Corbin Burnes loses arbitration hearing against Brewers

The Brewers have won their arbitration case against star righty Corbin Burnes, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). He’ll be paid $10.01M this season rather than the $10.75M for which his camp had filed.

A two-time All-Star, Burnes has finished in the top ten in NL Cy Young balloting in three consecutive seasons. He won the award in 2021 thanks to an MLB-best 2.43 ERA over 28 starts. Burnes wasn’t quite as dominant on a per-inning basis last year, allowing 2.94 earned runs per nine innings. He stayed healthy and threw a career-best 202 innings over 33 outings. Burnes led the National League with 243 strikeouts, fanning over 30% of opponents for a third straight season.

Burnes and the Brew Crew had avoided arbitration last offseason, agreeing to a $6.5M salary for his first year of eligibility. They didn’t come to an agreement this time around, with a gap of a little less than $750K between their respective filing figures. Burnes ultimately lands shy of his asking price, though he’s still one of the higher-paid second-year arbitration players of the winter.

The Brewers control the St. Mary’s product through 2024. He’s slated to go through the arbitration process once more next offseason. His escalating salaries led to some speculation about the possibility of Milwaukee fielding trade interest on him, co-ace Brandon Woodruff or star shortstop Willy Adames this winter. Milwaukee quickly quashed any idea of moving those impact players, though, instead dealing more complementary pieces like Hunter Renfroe and Kolten Wong.

Burnes and Woodruff will front a rotation that should again be the club’s backbone. Freddy Peralta will occupy the third slot, with Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser and offseason signee Wade Miley vying for back-end roles. Young left-hander Aaron Ashby could get a rotation opportunity as well but is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season thanks to a shoulder concern.