Diamondbacks listed as possible destination for Corbin Burnes

In Corbin Burnes final start of the 2023 season, his 10.2 consecutive inning scoreless streak was broken as he allowed four earned runs on five hits to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Three home runs ultimately pushed Burnes, the Brewers ace, out of the game after just four innings. He would exit with his team trailing and would be credited with a loss at the end of the day.

Fast forward a month, and the Brewers, now with a brand new head coach as Craig Counsell went across state borders to the Cubs, are seriously debating whether or not they should blow the whole thing up.

Since 2018, the Brewers have reached the postseason four times; out of these four times, they were eliminated in the Wild Card round twice and in the Divisional Round twice.

Given this lackluster postseason history over the past five years, immediately after the Brewers were eliminated by the Diamondbacks in the 2023 Wild Card round, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported that Milwaukee is “open to moving virtually any player on its roster.”

This “selling” process began with the Brewers sending Mark Canha to the Detroit Tigers.

And now, it appears that former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes could be the next to leave.

While Burnes does come with a hefty salary and only has one year on his contract remaining, there is still plenty of demand from teams that need a rental one-year guy to fill a hole in their rotation.

One of which is the Arizona Diamondbacks, who, besides Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, and possibly Brandon Pfaadt, have practically no other starting arms.

According to Jim Bowden at the Athletic, this is exactly the reason why they are showing interest in adding Corbin Burnes to the rotation.

Although Bowden acknowledged that the D-backs are not willing to give up any of their young prospects, as they have quite a bit, he did suggest that they would be willing to pay the price tag in order to get a fourth starter.

Some of the players that Bowden included in the Diamondbacks “will not move” list include Jordan Lawlar, Druw Jones, and Tommy Troy.

It also seems important to note that almost immediately after the postseason came to an end, Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen noted that his top goal would be to pick up another starting pitcher.

Last season, Corbin Burnes snapped a three-consecutive-season streak of sub-2 ERAs; however, he still struck out 200 batters and led the league with a 1.069 WHIP.

Even better, injuries have not been a major issue with Burnes, as he has not missed any notable time over the past three years.

Other teams that Bowden listed as possible bidders for Corbin are the Dodgers, Orioles, Rangers, and Giants.