The Milwaukee Brewers haven’t come to an agreement with ace pitcher Corbin Burnes on a salary for the 2023 season. The team offered $10.01 million, while Burnes wanted $10.75 million.
The 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner was the only arb-eligible player with whom the team couldn’t reach an agreement. They still have time to negotiate, though. Arbitration hearings aren’t scheduled until February.
Burnes is coming off a successful 2022 season. It was his second consecutive All-Star game appearance. He also led the league in games started with 33.
Fans aren’t too happy to hear that the team is being cheap with Burnes. They’re coming off a season where they were blindsided by a trade that got rid of their closer Josh Hader. It’s safe to say they don’t have much trust in the Milwaukee Brewers front office right now.
“Yeah let’s penny pinch our best pitcher,” one fan tweeted.
“Pay him!” demanded another fan.
In 2021, Burnes led all of MLB in ERA (2.43). He’s one of the most dominant pitchers in the league right now. Fans want the team to give the man whatever he wants.
Milwaukee Brewers fans don’t understand why the team is doing this. Burnes has been the best player on the team for the last couple of years. Why not just eat the slight difference and give him the $10.75 million he’s looking for? They have until February to finalize a deal with the hard-throwing righty.
Have the Milwaukee Brewers done enough this off-season to take on the NL Central?
The Brewers got a head start on the Winter Meetings when they engaged in a trade with the Seattle Mariners. They sent Kolten Wong to Seattle for Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro.
Toro has experience in playing both second and third base. He also has four years of contractual control remaining as an arb-eligible player. He was vital in the trade for Milwaukee.
Winker is poised for a bounce-back season this year. The slugger slumped last season, seeing a career-low in terms of batting average (.219). He’s a career .270 hitter, and the Milwaukee Brewers have faith he’ll figure it out at the plate in 2023.
The National League Central seems open. The St. Louis Cardinals, who won the division last season, haven’t done much in terms of upgrading. They signed Wilson Contreras to replace Yadier Molina, who retired at the end of the season.
The NL Central will be fun to watch next season with how close all the teams are on paper.
