3 logical Corbin Burnes landing spots with Garrett Crochet going to ...

After years of Boston Red Sox fans waiting for the team to show that they want to win, Craig Breslow and Co. finally made a major move. They have officially acquired Garrett Crochet in a blockbuster deal with the Chicago White Sox. Did it cost a lot? Absolutely. Did it give the Red Sox the ace that they desperately needed? Also, yes.

Losing out on high-end free agents like Juan Soto and Max Fried hurt, obviously, but landing Crochet is a huge win for the Red Sox. They've acquired an ace-caliber pitcher with two years of cheap club control to lead their rotation hopefully for years to come.

Crochet falling off the board means even more attention will be paid to Corbin Burnes - the best starting pitcher in free agency. While a return to the Baltimore Orioles shouldn't be ruled out, this Crochet trade will only push Burnes further out of their likely price range. With that in mind, here are three possible landing spots for the star right-hander.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on.The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

The San Francisco Giants made one of the first splashes of the offseason, signing Willy Adames to a seven-year deal. While this didn't push them into World Series contention, Adames is a great addition. Adding a pitcher of Corbin Burnes' caliber would make San Francisco even more interesting.

The Giants might've lost Blake Snell, but Burnes would be an upgrade over Snell. He'd join Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Jordan Hicks, and Kyle Harrison in what would be one of the best rotations in the National League.

Burnes would be interested given he'd be returning close to home, and the Giants would prove once and for all that they can, indeed, lure star talent to San Francisco by landing two stars in one offseason. They would not be as good as the Los Angeles Dodgers or even the San Diego Padres, but a Wild Card spot would certainly be realistic if they were able to sign Burnes.

The Toronto Blue Jays were in on Juan Soto and lost him. They were in on Max Fried and lost him. Their response since those moves were made was to sign Yimi Garcia and trade for Andres Gimenez. Fine players, but considering the fact that this team won just 74 games last season, they're going to need to do a lot more to be considered real postseason threats.

Signing Burnes won't address their biggest issue (their offense), but there's no doubt that he'd make them a whole lot better. A rotation featuring Burnes, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, and Bowden Francis would be quite good, albeit on the older side.

The simple reality is there aren't so many high-end options left for the Blue Jays. If they want to compete, they're going to have to pony up from Burnes. If they fail to land him, arguments suggesting they should hold onto players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette instead of rebuilding will be harder to make.

The Red Sox finally got their ace in Crochet. Does that mean that they have to stop, though? Why can't they sign another ace in Burnes?

Is it realistic? Perhaps not, but why is that? We know that the Red Sox have money to spend, given their $700 million offer for Juan Soto. They even threw out a fairly decent offer to Fried before he signed with the Yankees. Why exactly can't the Red Sox pony up to sign Burnes?

By signing Burnes, they'd form a trio few teams can match in Burnes, Crochet, and Tanner Houck - and that's with solid arms like Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford rounding out the rotation. Suddenly, the Red Sox would go from having a questionable rotation to one of the best in the American League.

Again, it probably isn't going to happen that they sign Burnes after trading for Crochet, but if they really want to win the World Series in 2025, this would go a long way toward accomplishing that.