MILWAUKEE, Wis. — For Corbin Burnes, the disappointment wasn’t from losing his salary arbitration case so much as hearing the words the Milwaukee Brewers used during the proceedings to determine his 2023 salary.
They stung.
The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner attended his case and came away with hard feelings. He lost his hearing and will receive $10.01 million from the Brewers rather than his $10.75 million request.
“Obviously, it’s tough to hear. It’s tough to take. They’re trying to do what they can to win a hearing,” Burnes told reporters at spring training in Phoenix. “There’s no denying that the relationship is definitely hurt from what (transpired) over the last couple weeks. There's really no way of getting around that."
A five-year veteran, Burnes is 35-19 with a 3.21 ERA. He is eligible for free agency after the 2024 World Series.
“You kind of find out your true value,” Burnes said. “You think you work hard for seven years in the organization, and five years with the big-league team, and you get in there and basically they value you much different than what you thought you’d contributed to the organization.
“They won it. But when it came down to winning or losing the hearing, it was more than that for me.”
Burnes felt like he was put “in the forefront” of the reason why the Brewers didn't make the postseason in 2022.
“That’s something that probably doesn’t need to be said,” explained Burnes, who led the National League with 243 strikeouts in compiling a 12-8 record with a 2.94 ERA. “We can go about a hearing without having to do that.”
One of the fears of a player attending their own proceeding is he hears unflattering words from the team. The chatter isn't all rosy when money's at stake.
“There was no attacking of character or the person who I was," Burnes said. "But just some of the stuff that was said, that definitely didn’t need to be said, is something that I think kind of disappointed everyone.”
BATTER UP
This was icing on the cake for Seattle outfielder and American League Rookie of the Year Julio Rodríguez: A “cooking show.”
As the cover player for the recently released 2023 Topps Series One baseball cards, Rodríguez made a playful promotion through a baking segment called, “Batter Up.”
Chef Rodríguez mixed together flour, sticks of baseball gum and a full scoop of gooey hustle. Then, he poured the concoction into a muffin pan, placed it into the oven for a brief moment and, presto, out popped packs of cards bearing his image.
Rodríguez is coming off a season in which he hit .284 with 28 homers and 25 steals.
DODGERS MOVES
The Los Angeles Dodgers made several moves Thursday, which included finalizing a one-year, $6.5 million deal with outfielder David Peralta. They also brought in right-handers Alex Reyes and Jimmy Nelson.
In addition, Los Angeles transferred a trio of pitchers — Walker Buehler, J.P. Feyereisen and Blake Treinen — to the 60-day injured list.
SIDELINED
Rockies outfielder Randal Grichuk underwent sports hernia surgery just before spring training. The team said he won’t play in a game for about six to eight weeks.
