Insider Picks Top Star Pitcher To Be Traded This Summer

The trade deadline is still some time away. But there are some obvious candidates that could be dealt this summer. Some names bigger than others. 

On a recent episode of The Baseball Show podcast, respected baseball insider Ken Rosenthal dished on a possible massive name. The best pitcher who could be traded at the deadline, is, according to Rosenthal, Corbin Burnes of the Milwaukee Burnes. 

I still believe it's Corbin Burnes. I don't believe the Milwaukee Brewers are going to be able to sustain first place... not with Brandon Woodruff on the IL, not with Wade Miley on the IL, not with Aaron Ashby on the IL. This is a team with very thin margins to begin with. 

Rosenthal explains that the main reason they could pull the trigger is due to the Brewers' inability to pay the monstrous extensions that are currently all the craze in baseball. 

We saw what the Brewers did last year when, really, they were still in contention: They traded Josh Hader. That's a team that has to operate in this fashion—moving pieces as they go along, knowing they won't be able to afford the final years of arbitration or free agency.

Burnes has another year of arbitration after this one before he becomes a free agent in 2025. And we all know how his arbitration case went this year:

Corbin Burnes just sounded off on the Brewers after his arbitration hearing 😳

(via @AdamMcCalvy)pic.twitter.com/x0Tjq2U2Rl

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) February 16, 2023

"There’s no denying that the relationship is definitely hurt from what [transpired]..." said Burnes at the time. "They basically put me at the forefront of the reason why we didn’t make the postseason last year. That’s something that probably doesn’t need to be said... just some of the stuff that was said that definitely didn’t need to be said."

Does that sound like a player who's anxious to stay with the Brewers once his contract is up? 

With still a full year of control after this one, it does make sense to maximize his trade value, and that they rip the bandage off at this year's deadline. 

Burnes is a former Cy Young winner (2021), with top 10 finishes in three straight years. 

Photo: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports