MLB

Orioles acquire former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, reports say

Burnes has been one of MLB's top starting pitchers over the past few seasons

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The Baltimore Orioles reportedly have made a major splash.

Baltimore is acquiring former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers, according to multiple reports on Thursday night.

In return, Milwaukee reportedly will receive infield prospect Joey Ortiz, left-handed pitcher D.L. Hall and the 34th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal was first to report the trade.

Burnes, 29, has been one of the game's top starting pitchers over the past few seasons. He made his first All-Star Game and earned NL Cy Young honors in 2021 by sporting a 2.43 ERA with 234 strikeouts over 167 innings.

The right-hander was an All-Star again in 2022 when he recorded an NL-high 243 strikeouts to go along with a 2.94 ERA over 202 innings. While Burnes' ERA rose to 3.39 over 193.2 innings last season, he reached the 200-strikeout mark for a third straight year, boasted the NL's top WHIP (1.069) and received a third straight All-Star nod.

Burnes and the Brewers avoided arbitration last month by agreeing to a one-year, $15.6 million deal. Burnes is scheduled to hit free agency after the 2024 season.

Ortiz, a 2019 fourth-round pick, was Baltimore's No. 6-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com. He hit .321/.378/.507 with nine home runs and 58 RBIs over 88 games in Triple-A last season. He also got his first taste of the bigs, hitting .212/.206/.242 over 33 at-bats with the O's.

Hall, meanwhile, made 29 total appearances for Baltimore over the past two seasons, mostly working out of the bullpen. The southpaw sported a 3.26 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 18 appearances in 2023.

The reported Burnes trade came just two days after it was reported that the Angelos family agreed to sell the Orioles for $1.725 billion. The group purchasing the club reportedly is led by two private equity billionaires, David Rubenstein and Mike Arougheti, and features Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr.

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