so he took less money to pitch in Arizona.

Burnes joins a D-backs rotation headlined by Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, who are entering the final season on their respective contracts.

Jordan Montgomery, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson make up the starting pitching depth on the roster, as the D-backs have a surplus to potentially trade from. The D-backs have reportedly shopped Montgomery and his $22.5 million contract for 2025, but they have received trade calls for each of their starting pitchers.

With this move, Arizona has added a star pitcher to a deep group for next season and created stability at the top of the rotation beyond 2025.

Burnes is the second All-Star addition for the D-backs this offseason after they traded for first baseman Josh Naylor from Cleveland.

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