Yankees: 3 midseason trade targets fans are already itching for

2. Corbin Burnes

The best pitcher in baseball? Yeah, we can pencil him in, I guess.

If Corbin Burnes has “video game numbers,” then all video games are impossibly fruitless. Through four starts, the 26-year-old has struck out 40 men and walked zero (though he’s hit three batters), posting an 0.37 ERA in the process and becoming must-watch television.

He’s under control until winter 2025, and the Brewers aren’t exactly terrible, but if this insane hot streak keeps up, they’ll have to change their calculus. Will Burnes be the centerpiece of their next championship team? Their next World Series participant? Or should they sell extremely high?

After all, pitching doesn’t get any better than this.

Burnes and Brandon Woodruff entered this season as a duo in Milwaukee, and one we could’ve been convinced would go in any number of directions. Both locked down long-term? Sure, we could see it. Both traded? Yeah, also possible. Did the Brewers really add anyone on offense, after all? Both busts? Couldn’t rule it out! Not much of a track record there.

Milwaukee would probably be easier swayed to participate in a Burnes trade right this very moment than they will be in July. This is also another one that will certainly cost Frazier, Clarke Schmidt, Deivi Garcia and the whole Scranton Gang.

We’ll need another few months of data, but it could be worth it, though. Hard to get a better No. 2 than the very best.