The Giants have already been linked to some prominent free agents this winter, and it appears as though Corbin Burnes is another name on the club’s list of targets. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes that the Giants “are believed to have significant interest in Burnes,” and thus San Francisco joins the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees, and Burnes’ former team the Orioles as clubs known to be pursuing the right-hander to some degree.
MLBTR projects Burnes to land a seven-year, $200MM deal as the top pitcher on the free agent market, and signing the hurler at such a price would be a fascinating move for a Giants club that is reportedly looking to reduce payroll. The Giants’ Opening Day payroll last season was roughly $208.1MM (as per Cot’s Baseball Contracts) and they currently have around $154.8MM on the books for 2025 according to RosterResource’s calculations. Trading any of Mike Yastrzemski, Camilo Doval, LaMonte Wade Jr., Taylor Rogers or Tyler Rogers would free up some more money, but as it stands right now, there’s room for San Francisco to ink Burnes for something in the ballpark of a $28.5MM average annual value and still have space for more additions before reaching the 2024 payroll number.
The Giants also haven’t necessarily been acting like a team that is planning on limited spending. San Francisco has shown interest in two of the offseason’s bigger-name free agents in Willy Adames and now Burnes, plus the Giants had at least a check-in on Juan Soto’s market. Ha-Seong Kim and Tomoyuki Sugano are two other notables on the team’s radar, among less-pricey options. And, of course, the Giants already made a big spending splurge before free agency even opened by keeping Matt Chapman off the market with a six-year, $151MM extension.
Buster Posey was reportedly heavily involved in the Chapman negotiations even before becoming the team’s new president of baseball operations, and those efforts to retain a prominent star seemingly indicated that Posey’s front office was prepared to take a more aggressive stance in trying to land top-shelf talent. Signing a Burnes or an Adames would finally put to rest the narrative that the organization is unable to attract star free agents, though it remains to be seen if these forays into the top of the 2024-25 free agent market are anything more than due diligence, if Giants ownership does want to limit spending.
Burnes has some West Coast ties, as he hails from Bakersfield, California and he played college ball at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga (about 40 minutes away from San Francisco). From a purely on-field perspective, there’s also a natural fit — Burnes would step right into Blake Snell’s shoes as the new ace, teaming with Logan Webb to become one of the game’s better one-two rotation punches. Kyle Harrison and Robbie Ray would each move a slot down in the rotation order, and San Francisco would gain some flexibility in deciding what to do with the fifth starter’s job. Any of Landen Roupp, Hayden Birdsong, Mason Black, Keaton Winn, or top prospect Carson Whisenhunt could compete for the job in Spring Training, or Jordan Hicks could be given another shot at a starting role if the Giants don’t want to just keep him in the bullpen.
Since San Francisco exceeded the luxury tax threshold last season, they would pay an additional penalty for signing Burnes or any free agent that rejected a qualifying offer. The Giants would have to give up $1MM of funds from their international signing bonus pool, and also their second- and fifth-highest selections in the 2025 draft. The club already gave up two picks (their second- and third-rounders) in the 2024 draft to sign Snell and Chapman last winter, as both players rejected qualifying offers before entering free agency.
Naaaaah Ya Think
I guess that’s what you talk about when nothing is going on.
The Giants were basically a 500 team with Snell. I don’t know why they would expect to improve even if they signed Burnes.
Snell didn’t play half the season bro.
He made 20 starts. Was he supposed to make 40 bro?
My point is replacing Snell with Burnes really isn’t an upgrade. And they need a big big upgrade in order to compete with the Dodgers who of course just went and signed Snell and have Ohtani ready to pitch in 2025.
Would’ve made the postseason if he even played 10 more games (regular starter workload), and won just half of those. Burnes would be a clear step up
The Giants were 9 games out of a playoff spot. So no they wouldn’t have made the playoffs if he made those starts and won half of them.
@ Blackpink. How do you upgrade from Snell? You can’t. You can try to replace him, although he was transcendent for 2 months. That would be Burnes. And maybe 10 extra starts does help if Burnes can give them to the Giants. The upgrade has to come at SS or maybe 1B or RF. Not doing anything with the rotation means the Giants are getting worse.
