The Baltimore Orioles did something on February 1 that they've been needing to do all winter, acquiring a frontline starter in Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers via trade.
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This move greatly improves their efforts to compete in 2024, but it means more than that for Baltimore as a franchise.
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Earlier in the week, news dropped that the Angelos family, longtime owners of the Orioles, had agreed to sell the team to a group including billionaires David Rubenstein and Mike Arougheti for $1.725 billion. Is it a coincidence that general manager Mike Elias finally pulled the trigger on a much-needed trade just two days later? Probably not.
The Angelos family has been in control of the Orioles since 1993. When we look at on-field results, there hasn't been a ton of success. There have been just six trips to the postseason since they took over, and Baltimore has advanced past the first round just once this century. And, sure — the young nucleus of elite players currently on the roster signifies competitive baseball is ahead, especially after a 101-win campaign in 2023. But, it didn't come without a cost.
Orioles Hoping to Reap Rewards of Rebuild
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The Orioles went through a full-on tear-down rebuild between 2018 and 2022 before winning the AL East last season. It included three 100-loss seasons over four years. Despite the organization finally reaping the rewards of that rebuild, it didn't sound like the Angelos family was going to try and keep as many players with the club as possible.
Amid the Orioles' terrific 2023 regular season, Peter Angelos said in August that Baltimore wouldn't be able to extend its young stars without dramatically raising prices around the ballpark. Here's part of what he said, via the New York Times:
"Let's say we sat down and showed you the financials for the Orioles. You will quickly see that when people talk about giving this player $200 million, that player $150 million, we would be so financially underwater that you'd have to raise the prices massively."
That's one way to rally the fan base, right? After a years-long rebuild, essentially telling them to enjoy it while it lasts because they weren't planning on doing anything to extend its shelf life as much as possible.
But thankfully, that's no longer the case. Simply having ownership change hands is enough for Orioles fans to jump for joy. Having franchise icon and Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. be part of the ownership group was just icing on the cake, right?
But a great week got even better when news of acquiring Burnes hit social media. He'll essentially replace the 193 innings Kyle Gibson threw last year, who signed with the St. Louis Cardinals this winter.
Burnes Is a Massive Upgrade in Several Ways
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Swapping out Gibson for Burnes is going to be a huge upgrade. Gibson went 15-9 for the O's in 2023, but it was accompanied by a 4.73 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 157 strikeouts. Since his Cy Young Award-winning campaign in 2021 with Milwaukee, Burnes has been a durable ace.
He's started at least 28 games in each season, which has included consecutive 190-plus innings pitched in 2022 and 2023. The righty has produced a combined 33-21 record to go along with a 2.94 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 677 strikeouts (at least 200 in each season).
Adding to the rotation was the one big hole the Orioles had as we headed toward spring training. That's no longer the case with Burnes in the fold. And while a big focus is on how this changes things for the club in 2024, the impact of the move itself should go well into the future.
The Orioles have a top-rated farm system and before the Burnes trade, their payroll was the second-lowest in baseball, checking in below $80 million. They could've easily either made a trade or signed a top-tier free agent at any point this winter. While the uncertainty of the team's sale likely played a role, the Angelos family had already made it crystal clear that they didn't like investing in the on-field product.
That's no longer the case. Orioles fans are getting an ownership group that wants to spend money on the team. And in the blink of an eye, the immediate and long-term future of the organization — with a big-league roster stacked with young talent and an elite farm system — is even brighter.
Trading for Burnes will go down as a symbolic moment where everyone can point and say, "This is when we knew everything was changing for the better."
