Aaron Boone Admits Harsh Truth After Orioles' Corbin Burnes Trade

The Baltimore Orioles put the AL East on notice last week after they acquired former NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes from the Milwaukee Brewers. 

The Orioles, who won the division with an American League-best 101 wins last season, aren’t resting on their laurels and will be competition for the New York Yankees and the rest of the AL East.

Speaking of the Yankees, they’ve made a couple of significant moves this offseason, including the acquisition of All-Star outfielder Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres. 

New York is still viewed as the favorite (+140 on FanDuel Sportsbook) to win the division. But manager Aaron Boone wasn’t too thrilled about the O’s going out and getting the star pitcher from the Brewers.

“That could be a bit of a problem. That was my first reaction,” Boone said via Chris Kirschner of the Athletic.

The Yankees didn’t play well against the Orioles last year, as they had a 6-7 record. New York knows for them to win the division or grab a wild card spot, they’ll need to handle business this season against Baltimore.

On paper, the Yankees have a better-starting rotation than the Orioles, but Burnes tightens the gap. Offensively, New York has Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, and Juan Soto, who can win games with one swing of the bat. 

However, the Orioles lineup is loaded with a bunch of young talent that showed up last year and might be adding to it as Jackson Holliday could potentially join the big league club sometime this season. It should be a fun matchup between these two division rivals, as every time they play will be must-see TV. 

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