I wouldn’t try to replace him if I were the Giants. The Dodgers are amazing right now but they are gonna get old in a couple years. I would take a step back for now and save all that money for when the Dodgers start slowing down and go for it then. The Padres are another team that is going to take a step back in a couple years. I would save money and try to win then not now.
Dodgers are never slowing down w the roster they’re just gonna pile up diverted salaries for 20 years they must know something we don’t maybe the dollar collapses
I’ll take 33 starts for what he was paid last season. I saw a couple of Snell’s starts at Oracle Park this past season, and he was dominant. But there’s a fair bit of uncertainty year-to-year whether he’s going to be available. I hope he pitches well and often for the Dodgers.
Some of the Dodgers players are already getting old. In a couple years it will be even worse for them. Maybe they run a 600 million dollar payroll to compensate who knows. But I think the Dodgers have a window to be dominant and it doesn’t last forever.
I dont know why the Giants signed Chapman. Should have saved that money for when it mattered.
Start worrying if players start asking to be paid in crypto.
@Blackpink,
That’s no way to run a business – tank and wait years for your competitors to fail – even assuming Dodgers and Padres would is really out there.
The Giants needs to build up their team to take on the Dodgers, Padres, D’backs and other contenders in the NL. Waving the white flag while praying for opponent failure is a recipe for failure that Buster Posey and the Giants would never consider.
So they miss out on the best FA in back to back years to these monster teams who are they supposed to run out at 3b freakin Casey Schmidt
Most would consider Burnes a downgrade to Blake Snell. Burnes is younger, so he will get a longer contract and is a good pitcher. However, Burnes has been in a pretty sharp decline the last FIVE seasons…. His strikeout percentage has gone down every season for five years and his WHIP has been going up for four seasons. I’d much prefer Snell over the next 3 to 4 seasons over Burnes.
The Padres are almost guaranteed to fade away in a couple years.
The Dodgers are historically dominant. Haven’t they won the division for the last 12 years? They just signed Snell away fron the Giants.
If your team can’t compete on a year to year basis with the Dodgers, and it clearly can’t, then stop trying for a couple years. Then take all the money you saved those years and spend it and give your team an actual chance. That’s what I would do if I were the Giants. Acting like the Giants are going to compete with the Dodgers in the next couple years is ridiculous.
That’s not how salaries work. Teams don’t hoard player salaries year after year and then spend it all one year once their rivals are bad. Also…I think the Giants will be waiting a long time for the dodgers to slow down.
I think the Giants added more money to their payroll in 2024 than any team in baseball did. And they still weren’t any good.
You sound entitled Gobot. It’s clear this isn’t the Giants time. I am a Cardinals fan same here it’s not their time although at least they play in an easier division. Red Sox are in a similar situation. Your team was great back in the day but it’s not great anymore. You gotta accept that.
That’s what the Astros did Andy. That’s exactly what they did.
What idiot homer fans are liking those 2 comments? One has 12 likes one has 10. And both comments are 100% false. Not an opinion that’s a fact both comments are 100% false.
Good gosh Giants fans. Are you all this delusional?????
That’s not what they did. They tanked and got a bunch of #1 picks and waited for them to get good. Then they spent their normal yearly allotment for player salaries to supplement. They spent 103m in 2009, 26m in 2013, and 124m in 2017. That’s not saving payroll to spend later. That’s feeding your fan base a bunch of bs about rebuilding while pocketing the profits and then returning to regular spending once you have some cheap talent in your system.
I see what you’re saying but they can still remain competitive and put the best team they can on the field without dethroning LA. Maybe they get in as a wildcard. Granted, every teams goal should be to win their division but only 6 will. Next years FA SPs are Cease, Gallen and Valdez. The year after is Skubal, Crochet, Sale, and Gausman. Anything can happen in the meantime and the waiting game seems risky plus most of them will just wind up in LA anyway. Ha.
Spending 26 million in 2013 wasn’t saving payroll to spend later???
The heck it wasn’t.
They didn’t feed their fan base anything they said they were rebuilding and they did. And they did a better job than just about any team in the history of baseball has ever done.
What is the point of doing what the Giants have done the last few years? They spent a TON of money last offseason, probably more than any other team in baseball and what did they have to show for it? And now their rival just signed away one of the Giants best players and you think they can compete with the Dodgers????
