Blue Jays being finalists for Corbin Burnes should instill cautious optimism in fans

The Toronto Blue Jays have been there before for Shohei Ohtani last offseason. They have also been there as well for Juan Soto this current offseason. Well, it appears to be that time again as the Blue Jays are in contention for one of the biggest remaining fish in free agency this winter.

According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, Toronto remains one of the favourites to land former NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, along with the San Francisco Giants. Feinsand also suggested that the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles could also be in play, but likely to a lesser extent.

Blue Jays named as finalists for Corbin Burnes should instill cautious optimism in fans

With that, the Jays and their fans should be able exert at least some level of cautious optimism this time around, even if the odds seemed to be stacked against them due to numerous factors. Just a few days ago, Blue Jays insider Ben Nicholson-Smith suggested that Toronto’s pursuit of prominent free agents have some “appearing more realistic than others” with Burnes not seeming “especially likely”.

In addition, he is a native of Bakersfield, California, so it makes absolute sense for him to have a chance to play close to home in San Francisco for the next significant portion of his baseball career. On top of that, his former Milwaukee Brewers teammate Willy Adames, now with the Giants, could be doing his part to help woo Burnes to join the team.

Nevertheless, the Jays might still have a few things working in their favour. Unlike the heated competition among the multiple teams that legitimately vied for the services for Soto, it looks more and more likely that the Jays and Giants will go mano a mano for the services of Burnes. So in this case, all they need to do is focus and do enough to beat out that one team. 

In addition, Burnes has had massive success against American League teams during his career. In 53 total games, he has posted an astounding 26-8 record with a 2.67 ERA and 327 strikeouts. If given the opportunity to join the Jays, Burnes could continue his mastery of pitching in the AL and further cement himself as one of the all-time bests when all is said and done.

Most importantly, multiple MLB insiders, including Ken Rosenthal and Jim Bowden, have suggested that the Jays should and will make a monstrous offer to the 30-year-old right-hander that he likely can’t refuse. In particular, Bowden even went as far as projecting the offer to be a nine-year, $247 million contract, along with potentially landing Alex Bregman as well while they are at it, since they had all the money to make a run at Soto.

As a result, the Jays may have disappointed in the past when it came to landing top free agents. But if they can somehow make it work with Burnes, all of their misadventures from before would likely be forgotten as an exciting 2025 season would lie ahead of them with one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.