Diamondbacks finalize shocking six-year free agent deal corbyn burns on Monday. The former Cy Young Award winner signed a contract worth $2.1 million, although extensions in the $600,000 range are known to reduce the net present value somewhat.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the specifics of the deal. The contract officially includes $64MM in deferred payments. Burns will receive a $10MM signing bonus up front, which was first reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today. 10MM of his $30MM salary will be deferred over the next two seasons. If he doesn’t trigger his opt-out clause after 26 seasons, he’ll be required to pay $35MM annually from 2027-30. Of that, $11MM in wages will be deferred. According to Heyman, the net present value of the contract is approximately $193.76MM.
Burns will have the option to opt out with four years and $140MM remaining. Whether he does so will determine when he receives the deferred payment. According to the Associated Press, if Burns doesn’t trigger his exit clause, he will be owed $10MM or $11MM in installments from 2031-36. If he opts out, he will receive two $10MM payments after the 2027 and ’28 seasons. (If he opts out after two years, there’s only a $20MM extension fee.) Burns has full no-trade rights for the first two years. If he doesn’t opt out, that would drop him to a 14-team no-trade list for the final four seasons, according to the Associated Press.
Arizona now has a projected rotation starring Burns, Zach Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfatt and Eduardo Rodriguez. right leaning Ryan Nelson The pitching staff is also good enough to hold down rotation jobs, so the Snakes could consider starting the season with a six-man starting lineup. Even so, there is no room left Jordan Montgomerythe D-Backs are happy to offload his $22.5MM salary. Shortly after the Burns agreement was reached, Nick Piccolo of the Arizona Republic reported that the Snakes were not on the verge of any rotation trade. This will remain a major storyline for the club over the coming months.
