No one pities the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they sure did have tough injury luck in 2024.
Though they entered the season with one of the most loaded starting rotations in all of baseball, the Dodgers' pitchers soon started dropping like flies. Gone for at least several months were Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Bobby Miller, and River Ryan, just to name a few.
Though the Dodgers could still win a World Series in 2024, it's reasonable to think they might be aggressive players in the pitching market this winter. Even having locked up Glasnow and Yamamoto on long-term extensions, L.A. could want more of a sure thing atop its rotation.
One hurler that might constitute a sure thing is a former National League Cy Young Award winner. Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report named Baltimore Orioles ace Corbin Burnes as a starter to keep an eye on for the Dodgers this winter.
"As dire as things look right now, it's worth keeping in mind that the Dodgers rotation is guaranteed to have a ton of talent in 2025. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be back, as will Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone and, of course, Shohei Ohtani from assorted injuries," Rymer said.
"All the same, the lesson of 2024 is that a team can never have too much starting pitching. And the Dodgers should especially want a horse, a la Corbin Burnes."
Burnes, who turns 30 in two weeks, could give the Dodgers a truly unfair rotation. The former Cy Young winner has a 3.19 career ERA, including a 2.92 this season, while rarely missing a start at any point in the last five seasons.
Recent contract projections have ranged all over the map, from Spotrac's latest projected value of $160 million to wild speculation that a deal could reach up to $300 million. Even on the lower end of the spectrum, Burnes is still taking home a hefty payday.
It doesn't seem fair that a team that spent over $1 billion in free-agent contracts last winter should be allowed to pursue yet another nine-figure superstar. But the Dodgers will do what they want, and there are undoubtedly dozens of other fan bases who wish their teams spent like Los Angeles.
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