Dodgers could be preferred destination for $180 million Cy Young Award winner

Aaliyan Mohammed

Dodgers could be preferred destination for $180 million Cy Young Award winner image

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers are not shy about spending and could be looking for upgrades in the starting rotation in free agency.

While listing teams Corbin Burnes could prefer over the Baltimore Orioles, FanSided's Zach Pressnell mentioned the Dodgers.

"There are so many layers to Burnes landing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. First, if Burnes wants to win, there's no better place in baseball than with the Dodgers," wrote Pressnell. "LA will have Shohei Ohtani returning to the mound as well as a healthy Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Adding Burnes at the top of that rotation that has players like Betts and Ohtani in the lineup every day would be unfair."

Burnes won the National League Cy Young Award in 2021 and has been named an All-Star four consecutive seasons. He had a 2.92 ERA this year. Spotrac projects Burnes to sign a six-year, $180 million deal in free agency.

"The Dodgers have the money to offer Burnes a huge contract because of the fact that $680 million of Shohei's $700 million is deferred money set to be paid to him a decade from now," wrote Pressnell. "The Dodgers will be aggressive in free agency, as they always are, but they might not be willing to push all their eggs in Burnes' basket."

The Dodgers rotation is not short of stars, but injuries have left them lacking in the department. Adding Burnes could help avoid a repeat of this season's inconsistency on the mound if they are hit with multiple injuries again.

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Aaliyan Mohammed

Aaliyan Mohammed Photo

Aaliyan Mohammed is a sports journalist who graduated from Mississippi State University. He covered MLB prospects for MLB.com. He has also spent time covering the Green Bay Packers as well as college sports in the SEC. His work features interviews with Gilbert Brown, Andre Rison, Mike Leach and multiple MLB executives.