Sportscaster shed light on Corbin Burnes' personal motivation to join Diamondbacks' elite rotation

The Arizona Diamondbacks treated its fanbase with a good offseason, which saw the arrival of Corbin Burnes to his native Arizona on a six-year, $210 million deal. Burnes was one of the best pitchers in the free agent market, so with him joining the likes of Merrill Kelly and Zack Gallen in the rotation, the Dbacks are looking forward to getting back to the postseason in 2025.

The team made the World Series in 2023 and followed it up with an even better regular season. However, such was the competition was in the NL West, the Dbacks just missed out while the Braves and the Mets made it in as wild-cards.

On Tuesday, while discussing Dbacks offseason, Jody Jackson shed light on Burnes' personal motivation to play in Arizona, emphasizing his desire to stay closer to home due to his young children.

"The one thing we had been hearing, though, were rumblings that Corbin Burnes wanted to play in Arizona, wanted to be an Arizona Diamondback because of his young children," Jackson said on MLB Network.

"And you know, he found it very tough after, as you know, being over there with the Orioles and having to get back for the birth of his twins in the middle of the summer and just all of the things that, of course, you know, line up with being a dad and being able to be home."

Jackson highlighted a key reason why baseball players want to come and stay in Arizona. Only a select few like Corbin Burnes make a high-profile move and sign with the city, though.

"You know, guys that want to play in Arizona where they can offer spring training and year-long baseball," Jackson added.

"But the difference is, since going to the World Series in '23, we're seeing a caliber of a player or a pitcher like Corbin Burnes go ahead and do that. And so six years, recorded $210 million, coming over to an already pretty stacked pitching staff."

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Corbin Burnes arrival makes the Dbacks rotation formidable

The Diamondbacks will be stacked with several big names in the starting pitching front. There has been no major league pitcher who has put up better numbers than Corbin Burnes in the last five years. He's almost a regular in the Cy Young voting ballot.

Moreover, the likes of Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen are bonafide aces who could really help the team get wins consistently on their day.

Apart from Burnes, the Diamondbacks also made a key signing by bringing Eduardo Rodriguez on board with a four year, $80 million deal. He's just coming off posting 3.2 innings of clean work with six strikeouts in the spring training game against the Cincinnati Reds.

Brandon Pfaadt, Jordan Montgomery, Ryne Nelson and Tommy Henry are other starting options, one of whom could fill the role of fifth starter.

With such great arms in arsenal, the Diamondbacks have boosted their chances to play in October.