Corbin Burnes contract details include deferred money, no-trade clause

Corbin Burnes agreed to a $210 million deal over six seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but the payroll ramifications are different than simply tacking on $35 million per year.

The deal includes a $10 million signing bonus, has significant deferred money and an opt-out after the first two years, according to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro. The D-backs announced the acquisition on Monday.

Burnes, 30, came to Arizona wanting to pitch close to his home in the Valley, especially considering he has twin babies.

This is a massive move for the Diamondbacks in their pursuit of October baseball in 2025, as Burnes is a four-time All-Star coming off a season with Baltimore in which he worked a 2.92 ERA. He was a highly sought free agent pitching in his prime, as opposed to some previous pitching contracts the club handed out in the past such as Madison Bumgarner.

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

Diamondbacks deferring payments to Corbin Burnes

Gambadoro reported Burnes will make $20 million per year over the first two seasons of the deal before the opt-out. If he opts in, the annual earnings go up to $25 million for the next four years.

That leaves $60 million ($10 million per season) in deferred money with payments to begin in 2031, not quite the Shohei Ohtani deferments but a weighty amount. It will be paid out over six years, notably with no interest — the 2001 D-backs had 17 players with deferred money on their deals with interest that added up over the ensuing years.

Interesting part of the $60 million in deferred money in the Corbin Burnes contract with the Diamondbacks – there is no interest on these payments.

— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) December 30, 2024

This is the biggest contract in franchise history, beating out Zack Greinke’s $206.5 million over six years ahead of the 2016 season.

Greinke was a bit older than Burnes is when he signed with Arizona entering his age 32 season, but the contracts have plenty of parallels. Greinke had five years of deferred payments of $12 million. As was the case with Greinke, bringing in Burnes with deferred money on his deal lowers the effective cost into the $190s million range.

No-trade clause for Corbin Burnes

Burnes has a no-trade clause for the first two seasons of the contract before the opt-out, but the full no-trade clause goes away for the final four years.

There is a partial no-trade clause if he opts in, giving Burnes the ability to quash a deal to certain teams, according to Gambadoro.

When did the Corbin Burnes-Diamondbacks connection begin?

If this deal felt out of left field, that’s because it was. The dialogue did not start between the two sides until early last week, according to Gambadoro.

There were three teams that made offers to Burnes with a fourth on the verge of doing so. He took less money to pitch in the Valley. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported Burnes had a seven-year offer worth $250 million with no opt-out from an American League East club.

Arizona set a payroll record of $173 million last season, and signing Burnes will push well past that mark (Spotrac projects $188.5 million). There are ways to get the payroll back down, the clearest being to deal pitcher Jordan Montgomery. The D-backs have a surplus of starters to manage, as Burnes joins Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson and Montgomery.

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