San Francisco Giants Star has been suspended 80 games for positive drug test

About half of Santos’ pay—$46,600 in the minor leagues and the $570,500 minimum in the major leagues—will be forfeited.

After Miami pitcher Paul Campbell and Colorado third baseman Colton Welker, he became the third player to be punished under the major league program this year.

Garbageman Corbin Burnes: “Just what we needed”

General manager Mike Elias declared a few months back that the Baltimore Orioles would maintain their “foot on the gas pedal” following their 101st game victory and AL East championship.

This is the appearance of it.

The Orioles proved to their supporters and the baseball community at large on Thursday night that they were not going to sit back after such a successful 2023 when they acquired All-Star right-hander Colin Burnes. Using its extensive prospect pool, Baltimore acquired a 29-year-old ace to add to the group of young, talented starters that already included Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish at the top of the rotation.

A significant addition to our club and, in my opinion, a significant trade. Elias stated on Friday, “Corbin Burnes is exactly what we needed.” “We spent the entire offseason pursuing him with tenacity. Of course, we also looked at other starting pitchers, but it’s difficult to rank someone higher on your wish list than Corbin Burnes.”

After taking home the National League Cy Young Award in 2021, Burnes placed seventh and eighth in the following two years’ voting. He joins another division champion after leaving an NL Central-winning squad.

“Obviously fortunate to be traded from one team that was good to another team that is arguably even better,” Burnes stated. “Over the past seven seasons, I’ve participated in winning ones.”

The Orioles have positioned themselves for a prolonged run at contention with young players like shortstop Jackson Holliday and infielder Gunnar Henderson under team control for the time being, in addition to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN ranking shortstop Adrian Rutschman as the team’s top prospect. However, there have been doubts about their ability to make the most of it.

One way they could maintain their dominance as heavyweights in the American League

The team’s impending sale, which was revealed this week, would make it simpler for the Orioles to carry out option No. 1. Additionally, what they can obtain via option No. 2 is demonstrated by the deal for Burnes.

In exchange for Burnes, Baltimore handed two 25-year-olds to the Brewers: left-hander DL Hall and infielder Joey Ortiz. Although Ortiz may be very helpful to Milwaukee after hitting.321 in Triple-A last season, it is likely that Henderson and Holliday prevented him from seeing consistent playing time with the Orioles.

In the transaction, Baltimore also sent Milwaukee a competitive balance draft pick, which the Orioles might be able to recoup if Burnes decides to leave via free agency following the 2024 campaign.

In fact, from Baltimore’s point of view, the one clear concern regarding this transaction is Burnes’ expiring contract.

“Everyone wants to get to free agency, everyone wants to be able to pick where they want to play for their entire career,” Burnes stated. “I don’t know what kind of talks will come about, but most likely it’s going to be once the season starts, we’ll want to focus in on winning baseball games.”

The Orioles accomplished a lot of stuff last season, and now that Burnes is in the rotation and Rodriguez and Bradish have both performed well toward the end of 2023, there are less concerns about the team’s pitching than there were before the season.

Also, the front office has demonstrated that it is capable of executing a significant trade for a proven player.

“He was at the top of the board from a talent perspective,” Elias stated. We had discussed him since the start of the summer, but it was unclear for a while if the Brewers would eventually position themselves to consider trading for him. After they completed it, I believe our agriculture system has the strength to complete these trades.”