Delusional man.
When exactly did they spend all that extra payroll they were saving?
That payroll got pocketed by ownership and never spent again.
Giants need to add now, but players that will make sense short and long term. That probably means adding more through trades than FA, but it’s tough to sign top players to play in a non-competitive city unless there’s some excitement going on. Good teams are always looking to add. Smart teams add responsibly.
They spent it over the last few years as they won division championship after division championship.
Did someone delete my comment?
Like I said 2 comments with tons of likes and they are 100% FALSE!!!!
HOW DELUSIONAL CAN YOU BE???
No, they spent the same they were spending before their tanking. They just went back to their pre tanking levels of spending.
That’s false. You know it’s false because you looked up the payroll numbers yourself.
Blackpink in the area —
You are missing the point. Improving the Giants (not expecting them to CURRENTLY be better than the Dodgers) is where Posey needs to go.
Burnes and Adames would greatly improve SF and with an addition like Paul Goldschmidt and the development of the young arms and position players (don’t forget Bryce Eldgridge) the Giants would be a very competitive and watchable team.
Yes I did. Which is how I know it’s accurate. They spent 477m from 2006-2010, 289m from 2011-2015, and 752m from 2016-2020. In that time, mlb salaries rose from an average of 2.7m in 2006 to 4.43 in 2020 or a 64% increase in player salary. Some quick napkin math shows that the Astros never reinvested the 300ish million they didn’t spend from 2011-2015. Instead they returned to standard league spending once they had some cheap long term assets.
No, the Dodger$ haven’t “won the NL West for the last 12 years”.
The Dodger$ have won exactly TWO full-season WS in the last 58 years.
The Dodger$ didn’t “sign Snell away from the Giants” – he was a free agent.
@Blackpink in the area: Lol at you whining about how many likes other people’s comments are getting
@Blackpink in the area: Cry it out, big dog
The dude said if the Giants won half of the starts Snell made they would have made the playoffs.
That’s not an opinion that’s fake news. What kind of idiot homers are liking that comment???
Of course, there is the start he didn’t bother to show up for….
He knew he was leaving. The team was out of the playoff chase. If you want loyalty don’t give players opt outs after 1 season.
@Blackpink in the area: Who gives af. Go get some fresh air, dude
I got food poisoning a couple days ago kinda stuck here for now. I do have to work later if that makes you feel better…..
Why would the Dodgers be old in a few years? We don’t know the LAD roster 2027 onward, but if recent history tells us anything, you can assume they will be restocked with a half dozen superstars in their prime. Because they can. Get used to it, it’s the way of things.
The choice for other teams is to give up (Rockies) or try to make the playoffs. The Giants are trying to get into the playoffs, where anything goes, they’re not trying to win the division.
Look at their roster. Freeman is at that point where decline is coming soon. Betts will start to decline in a couple years. They just signed Edman that’s not gonna end well. Muncy is old but at least he will leave via free agency. Glasnow and Ohtani are both gigantic injury risks.
Yeah they just might spend more and more and keep it going. But odds are they are worse a couple years from now than they are now. Because they are as good as it gets right now.
Burnes is more durable than Snell and usually shows up for an entire season. If Snell had shown up in shape and ready to pitch from day one (for him) I believe the Giants would have had a few more wins on the season. When he said he was finally ready to pitch he got rocked and lost a few games because of it. I don’t believe the Giants will sign Burnes but if they do he would more than makeup for Snell
They need to replace snell and upgrade the offense. There’s not a single player that’s enough of an upgrade for the Giants to take them from 500 to a playoff contender. Burnes is a good start for a team with a couple big holes.
I’ve wanted Burnes on the Giants for a long time, back to when he was a prospect and his name was being mentioned in Bumgarner trade talks in 2019. However, Burnes has some clear red flags in his stats and signing him to a mega deal now, while on a budget, and while he has been given a QO, would be a disaster.
They should pivot hard to Sasaki now that Snell bolted for the scum down south. Or make a trade for Crotchet given how many SP prospects they have. But they should pass on Fried and Burnes.
Every team should be trying to sign Sasaki.
