MILWAUKEE, Wis. (NBC 26) — The Brewers are sending their top pitcher to Baltimore.
Milwaukee has traded former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes to the Orioles in exchange for a package of prospects and picks. The move was first reported by ESPN and has since been confirmed by the team.
Corbin Burnes to the Orioles is done, sources tell ESPN. A blockbuster trade less than two weeks before spring training starts. Baltimore gets one of the best pitchers in baseball, and the Brewers will get a package of prospects back. First with it close: @Ken_Rosenthal.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 2, 2024
In return, the Brewers get the No. 34 pick in this year's draft, infielder Joey Ortiz and pitcher D.L. Hall.
The 25-year-old Hall appeared in 18 major league games last season, posting a 3.26 ERA in 19.1 innings pitched. The former first round pick has consistently been a top-100 prospect, peaking as Baseball America's No. 47 ranked minor league player in 2020.
Ortiz, also 25, was Baseball America's No. 95 prospect entering last season. In 88 AAA games last year, he hit .321 with nine home runs and 58 RBI and registered a .378 on base percentage with a .885 OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage).
Ortiz also appeared in 13 major league games last season, registering seven hits in 33 at bats (a .212 batting average).
Burnes and the Brewers recently agreed to a $15.6 million contract for the upcoming season. However, Burnes is entering his final year of team control and would have been a free agent following 2024.
The 2021 Cy Young winner publicly voiced his frustrations last spring after the Brewers took him to arbitration over about $740,000. Burnes made $10.01 million last season rather than the $10.75 million he asked for.
"Obviously, it's tough to hear. It's tough to take. They're trying to do what they can to win a hearing,'' Burnes said last spring, per ESPN. "There's no denying that the relationship is definitely hurt from what (transpired) over the last couple weeks. There's really no way of getting around that."
Burnes finishes his Brewers career with some of the best seasons in franchise history. He made the All-Star Game each of the past three years, and in 2021 highlighted his Cy Young campaign with a combined no-hitter, the team's first no-hitter in 34 years. Burnes tossed the first eight innings before Josh Hader closed it out.
The Brewers will also be without RHP Brandon Woodruff for most if not all of the upcoming season. Woodruff had surgery on his throwing shoulder in October.
