Corbin Burnes Reveals Details Of Red Sox’s Free Agency Pursuit

The Boston Red Sox made their run at starting pitcher Corbin Burnes before the Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to a six-year, $210 million deal with the right-hander in free agency.

Burnes joined the market following an impressive one-year run with the Baltimore Orioles in which he went 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA across 32 starts and finished fifth in the American League Cy Young Award ballot. This, of course, lined Burnes up with a handful of teams interested in landing him in free agency this offseason, prompting meetings with agent Scott Boras before Burnes made his decision to join Arizona.

The 30-year-old revealed that the New York Yankees and Red Sox were among the teams he met via Zoom calls during the offseason.

“We had three or four teams reach out and it’s kind of weird how they come in groups,” Burnes told Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci. “Like, we went from nowhere to these three teams in a day. And then, okay, nothing for another week or so. And then all of a sudden, these four teams reached out in a matter of two days. So, it’s just kind of strange how things kind of ebb and flow as the market goes.”

When the market began to naturally play out, and Burnes had met with several organizations and front office executives, the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants were the premier options. However, Burnes stuck with Boras’ recommended patient approach in search of a more desirable offer, either from those who’d already presented a deal or elsewhere.

That’s where the Diamondbacks came into play on Dec. 23, officially removing Burnes from the market.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, didn’t hit the brakes on their effort to bolster the pitching staff once Burnes provided Arizona with a stamp of approval.

Boston chief baseball officer Craig Breslow upheld the franchise’s promise by adding relief pitchers Justin Wilson and Aroldis Chapman to the Red Sox’s bullpen and starters Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler and Patrick Sandoval to the team’s rotation. Breslow demonstrated a mix of Boston’s willingness to sacrifice, surrendering four prospects to the Chicago White Sox to Crochet, and spend in the open market.

The Red Sox and their new additions now sit less than four weeks until pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers, FL, for the start of spring training.