The Toronto Blue Jays made a big splash last season trading for Twins pitcher Jose Berrios. Today they locked up the right hander on a reported 7 year/$131M contract extension. While the deal falls short of George Springer’s franchise record 6 year/$150M contract, it puts Berrios in the mix amongst the most lucrative deals ever doled out by the Blue Jays.
The 27 year old went 5-4 with a 3.58ERA down the stretch for the Jays after being acquired in exchange for top prospects Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson. Berrios has been a front of the rotation workhorse over the past few years, regularly flirting with 200IP and 200Ks dating back to his breakout season in 2018. A two time All-Star, Berrios figures to be a core piece of the Jays rotation alongside Alek Manoah heading into 2022.
Per Shi Davidi, part of the reason the Twins were willing to let their ace go in a trade deadline deal was that they felt he was likely to test free agency once his contract was up. Evidently the small sample size in Toronto, alongside the lucrative terms were enough to convince him otherwise:
By signing Berrios to a long term deal, the Jays now have some stability in their rotation moving forward. While they still have Hyun-Jin Ryu under contract for another two seasons, his up and down 2021 has many wondering which version of Ryu the team will see as he enters his age 35 season. Manoah had a sensational rookie season, however it remains to be seen whether he can continue his progression or whether opposing hitters will have better luck in 2022 now that there’s substantial game film available.
AL Cy Young finalist Robbie Ray is slated to test the open market this offseason. While a reunion with Toronto hasn’t been ruled out, it will be interesting to see whether Berrios’ new deal will hamper the Jays ability to negotiate or whether Rogers will open the vault to get a deal done. Also scheduled to become a free agent is left hander Steven Matz who had a bounce back year with the Jays in 2021 posting 14 wins and a 3.82ERA.
Berrios’ new contract is currently pending a physical.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner