"It was time... Craig Counsell is gone" - MLB analyst believes trading away Corbin Burnes made perfect sense for Brewers
MLB analyst Jeff Joyce believes that the Milwaukee Brewers trading Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles made perfect sense for the NL Central team. Especially after they parted ways with their former manager, Craig Counsell, following the 2023 season.
According to the analyst, trading veterans like Burnes and Willy Adames, who have only a year or two left on their contracts, is a sensible approach because the team has a lot of youthful talent that can help them in the future.
"I think it was time for the Brewers; it makes sense; you know you got one year for Burnes, one year for Adames, and Craig Counsell is gone. You got two years of your of closer read Devin Williams so you could easily trade now or in season and get a good return for him," Joyce said.
"You know they have a pretty good group of young position players and Jackson Chourio one of the top couple of prospects in baseball will be up. We saw Sal Frilick and Joey Weimer last year whom they have graduated."
Joyce also highlighted a conversation with MLB Pipeline reporter Sam Dykstra about Jacob Misiorowski being a potential Burnes replacement.
"We were talking to Sam Dykstra, but then they'll be pipelined last week, and he was talking about, you know, I asked him the question, Do they look at pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski as a potential Corbin Burnes replacement? And he said,
'Yeah, I think they do. He's got that kind of stuff. He's probably not ready for this year. I think he needs to polish it up a little bit. But you know, he's doing big stuff like they've got a lot of, they gotta get a decent next wave coming,'" Joyce recalled the conversation on the MLB Network Radio.
Burnes has been an integral component of the Brewers pitching staff since his MLB debut in 2018. He earned the Cy Young Award and was the NL ERA leader in 2021 with the Brewers.
In 2022, he finished as the strikeout leader. In the last three years, Burnes recorded 677 strikeouts, which comes in second just after the Yankees' Gerrit Cole. Burnes' incredible performance for the Brewers earned him three consecutive All-Star game call-ups since 2021.
Brewers GM Matt Arnold reflects on Corbin Burnes' trade move to Orioles
Brewers' general manager Matt Arnold opened up about Corbin Burnes' move to the Orioles, which shocked everyone. However, Arnold has explained the reason behind this move.
Matt Arnold defended his front office for their decision to part ways with the 29-year-old right-handed pitcher. The general manager thinks that the decision of the team to cash in on a player who was just a year away from free agency was quite rational.
"I think the overarching theme here is that we're excited about the players we're getting back. And the reality of our situation is that we had one year left with Corbin," he said.
Burnes played a key role in the Brewers' success. Orioles fans would surely look forward to seeing a lot of match-winning performances from the MLB star.