I don’t see how they could come up with a trade package to get Crochet. And a guy with 2 years of control left i don’t think makes a lot of sense for the Giants. Thats a tough division to play in at the moment.
Your comment shows the issue here – the Giants have been stuck in neutral since at least the late 2010s.
Not surprising that the Giants are interested. Is he?
Pitchers ballpark, so why wouldn’t he be? It’s really about the money and getting into the playoffs. Once your in, anything can happen.
The Giants will have to overpay to bring any star player in
“Will have to overpay”…Practically every team will have to “overpay” to bring in high end free agent talent.
From the player’s perspective free agency is all about getting “overpaid” and that’s why teams should utilize free agency with due diligence and caution.
Have you been following what the Dodgers have been doing? Getting players to sign for less money through deferred contracts. They aren’t overpaying. You can argue Ohtani signed the most team-friendly contract in MLB history.
“Have you been following..deferred contracts”…Several teams use deferred money(not just the Dodgers)to better manage payroll(and tax obligations)and it isn’t like “deferred money” isn’t real money.
My point is teams will virtually always overpay in free agency and that’s why teams should focus on better drafting(foreign & domestic)and trade acquisitions.
I mean, you could do both at the same time – try to compete and develop a farm. The Giants problem is that they started over with the front office. Some of Farhan prospects were starting to work out for the big league team, but now it’s a new front office. Do they view the players the same? Probably not.
Ohtani brought that deal to them. Not many players have the want/desire/ability to defer over 97% of their contract as a gesture. No team would lead with that. But also, they’ll have to pay that.
RunDMC, Toronto and San Francisco offered to do the same deal. He likely would’ve chosen one of them if the Dodgers didn’t exist.
I’m just saying, offering deferred money to lower the luxury tax bill and lessen the present day value is something all big market and some middle market teams should be doing.
Ohtani’s specific contract is the only abnormal deal the Dodgers made… Dozens of players have had large deferrals similar to Betts, Snell, Freeman, etc. There is one unicorn and that is Ohtani.
spotrac.com/news/_/id/2092/detailing-active-mlb-de…
fred-3: Nobody’s signing for less money. The only difference is how the same amounts are paid out.
@JerseyShoreScore: Bingo
Just defer 1/3 of it like the dodgers and they’ll be all good right? Lol
Define overpay. I just love these uneducated comments.
This isn’t happening and most people know it.
Giants are resetting this year, won’t sign anyone with a QO unless it’s Soto. They’ll still spend some money just not big ticket players.
I think for the right player they will.
As they should.
They are much better off going the Jack Flaherty route than Corbin Burnes at this point. Yeah, not the same as much as talent, but as you mentioned, he’s without a QO attached, would come cheaper, and will b easier to trade if needed to.
Where does the luxury tax money go? Does it go to the player’s pension fund (like they really need it)? Does it go to youth baseball? Is Manfred hoarding it for his retirement?
@ avenger65. It’s supposed to go to revenue sharing, I believe. And there are guys who play in the league 4-5 years after toiling in the minors who never made a ton of money. Yeah,they coukd use a little pension in 30 years just like everyone else.
I’m joking here, of course, but help us all if a man who played a game half his life had to ‘reduce’ himself to living in an apartment on a fixed income in his golden years.
Yeah a pension is for normal people not mega rich athletes who retire no later than 40. Even a guy who makes league minimum for 3 years is going to make more than I will in my lifetime.
I understand lowenstein’s light-heartedness, but others make more serious complaints about athletes and their salaries. They work very hard to be so good at playing games that others will employ them to do so and tens of thousands of people will pay to watch them play.
Who wouldn’t want to be paid millions of dollars to play a game? I’d do it, but I’m not nearly good enough.
Any issues with athletes and the money they make are really comments about our society’s priorities much moreso than about the athletes themselves.
A guy who made league minimum for 3 years likely destroyed his body to do so.
Destroyed his body? Uh no. This isn’t football its baseball. And if he’s unfit to be employed i am pretty sure he can get disability.
Youre right. Being a professional athlete is no problem physically.
A guy who only plays 3 years in the show doesn’t destroy their body that’s you being dramatic. I am all for athletes having lifetime health care that makes sense. A pension doesnt.
