Orioles star Corbin Burnes is from the smallish Central Valley California city of Bakersfield, and he’s pitched in two of the smaller markets in baseball — Milwaukee and Baltimore. But he’s about to be the biggest pitching free agent (just ahead of Max Fried, another major star), and a big market may just fit his big personality.
One rival says Burnes is known as a “bulldog” and a “great guy.”
“It doesn’t scare me,” Burnes told The Post of a big market. “Fan bases in general want to see a guy come in and play hard, and do everything they can to help the team and the city. Whether it’s a small market, mid-sized market or big market, you need to come in and compete every day.”
When he was traded to Baltimore, everyone assumed it was a one-and-done situation. However, new owner David Rubenstein was approved only weeks after Burnes was acquired, signaling the end of the Angelos-era penny-pinching.
Nothing’s going to happen in summer, though. Burnes doesn’t close the door entirely, but he told me “he’d “prefer not to talk” in season.
“I think at this point I would be doing these guys a disservice by taking my focus away from this year and our ultimate goal of winning the World Series.”
The Orioles get that, and sources say they have little intention of trying to sign him while they’re still playing. And though Rubenstein puts the sudden powerhouse in better long-term position, they’d surely also like to lock up homegrown superstars Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and others on their excellent young team.
“I think these guys knew coming in they were going to get one of the better arms in the game, and so I’m going to do everything I can for them this year,” Burnes said. “And if it’s a one-year thing, then hopefully we win it all. And if it turns into something more, that’s great. [But] my focus is coming in every day and doing what I can to help myself and the team.”
Burnes shot down rumors of a California preference (he lives in Arizona now) and professed only one preference: “I want to go to a team that’s going to compete for the entirety of my contract.”
Ultimately, Burnes may actually belong in a big market. His confidence is warranted, and given a chance, it surfaces. He’s been typically brilliant this year (8-2, 2.14), but by design, he’s striking out fewer than previously, which was a record pace for a starter. But he says, “If I need to get a strikeout I know I can get it.”
Though the Orioles can’t be discounted, if he isn’t made for New York (or Los Angeles or Chicago), I’m not sure who is.