It’s being said that the Giants “lost” the Corbin Burnes sweepstakes after the 2021 Cy Young winner opted to sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks late Friday night.

While it certainly stings that Burnes opted to sign in the Giants’ division and reportedly turned down more money from the Giants in the process, I think viewing the pitcher’s signing elsewhere as a defeat is the exact wrong way to look at it.

This is a win for the Giants.

Burnes signed a six-year contract that’s really a two-year deal for the one-time Brewers and Orioles ace, as he has an opt-out after the 2026 season.

That’s a long, fully guaranteed term for the Diamondbacks and an easy exit for the player.

Let Arizona deal with all of that. The Giants should feel lucky he declined.

Because it’s downright amazing that starting pitchers — be they great or something else — have this kind of negotiating power. No position in sports is more injured and, frankly, more replaceable than the starting pitcher. Hell, barring a rule change, I’m not even sure if the role of “starting pitcher” will exist in baseball in six years, when Burnes’ contract expires.

We’ve seen the market for running backs—often injured and generally replaceable—crater in the NFL, with exceptions made for players like Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley. (In the case of the former, that immediately looked foolish.)

Yet, multiple bidders were offering Burnes $1 million per start (in a best-case scenario).

But when has a long-term, big-money deal ever worked out for the team signing it?

I’ll give you a moment to think really long and hard about it.

Carlos Rodón had a 6.85 ERA in 2023 after signing a six-year deal with the Yankees from the Giants.

Jacob deGrom signed a five-year, $185 million deal with the Rangers that same offseason. He’s made nine starts for them since.

Aaron Nola signed for seven years and $172 million with the Phillies. He followed it up with a 4.46 ERA.

Maybe Gerrit Cole’s nine-year, $324 million deal has worked out. You can ask Yankees fans about that.

I can tell you that David Price and Stephen Strasburg’s deals didn’t. Max Scherzer’s mega-deal with the Nats was hairy at the end. And remember when Justin Verlander signed with the Mets? That was a fun few months. C.C. Sabathia faded, hard, in the final four years of his big Yankees contract. Cole Hamels was traded twice on his eight-year deal, and Felix Hernandez faded harder, posting a 5.42 ERA in his final three seasons (and 60 games) with Seattle.

Those are just the recent deals.