You’re right…most pro athletes don’t start playing in their sport until their 20s.
Good lord you’re dim
It’s a gamble because you get to play a game for a career if it pays off. Plenty of people never make it because of injuries. That’s how it works.
AndyWarpath: No, they’ve been playing since they were young kids and were the best players at every level.
That’s what it takes to even have a chance at being a professional athlete.
Yes…I know?
AndyWarpath: Are you asking if you know or telling us you know?
I know dude. Read the thread for context next time.
AndyWarpath: “Yes…I know?”
What context? Your prior comment about pro athletes not playing until their 20s was wrong, and that’s being polite.
Dude, reading comprehension is a thing. Sarcasm is a thing. The commenter I was responding to proposed that you don’t ruin your body physically in 3 years of playing ball. My sarcastic comment was pointing out that his presumption was that that player didn’t start playing baseball until he was in his 20s.
I’m in the comment section of a nerdy baseball site. In what world do you think even a casual baseball fan thinks pro athletes don’t start until their 20s?
“I’m in the comment section of a nerdy baseball site. In what world do you think even a casual baseball fan thinks pro athletes don’t start until their 20?”
Isnt that EXACTLY what you assumed i thought????
Freaking moron
Yes, it is what I think of you. Since apparently you think 30 year old professional athletes do not have a laundry list of lifelong injuries.
avenger65: Who are you to judge whether anyone needs the money they earn?
Why should a player accept, say, $15 million when he can get $20 million because you say he doesn’t need it?
MLBPA would pressure the player to go for the highest contract. They want players to sign for the most so everybody gets paid.
The more you make the more you pay out. Athletes are not the most savvy at handling big $.
Which is why they hire agents like Boras.
Everyone thinks everyone’s team should buy everyone who’s better than almost everyone, Burnes not excluded.
It’s human nature
As a fan i am excited and happy when my team signs good players. But I try not to expect it or act entitled about it I think thats where some fans go wrong.
C’mon Dodgers steal him from the Giants and form a super duper team
They are already a super-duper team, adding Burnes on top of what they already have would make them a super-dee-duper team.
Don’t think Burnes wants to cut his beard as the Yanks inked Snell (doubt they get both and are getting Soto)
“Burnes wants to cut his beard”..I really doubt this is an issue. For the right financial package Scott Boras will shave off his beard for him and I’ve never heard of a guy liking facial hair more than he likes $200M+ dolllars.
Th Yanks inked Snell? Pass the pipe @chemfin!
Chemical something, for sure.
Call old friend Scott Harris and offload Wade and the Rogers kids. The Tigers could get Wade at bats at 1B IF they don’t ship out Tork and are in the market for solid BP arms. They have Jung who may not have a position if they sign a 3B, and his natural position is 2B. They also have lots of young starting pitchers. Seems like they could come together on a package that would save the Giants enough money to go after Burnes.
I really don’t think Tyler Rogers is going anywhere. Him and Walker are the Giants’ best relievers. I think Rogers had the most appearances in baseball or close to it.
The Rogers *kids* turn 34 in 2-1/2 weeks.
That’s nice.
Every year the Giants are supposedly in the hunt for big name free agents. And they swing and miss, hopefully Posey can put an end to that trend…
Last year they Giants signed Chapman, Soler, Snell and the Korean outfielder. They might have added more to their payroll in 2024 than any team in baseball. And they STILL finished with a losing record.
The writing is on the wall. Read it…..
Snell sucked for first half, Soler sucked until the trade deadline, “Korean” CF missed most of the season due to injury and Tom Murphy missed almost entire season. And Jordan Hicks was decent in the first half. Not much production for the money spent. Chapman had a really nice full season and got a deserved extension. That’s still a pretty rough FA season last year.
“The Korean outfielder” has a name.
I am sure he does. It’s probably Kim right?
My screen name is a KPop band. Just so you know…..
And the racism just keeps on keepin’ on. And no, it’s not Kim.
Yeah my screen name is a KPop band and I am racist. Does that make sense dipwad?
I don’t know the guys name. He played what 20 games? Don’t remember his name I just know he’s Korean. That’s not racism moron.
“I’m not racist, my dentist was a black man!”
