Not Signing Burnes Will Burn The Yankees In The Long Haul

The Yankees did make some key acquisitions to improve their overall makeup. But in my mind and in the mind of others, the big brass did not do enough to compete for the championship. And this week they missed on signing Corbin Burnes. Not only did they miss, they are likely going to get burned as the AL East winners Baltimore Orioles landed the ace. 

“Burnes was on the Yankees’ radar and at one point seemed like a trade could happen. New York even “inquired” about a possible trade but wasn’t able to get a deal done, according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman.” 

Not getting Burnes is one thing but as the Post points out, it is even a bigger problem for the Yankees as their AL rivals were able to get it done with very little concern for their pipeline.

“Here is what should scare not just the Yankees, but the industry: The Orioles used two well-regarded prospects in pitcher DL Hall and infielder Joey Ortiz plus the 34th pick in the July draft to land Burnes on Thursday. Yet on Friday, both Baseball America and The Athletic released their rankings of which organization had the best prospect base, and both entities ranked the Orioles (even without Hall and Oritz) as by far their No. 1,” reported The New York Post.

Last season the Orioles won 101 games. They are projected to win a lot more with their young talent and now with the addition Burnes to serve as their ace in the hole. “We have a real good shot with this team, and we recognize the arms race that tends to happen in our division. We could really use a rotation upgrade. So, we went out and got one. We have a high-quality, deep farm system, and we were able to exploit it to access a guy like this. We are really excited by it,” said deep pockets hot shot Orioles GM Mike Elias, who since 2018 has been building this time back up. Oh, and did I tell you he’s from the Astros?

The Yankees need to make one more move before the start of the 2024 season if they are going to compete. That move needs to be in starting pitching. This means they need to consider who they can live without and how they are going to build their depth going forward. The Orioles made a great deal, one that can impact the AL East and beyond. What’s the Yankees next move? 

–Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof