12:45pm: Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports that Berrios received a $5MM signing bonus and will be paid $10MM next season (Twitter link). He’ll then earn salaries of $15MM, in 2023, $17MM in 2024, $18MM in 2025-26, and $24MM in 2027-28.
That breakdown indicates Berrios’ opt-out decision will come with a total of $48MM remaining on the contract. However, Davidi adds that escalators based on Berrios’ 2025-26 stats could boost his 2027-28 salaries by $5MM apiece. If he triggers all the escalators, Berrios would decide between the remaining two years and $58MM or reentering the market in advance of his age-33 season.
7:30am: The Blue Jays’ first big move of the offseason is to lock up one of their own, as they announced Thursday that they’ve signed right-hander Jose Berrios to a seven-year extension that will reportedly guarantee him $131MM. Berrios is represented by Wasserman.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected Berrios would earn just shy of $11MM for 2022 in his final trip through arbitration, meaning this extension effectively buys out six free agent years at $120MM, although the actual breakdown of the contract is not known at this point. Berrios will be able to opt out after the fifth year of the deal and has limited no-trade protection. There are also escalators in the deal that could increase the value of the contract by $10MM.
The 27-year-old Berrios was acquired from the Twins at July’s trade deadline and had been set to reach free agency after the 2022 season. Instead, the Blue Jays will keep him around for an extended stay, hoping that he anchors their rotation well into the future. This extension runs through 2028, which will be his age-34 season.
Prior to that trade, Berrios had spent his entire career in the Twins organization since they selected him in the supplemental first round of the draft in 2012, 32nd overall, out of Papa Juan High School in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. He had just turned 18 years old at the time. He quickly rose through the ranks of the minors, making his debut in April of 2016, a month before his 22nd birthday. Although he struggled in that first taste of MLB action, he broke out in a big way the following season. In 2017, he logged 145 2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.89 and has been remarkably reliable and consistent since then. He made 32 starts in each of 2018, 2019 and 2021, throwing at least 192 innings each year along with an ERA between 3.52 and 3.84. He also made 12 starts in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, with his ERA at an even 4.00. In the five-year stretch from 2017 to 2021, he threw a total of 793 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.74, strikeout rate of 24.4%, walk rate of 7% and groundball rate of 41.4%. His 15.4 fWAR in that time ranks 14th among all pitchers in baseball.
The Blue Jays clearly valued Berrios very highly based on the package they sent to the Twins, with both Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson being highly-touted prospects. At the time of the trade, Martin was only one year removed from being the 5th overall selection in the 2020 draft and was considered to be one of the top-25 prospects in the game by each of FanGraphs, Baseball America and MLB.com. Woods Richardson was not on Baseball America’s list but was 49th at FanGraphs and 68th at MLB.com. It was believed by many that this was a steep price to pay for a year and a half of Berrios’s services, but the Blue Jays have doubled down on their belief in him by locking him up for at least four more years on top of that.
This now ranks as one of the largest extensions ever for a starting pitcher between five and six years’ service time, trailing only the $215MM garnered by Clayton Kershaw, the $175MM by Stephen Strasburg and $144MM for Cole Hamels. If Berrios pitches well over the next five years, he can opt out after the 2026 campaign, which will be his age-32 season. That could give him the opportunity to hit free agency and land another solid payday, after having already banked over $100MM in career earnings.
The Blue Jays had some long-term uncertainty in their rotation, with Berrios and Ross Stripling set to reach free agency after 2022 and Hyun-Jin Ryu after 2023, leaving youngsters like Alek Manoah and Nate Pearson as the only future options. Locking Berrios down through 2028 provides some much-needed stability as they look to complement that group this offseason.
The club’s 2022 payroll is currently sitting around $115MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. Their opening day number in 2021 was $135MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, giving them about $20MM of space to work with before they reach last year’s number. However, the club may also increase spending this year, which would give them even more ability to supplement the roster. It’s unknown exactly how high they anticipate the budget to go between now and the spring, but they have run payrolls over $160MM in years past.
The club has already been connected in rumors to Justin Verlander, Andrew Heaney and Eduardo Rodriguez, the latter having signed with the Tigers yesterday. Despite winning 91 games in 2021, the Jays somehow finished fourth place in the AL East, one game away from a Wild Card berth. With Robbie Ray, Steven Matz and Marcus Semien all now free agents, the club still has work to do in order to stay afloat in that cutthroat environment. Extending Berrios doesn’t necessarily improve the 2022 club on paper, but it should serve as a signal to other free agents that the team is committed to do what it takes to be competitive for the foreseeable future.
