Corbin Burnes discusses his decision to join the Diamondbacks

Corbin BurnesThe six-year, $210 million contract with the Diamondbacks may be the most surprising move of the 2024-25 offseason, as Arizona was not considered a top contender for spend that much money or even make a move for a $210 million contract with the Diamondbacks. frontline pitcher given the depth already present in the Snakes’ rotation.

As revealed today during Burnes’ introductory press conference, the idea of ​​Burnes joining the D’Backs also seemed unlikely to all parties involved at the start of the offseason. Previous reports suggested that it was Burnes and his agent Scott Boras who contacted the D’Backs to initiate negotiations in late December and that a deal was reached relatively quickly, and this version of events has been widely supported in the comments to the media (including the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro, Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci and MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert) today.

Burnes and his family live in Scottsdale, and there was an obvious appeal to playing so close to home, especially after Burnes’ wife, Brooke, gave birth to twin girls last June. Although Burnes was interested in playing for the Diamondbacks, there was not much contact between the two teams until Boras contacted owner Ken Kendrick in December about the possibility of a signing. Boras and Kendrick seemingly handled this first round of negotiations directly, since D’Backs general manager Mike Hazen and assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye were both overseas on family vacations.

The result was the most expensive contract in Diamondbacks franchise history and a payroll that now stands at approximately $193.6 million, according to RosterResource estimates. Kendrick admitted that the D’Backs were “stretch the budget” to make the deal with Burnes work, but he pointed to new revenue streams such as a sponsored jersey patch, a rough sportsbook and more concerts at Chase Field, as well as the more traditional supplemental funds generated by an attendance increased.

“All these things keep the train moving, and then what do we do? Every dollar received, we will reinvest in baseball players and not their property, and we always will.“Kendrick said.

Burnes wasn’t entirely off the Diamondbacks’ radar at the start of the offseason, as Sawdaye said today during an appearance on the Baseball Is’t Boring podcast that the front office had “heard by intermediaries and other actors» that Burnes had better play close to home. Internally, Sawdaye said: “we had some discussions and it seemed like financially it wasn’t going to work or make sense.”

However, with Kendrick and CEO Derrick Hall pushing things and Burnes remaining unsigned, Sawdaye said the front office essentially asked: ” “Well, what will the price be?” We would be doing a disservice to a player who wants to come here and obviously we would have to figure out what it’s going to cost..”

As onerous as Burnes’ contract is, Boras said there was “no questions» The right-hander turned down bigger offers from other teams. Previous reports indicated the Blue Jays and possibly the Orioles were willing to surpass Arizona’s offer, although Burnes said today he had only received concrete offers from the Jays and Giants , more “some verbal stuff with Baltimore and Boston, but nothing I had seen in writing.”

Verducci’s article includes a longer analysis of how Burnes’ free agent journey developed, with Toronto, Boston and the Yankees all expressing interest early in free agency. Various discussions took place with all parties over the following weeks, with Corbin and Brooke Burnes prioritizing how signing with each potential suitor would impact their young family’s daily routine. The Yankees and Red Sox appeared to fall back into contention after the teams respectively landed Max Frit And Garrett Hook to meet their launch needs, which allowed the D’Backs to emerge with a late offering.