Long-shot Cubs free agent target posts cryptic tweet after Dodgers' World Series win

The World Series is over and the offseason has arrived. For the second time in five years, the Los Angeles Dodgers reign, once again proving that spending money on high-quality players, more often than not, leads to pretty solid results.

After spending more than $1 billion in free agency last winter, Los Angeles came away with the goal that drove ownership to spend at such unprecedented levels: another Commissioner's Trophy. If you think the Dodgers are done, you're seriously mistaken - and a post on X (formerly Twitter) from this winter's prized free agent pitcher, Corbin Burnes, could hint at where he'd like to wind up.

Early projections peg Burnes for a seven-year, $215 million deal this winter, his first trip into free agency. The right-hander spent the 2024 season with the Baltimore Orioles, earning his fourth consecutive All-Star selection, making 32 starts and working to a 2.92 ERA across 194 innings of work.

A longtime staple of the Milwaukee Brewers rotation, Burnes won the NL Cy Young in 2021 and continued to build an impressive resume in the years that followed, eventually pricing him out of the Brewers' small-market budget, setting up last winter's trade with the Orioles.

That trade only increased optimism amongst Chicago Cubs fans, who felt like the losses of Corbin Burnes and Craig Counsell would be the Brewers' undoing. Ultimately, that was not the case, with Milwaukee dominating the division from start to finish, winning their third NL Central title in the last four seasons.

With the Cubs eyeing rotation upgrades this winter to slot in alongside Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga, Burnes' name has come up consistently in recent months. He's a long shot, at best, given the above contract would be the richest in franchise history by a wide margin. The Cubs are expected to shop below him, with names like Max Fried, Nathan Eovaldi and Walker Buehler checking in as more realistic possibilities.