Hector Jose Torres Donato (Twitter link) was the first to report the news of the seven-year extension. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet first had the $131 guarantee (Twitter link). Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the opt-out and no-trade protection (Twitter link). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first mentioned escalators (Twitter link). Jon Heyman of MLB Network first reported the $10MM value of the escalators (Twitter link).
Image Courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Big extension?? Please! There are children reading!
Haha
7 years 131 is the rumour. 7 years is a lot of years for any pitcher. Ultimately the jays have to do a better job at drafting and developing pitchers. That way they don’t have to give out these risky contracts to SP.
The Jays drafted Marcus Stroman 10 picks ahead of Berrios.
Wow. Now they can have both in the same rotation if they chose to !
I’d suggest not looking at the 2005 draft if draft misses are bothersome. Ricky v Tulo
We had Adams, why would we have drafted a SS?
/s
I don’t understand….Ricky was better than Tulo the most overrated (and overpaid player) in the history of the game.
I can think of more overpaid players
But they probably did more than Tulo
Tulo had six 5 WAR seasons. He couldn’t stay healthy, especially in his later years but there are good players that go their entire career without having that sort of impact within a season, and he did it six times
By comparison Romero never passed 3.7 WAR and in 2 good seasons Tulo was worth more than Romero’s entire career
Chris Davis
Tulo Coors Field all you need to know. In Toronto no mater what stat you quote he was never on the field for enough games to actually count for something. He may have done more in his short New York stint than he did in Toronto.
Did Tulo steal your girl or something ?
Jays don’t make the playoffs that year if they keep Reyes at short
Tulo did`not help them make it. Ryan Goins played short stop because Tulo did his best impression of a fan……he was in street clothes as usual.
Well if they kept Reyes he may not have played either as not long after the trade (not sure of exactly when teams/cops knew) he was being investigated for abuse. So Ryan Goins ends up playing either way. HOWEVER we would not have had the bigger piece in that trade which was LaTroy Hawkins who did have a large impact on the bull pen.
Jays/Yanks Tulo sucked. Rox Tulo, before he destroyed his hip, was indeed one of the 5 best players in baseball. Rox actually waited too long before trading him. He had already started to decline, and it was going fast. I’m amazed the Jays gave up what they did, but I guess it all turned out fine since none of those prospects amounted to anything.
Goins played second base then, was he going to play two positions?
He played a lot of short as Darwin Barny played a lot of second when Devon Travis wasn’t healthy.
You never draft players based on positional need. You draft the best player possible. This was a hard lesson JP would learn during his tenure with the Jays.
There were many hard lessons during that era. The biggest one… when you have a generational talent in his prime, do everything you can to get him to the playoffs.
We wasted doc on such mediocre teams.
To be fair Stroman was money straight away whereas Berrios has gotten better over time.
Mike Hampton enters the chat.
The Mike Hampton Rockies contract…
@iver
1. He’s 27
2. He’s been very durable/consistent his whole career
3. 7/131 is less than he’d make on the open market
4. Signing him to a long-term deal justifies the prospects they gave up to get him
It’s a good deal, quit being a pessimist.
Well said
I’m a Twins fan and was sorry to see him go but am glad he got a good deal for himself and his team. Good luck, Jose!
@cdaddy
1. He’s at least got that going for him
2. How many SP stay durable eventually they break down
3. How many 7 year deals ever work out for a team? There’s plenty that end of horrendous.
4. That should have nothing to do with it. If he didn’t perform last year and his value plummeted but someone still wanted to give you .75 on the dollar you wouldn’t not make the trade because the value of the prospects you gave up for him was the same.
It’s probably not a good deal because usually there isn’t ever any 7 year good deals and I’m be a pessimist if I want to be. It’s better than being delusional and saying everything is great every time a free agent signs with your favourite team.
A player doesn’t need to be good for the entire length of his contract for the deal to be a success, not sure why you think that.
If Berrios is a solid #2 for a few years and then moves to more of a mid rotation starter the second half of the contract, there is value in that.
Alternatively, what should the jays do with a young, competitive team? Say welp we don’t have any pitching prospects so let’s just go go in to next season with Anthony Kay and Thomas hatch penciled in for 32 starts and see what happens, just so that we don’t have 18 million on the books in year 7 of this deal? Makes zero sense
Oh good! They gave him a limited no trade clause too. Awesome those work out good usually…
@C-Daddy Come up with an actual projection for those years and money—if you want to be persuasive.
