The Red Sox are preparing a formal contract offer Corbin Burneswrite Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam of MassLive. The former Cy Young winner is the last clear top-of-the-rotation arm available in free agency.

Boston came away empty-handed in pursuit Max Fried. Despite being one of Fried’s top contenders, the Sox balked at the huge $218 million guarantee the southpaw received from their rivals. The Red Sox have also seen reported targets Blake Snell And Nathan Eovaldi go somewhere else. The supply is limited if the Sox want to achieve Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow’s stated goal of “raising the ceiling in the rotation.”

Burnes would obviously achieve that. Although the right-hander hasn’t missed as many at-bats over the last few seasons as he did during his prime years in Milwaukee, he’s still an ace. Burnes fired 194 1/3 innings of 2.92 ERA ball for the Orioles in his platform year . In his only postseason start, he added eight innings with one run allowed. If the Red Sox were to sign Burnes, they would have one of the stronger rotations in the MLB. He would also top a staff including Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Cutter Crawford and hopefully healthy Lucas Giolito.

At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted that Burnes would receive a seven-year commitment worth $200 million. This will almost certainly be bright. Burnes was above Fried in virtually every contract prediction (MLBTRs included). This was a very strong market for starting pitchers. There’s a chance Burnes could get a deal worth between $250 million and $300 million for eight or even nine years.

The Giants and Blue Jays are also known to be involved with Burnes. Baltimore has expressed a desire to keep him around, but that seems like a longer shot. As a player who declined a qualifying offer, he cost the Sox their second-highest draft pick and $500,000 in pool space from their 2026 international signing class.

Burnes isn’t the only eligible free agent (nor the only high-profile Boras Corporation client) the Sox are pursuing. Boston is reportedly in the mix Alex Bregman. In a separate column, McAdam writes that the third baseman is something of a debater in the Fenway Park offices. According to McAdam, manager Alex Cora and team president Sam Kennedy are more interested in pursuing Bregman than Breslow. Cora knows Bregman personally from his time as a reserve coach in Houston.

Whether Breslow Bregman is less valuable as a player or simply prefers to focus on starting pitching, this is a potentially complicating factor for free agency’s best remaining position player. The Sox probably won’t walk away with both Burnes and Bregman. They could keep Rafael Devers at third base or track a Nolan Arenado Trade if Bregman goes elsewhere. If they are looking for a top player and don’t have a chance with Burnes, they would probably hit the trade market. They are reportedly more on the periphery Garrett Crochet Offer. The Sox opened up the possibility of a trade Triston Casas for one of Seattle’s starters, but the Mariners declined that interest while expressing a desire to retain their young pitchers.