Will the Baltimore Orioles re-sign Corbin Burnes in the offseason? That seems to be the biggest question the front office will have to answer. For most of the campaign, the right-hander has been one of the top arms in Major League Baseball. Despite some of his struggles since the All-Star break, it’s clear that he’s still elite.

Perhaps the Orioles don’t think he’s elite enough to give him $250 million, but that might be more about them being cheap than his production. With new ownership in place, Baltimore is expected to start spending money. The first opportunity they’ll have to prove that is by keeping the California native in an Orioles jersey.

While keeping Burnes should be the biggest focus for the front office this offseason, it’s also realistic for them to understand that he could leave. Even if they give him the type of money he’s looking for, players often want to play for a different team for whatever reason.

If that’s the case, they need to turn their attention elsewhere.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report listed players who could stay with their team or move on this offseason, including right-hander Shane Bieber. Regarding the Cleveland Guardians pitcher, Reuter predicted that he’d move on this winter.

“The question now is whether he might consider accepting a qualifying offer while he continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery in April. The 29-year-old tossed 12 scoreless innings with a 20-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in two starts before hitting the injured list, and he could conceivably be ready to return around the All-Star break next year. A back-loaded, two-year deal similar to what Brandon Woodruff signed with the Milwaukee Brewers last offseason could also be a mutually beneficial approach.”

Bieber wouldn’t be a Burnes replacement, however. If they had landed him a few years ago, one could argue that he would’ve been, but considering he’s coming off Tommy John’s surgery that happened after two starts during this season, there’s some uncertainty about how he’ll return.

He’s been lights out when he’s on the mound and healthy. The recently turned 29-year-old won the Cy Young Award in 2020 and posted a 2.88 ERA in 2022.

The first two starts of 2024 were as impressive as they could’ve been for Bieber. Baltimore likely won’t hold much weight on those starts because of the injury, but he posted a 0.00 ERA and struck out 20 hitters in 12.0 innings pitched.

There’s clearly some risk to signing him because of the arm injury, but if they lose Burnes, they’ll be in a position to take some risks.