Having a screen name that’s a female teen idol band does not absolve one from racist comments. And for a grown man to be worshipping a teeny bop girl group brings up some other potential issues.
It’s my screen name stupid. You probably don’t even know who Blackpink are. Look them up. Good looking girls……and btw one is named Kim…….
I would say it’s a start…….
My comment wasn’t racist. I just don’t know the guys name. When people cry racism over nonsense like this you lose credibility for when there is actual racism.
Worship? That’s a bit of an overstatement. It’s not teeny bop it’s KPop. What are you racist? Lol.
For all you talent scouts out there
Check out his second year
Tell us what you would have predicted for his future…….
He’s a good fit there and with all the starting pitching prospects on the horizon the team could have a largely cost controlled rotation soon.
That won’t help next years payroll but long term, Burnes and2- 3 pre arbitration guys is very affordable.
Sure Jan
Either overpay to get a few bats or just rebuild already!!! We actually have some interesting pitchers and have always been able to draft them but bats are a mystery to this team. Burnes isn’t changing the fortune of this roster and by paying him that much you are depleting the resources you could be devoting to some damn BATS!!!!
I would love to see them sign Burnes but I don’t think it’s likely. The QO is really the sticking point I think more than the money. It would preclude signing Adames as they are not going to sign 2 players with QO’s and SS is a bigger priority. Signing someone like Eovaldi would make more sense.
They need to sign more than one QO if they want to make a difference next year. Might as well go for it and sign 3-4 of them and punt the draft or don’t sign any of them and tank for top picks. Adames and Santander would be my top 2 targets
It’s losing the international money that hurts. LA and SD have built there farm systems on strong international signings. With you on Adames but not Santander. Think you could pick up a bat on the trade market. Josh Naylor makes a lot of sense.
their
I think SFG can still be competitive next year and not with QO players.
It would be a very Farhan thing to do but Giants need to reset and aim for 2026. Here’s are my targets:
Goldschmidt, Hyeseong Kim and Alex Cobb.
Power at first, great hitting/glove 2B and a starting pitcher who should be over his nagging ailments and was great in SF not long ago.
Farhan set this team back a year by exceeding the Lux tax so resetting that and avoiding QO players for this year is unfortunately the residual effects of your namesake.
One last thing, SF does have a lot of interesting arms. With Webb, Harrison and Ray eating some bulk innings there are a number of guys who should be healthy next year to fill in the remainder of the innings. Hicks(1/2 starter & 1/2 long reliever) Birdsong!, Winn, Beck, Roupp, Bivens, the Carsons and Black.
Not a big game pitcher so would fit nicely with little giants
Greed is the only way he signs with the Giants! And, if I need to explain why, then you are no baseball fan!
He is from Bakersfield CA. Explain it to me. I must not be a fan.
You do realize Bakersfield is just a couple hour drive over the Grapevine to L.A….
I’d argue that the LA metro area and the SF Bay Area have equal claim rights to the CV.
Bakersfield is twice the distance to the Bay than L.A. Just sayin….
Just look at a map if you’re not from Cali. The Bay claiming Bakersfield is like L.A. claiming Santa Cruz. Preposterous….
-playing in front of his hometown crowd.
-being a part of a David/goliath narrative.
-enjoying the city of San Francisco.
-wanting his stats inflated by a pitchers park.
-really, really likes Train
His hometown is actually right outside the L.A. metro area….
Giants will wait him out and give him a 2 year deal with an opt-out after April…
Or wait until he gets hurt and then trade for him.
No more optouts please. We’ve lost some good starting pitching because Farhan always included optouts. Players who perform up to and beyond almost always optout and all who under perform stay.
No chance Burnes signs with the Giants. Nobody in their right mind would deliberately choose to live in San Francisco.
Garbage narrative.
So I’m assuming you don’t live there because you have a “right mind”. I beg to differ.
@leftcoaster: dErP
With his paycheck, he can afford a real nice mansion by the Marina or on the other side of the Golden Gate. The view of the City from Tiburon is pretty sweet….
Giants have money to Burne(s)
This would be Huge !!! Better than Snell. For Sure, just based on availability.
He’s heading to the Blue Jays.
And who would not be interested in him?