Corbin Burnes's 6-year, $210M US deal with D-backs includes $64M deferred through 2036
Ronald Blum | The Associated Press | Posted: December 29, 2024 2:46 AM | Last Updated: January 2
2021 NL Cy Young Award winner has right to opt out after 2026 season
Right-hander Corbin Burnes's six-year, $210-million US contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks includes $64 million in deferred payments due from 2031-36, according to details obtained by The Associated Press.
Burnes gets a $10 million signing bonus payable within 30 days of the deal's approval by the commissioner's office and salaries of $30 million each in 2025 and 2026 and of $35 million in each of the following four seasons.
His deal, announced Monday and the largest in Diamondbacks history, includes $10 million in deferred money in each of the first two years and $11 million in each of the next four.
Burnes, the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner and four-time all-star, has the right to opt out after the 2026 season.
If he does not opt out, the deferred money is payable $10 million each on Nov. 1 in 2031 and '32, and $11 million each Nov. 1 from 2033-36.
If Burnes does opt out, the deferred money is payable in $10 million installments on Nov. 1 in 2027 and 2028.
- He has a full no-trade provision through March 31, 2027. If he does not opt out, he can specify by each March 15 starting in 2027 a list of 14 teams he can't be traded to without his consent.
- Burnes would get $250,000 for winning a Cy Young Award, $150,000 for finishing second in the voting, $100,000 for third, $75,000 for fourth and $50,000 for fifth.
- He would earn $50,000 each for all-star election or selection, winning a Gold Glove, World Series MVP, League Championship Series MVP or finishing first or second on the All-MLB team.
Arizona agreed to give Burnes four premium season tickets in a best-available location at no cost for all regular-season, post-season and spring training games. Burnes is allowed to purchase up two additional tickets adjacent to the team-provided seats.
Burnes gets a hotel suite on road trips and agreed to donate one per cent of his salary and signing bonus to the team charitable foundation.
Spent first 6 seasons with Brewers
The 30-year-old was perhaps the top free agent pitcher on the market after going 15-9 with a 2.92 earned-run average for Baltimore last season, when he earned a $15,637,500 salary. The Orioles acquired the right-hander in a February trade after he spent his first six major league seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Among active major league pitchers with current contracts, Burnes's $35 million average salary per year would rank fifth behind Zack Wheeler, Jacob deGrom, Blake Snell and Gerrit Cole. Burnes's agent, Scott Boras, has negotiated more than $1.6 billion in contracts for his clients this offseason.
Arizona is spending in an effort to compete with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. The Diamondbacks, who barely missed the playoffs this year, reached the World Series in 2023 before losing to the Texas Rangers in five games.
The D-backs now have a potential starting rotation that includes Burnes, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt, which on paper is among the best in baseball.
Aside from a poor stretch in August, Burnes was excellent last season, giving Baltimore's injury-riddled rotation an ace the Orioles could count on. Baltimore reached the post-season as a wild card and lost in two straight games to Kansas City, but that wasn't Burnes's fault. He started the playoff opener and allowed one run in eight innings of a 1-0 defeat.
Burnes was also the starting pitcher for the AL in the all-star game in July.
Burnes set a career high in 2024 with 22 quality starts. His strikeout rate of 8.38 per nine innings was his lowest since he became a starter, but his walk rate (2.22) was his best since his Cy Young-winning campaign three years earlier.