Braves analyst predicts San Francisco Giants will acquire 4x All-Star Cy Young winner to fill gap left by Blake Snell's Dodgers move

Blake Snell set the offseason market for starting pitchers after he signed a five-year, $182 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This was followed by Max Fried's signing, who agreed on a eight-year, $218 million deal with the New York Yankees. Another Cy Young caliber arm is waiting to strike a deal and that is four-time All-Star Corbin Burnes.

No one has been a better pitcher than Burnes over the last three to four years. The former Baltimore Orioles ace is a sought-after commodity this offseason, with his former team and the San Francisco Giants emerging as the top contenders to sign him.

Braves analyst CJ Nitkowski feels the same, sharing his reasons why Burnes should replace Snell on the Giants rotation.

"You lose Blake Snell, and how do you replace him? Well, hopefully, you have a healthy Robbie Ray," the analyst said on MLB Network Radio. "When you're looking at teams that maybe need Corbin Burns the most, the name that we're hearing is the San Francisco Giants. To me, I'd probably put them at the top of the list that they're going to make this thing happen."

The Giants haven't made significant changes to their roster apart from signing Willy Adames to a long-term contract. Buster Posey's first year leading the front office could result in a blockbuster deal coming Burnes' way.

Giants in the clear to sign Corbin Burnes with Red Sox seemingly out of the race

MLB: Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees - Source: Imagn

If there was one big market team that could have given the Giants a run for their money to acquire Corbin Burnes, it was the Boston Red Sox. However, the AL East club has added two arms to their starting rotation. They acquired Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox via trade and signed Walker Buehler to a one-year deal.

The recent additions suggest the Red Sox are no longer in the race to start a bidding war for Burnes. Nonetheless, the pitcher is still expected to earn big bucks this offseason, as Laura Albanese of Newsweek reports:

"The market for starting pitching has been nothing short of eye watering, and Burnes is one of this year’s top prizes. His contract will be massive, and he’s going to go to a team that’s willing to spend."

Only time will tell if Corbin Burnes will pitch in the Bay Area, but the way things are stacking up, this seems the most obvious outcome.