"Max Fried's $218,000,000 deal made Corbin Burnes richer" - Ex-Yankees coach speculates Blue Jays might match Gerrit Cole's contract for 4x All-Star

Corbin Burnes is widely considered the best starting pitcher available in the free agent market this offseason. The Toronto Blue Jays and the San Francisco Giants are reportedly the two top contenders for his services, while the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox are also looking to land the right-hander.

Former All-Star first baseman Sean Casey feels the 30-year-old is going to get more lucrative offers after Max Fried signed an eight-year, $218 million contract earlier this month. He feels the Toronto Blue Jays could offer Corbin Burnes a contract with an annual salary equivalent to New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole to sign him.

Sean Casey said on The Mayor's Office podcast about the free agent market for pitchers on Monday.

"I'm hearing that Toronto is right around and maybe going up to Gerrit Cole numbers, you know, which would be huge," he said. "I don't know exactly what the numbers are. But I know he's from the West Coast, so San Francisco seems like a logical place that he would land.

"Boston is still in it," he added. "I don't think Baltimore has given up. But Max Fried's eight-year, $218 million deal by the Yankees made Corbin Bunes a lot richer."

The Yankees had signed Gerrit Cole to a nine-year, $324 million deal at the end of 2019, which was the largest contract offered to a pitcher at the time.

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"He's a workhorse": Sean Casey on Corbin Burnes

Corbin Burnes has pitched more than 190 innings in each of the past three seasons (Image Source: Imagn)

Sean Casey believes Corbin Burnes makes a good fit for teams in the highly competitive American League East. Therefore, the Toronto Blue Jays will have to overpay if they wish to add Corbin Burnes to their roster.

"When you have got to face the lineups of the AL East, you've got to have frontline pitching," Casey said.

"And Corbin Burnes is a frontline pitcher. Just proved this last year in Baltimore that he's an AL East kind of guy with the stuff that he has. He's a workhorse. He's going to throw you 190 to 200 innings a year."

Burnes joined the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East for his final season before reaching free agency. He made 32 starts in the regular season, pitching 194.1 innings and finishing with a 15-9 record and a 2.92 ERA.