One of the defining features of the Phoenix Suns has many splurging on contracts, as we have written about recently. Rolling out the Brinks truck for Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal should have led to title contention, but instead has led to relative mediocrity matched with expensive tickets. Well it looks as though the Arizona Diamondbacks might be following a similar path.
The D-Backs recently set a franchise record with the biggest signing of their history, giving $210 million over six years to right-handed pitcher Corbin Burnes to lure him from Baltimore.
Is this an overly cynical take? Perhaps. He was widely regarded as the most sought-after free agent pitcher this offseason, and reports state that he actually took less money than expected to play in Arizona, as he already had a home here and likes our little slice of desert heaven.
After all, the Diamondbacks aren’t in a fundamentally bad spot. After all, this was the team that went on a brilliant run all the way to the World Series in 2023. 2024 was looking to head in a similar trajectory, in a strong position with a seven game lead for the playoff wild card spot going into the end of August. What followed was a collapse of epic proportions, ending in being eliminated on the last day of the season. There is a strong case to be made that they were one ace away from being a playoff team, and from there, who knows? Staring up at the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division and conference will make any playoff push tough.
Burnes has been a critical component of a Baltimore Orioles team that rose up from being a regular bottom dweller to a serious contender in the last two years, albeit with questionable playoff performances. He went 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA in 32 starts last year. At 30 years old he’s not the youngest but certainly may have some All-Star years left in him.
This strongly mirrors their last free agency splash, the signing of Zach Greinke in 2016. Also a pitcher, Greinke was 32 at the time of the signing, and while playing admirably in his four years with the team and having earned several All Star appearances, it wasn’t enough to push the Diamondbacks into strong contention.
Is it different this time? It certainly may be. But it is difficult to brush off the decades of underperformance and disappointment with Arizona’s professional sports teams. Maybe this time it’s different, but it’s to buy in until we see otherwise.