The Arizona Diamondbacks missed the 2024 MLB playoffs by the slimmest of margins, but they are hellbent on avenging this heartbreak heading into the 2025 season. They put their money where their mouth is, splashing the cash for ace Corbin Burnes, inking him to a six-year, $210 million contract to front their rotation — a much-needed area of improvement to complement their high-octane offense.
And Burnes was not shy whatsoever in expressing just how impactful he would be for the Diamondbacks, much to the excitement of everyone involved — especially manager Torey Lovullo.
“You ready to win a s**t ton of games? ‘Coz I’m gonna go out there and help this team go to where they want to go,” Burnes asserted via the recollection of Lovullo himself in an appearance on the Foul Territory Show.
The Diamondbacks manager then revealed that the process of pursuing Burnes on the free-agent market was a quick one, and that the team’s ownership group deserves a ton of credit for pulling off one of the biggest moves of the offseason.
“[Owner Ken Kendrick] said to me that the Corbin Burnes thing has fallen into our lap. He’s talked about how eager he is to play for the Arizona Diamondbacks for an assortment of reasons. We’re very grateful for the great ownership that we have. It takes us from a team that is out there grinding to a team that is strong and considered to go out and win a lot of baseball games,” Lovullo added.
Last season, the Diamondbacks already won 89 games even though they had plenty of struggles on the pitching side of the ball. Having Burnes’ steady hand every four days will be such a luxury for Lovullo, and perhaps he’s the missing piece for the team as they look to seek redemption for their World Series defeat in 2023.
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Last season, the Diamondbacks scored the most runs in the MLB, with 886. Having such an elite offense usually means that a team is penciled in for a playoff spot, but their pitching struggles ended up causing them to miss out on the postseason after they allowed the third-most runs in the National League.
Thankfully, Corbin Burnes is a steady ace who’s capable of shouldering a heavy workload — the exact kind of player the Diamondbacks need. Last season, he started 32 games for the Baltimore Orioles and pitched in 194.1 innings, tallying a 3.7 WAR (per Fangraphs) in the process.