–All “he’s 27” means is that he’s post-peak, on average.
–7/131 is not “what he’d get on the open market” because 1/11m of that is his pre-FA money. Why misrepresent this?
–Berrios also has an opt-out clause, which adds substantial value to the player and cost to the team. Why fail to mention this?
–Anyone in finance knows the spent prospects are gone and are not coming back. They don’t justify anything. Look up “sunk cost” please.
==Btw, Berrios also already has 1443 innings on his 27 year old arm. Look up Rick Porcello’s arm and ERA for where that might be headed. Cheers,
Nope average pitcher peak ends at 28-29
he was not that good with the Twins. I admit he improved dramatically when he went to the Jays, just not sure why. The problem is we will not know for a while which pitcher he actually is.. the main problem I have with most of these contracts is they favor the player. He can opt out but the Jays can not. There is too much of a guaranteed component to them. The same is true for NBA contracts. I like the NFL style where the guarantee is often 1/2 of the full contract… We may never get a real salary cap in MLB when the Yankees and Dodgers are offset by the Rays and the Pirates.
How many teams right now are both
A) competitive
B) have a rotation or home grown starters.
I can think of less than a hand full and that’s even generous.
It’s about timing and right now Berrios fits the timeline SWR did not.
Do the dodgers suffice? The current rotation is Buehler, Urias, Gonsolin, and some combo of White Jackson May when he returns and Price (not homegrown)
Dodgers could be on the list sure, although after they signed Heaney and will prob sign Scherzer they will prob be off!
Very few teams don’t have any FA starters, it’s an unreasonably low bar
Lol I forgot Heaney
“There are children reading!”
Kids know all about ladders
They got the discovery Channel don’t they
How’d he get this little? That dollar figure should be bigger for what he brings
The big bucks…
Good idea.
Reported to be 7 years 140 Mil
If those are the terms, the jays got one hell of a deal. Kinda surprising given that berrios seemed intent on testing the market.
Berrios is a 3 war pitcher with a ton of miles on his arm (think Rick Porcello). He may not age well. He also has the opt out, so if he’s actually good he’ll depart.
You say a very good thing (him being good for 5 years) and opting out as if it’s a negative.
After 5 years. I think the jays would be very happy if he has 5 years that are good enough to make him opt out
Berrios is a solid #2 in his age 27 season , if he has a 22 like 21 he would have gotten more as a FA.
It also seems you are ignorant of the specific of the deal with respect to the opt out . His 27 & 28 salaries are 24m with an additional 5m in escalators which could bring it to 29m AAV for the 2 yrs beyond his opt out.
It’s a sound deal for both player and team to say otherwise is nothing more then fan envy or a desire to have a contrarian opinion.
@Dustyslambchops23 You read funny.
He must have liked it there cause yeah wow team friendly as hell, 40 year old Adam Wainwright signed for similar dollar amount on a one year deal, he didn’t get much more than a qualifying offer, but more than he would have though his final trip through arbitration?
I just saw on twittee. Ken Rosebthal said it was 7/131mil
I’m guessing 5 for 110
Excellent! Rumour is 7 years, $140M, which I feel is reasonable for a solid #2 and an ace on bad teams. Makes the trade look a helluva lot better.
Wow, 7/$131. That’s insane. Only $3M more AAV than E-Rod.
Look at the stats. E-Rod has a slightly better ERA+ and FIP than Berrios. The bigger question is why aren’t they closer together an AAV?
One has more upside. One has pitched more than 180 innings once in his career. One is getting paid more than the other.
Well the big differences between them that I see is Berrios is a year younger and healthier, and E-rod’s deal has an opt out in two years. E-rod is betting on himself. Higher risk. Higher reward. Berrios looks to be taking a more stable approach.
Berrios is a small guy with a big arm. Those guys break down. 7 years is a big risk for any pitcher, especially one like this, and I think that is fairly represented in the AAV. There’s a reason you rarely see pitchers get these kinds of long contracts.
He’s 6ft ,has clean mechanics and isn’t a max effort guy. Your generalization is meaningless
Much bigger guys break down all the time, the risk for any arm is high.
So was Pedro Martinez. Berrios works hard and is always in shape. He has a fundamentally sound throwing motion that minimizes stress on his arm and elbow. I expect he will eventually get injured but about $20 per year is pretty cheap for a strong #2 pitcher.
6 ft is tiny for a major league starter (and that’s what he’s listed at … he’s probably shorter). Yes there are some examples of guys that size that lasted for a while, but this is a game of numbers. The smaller a guy is (and the harder he throws) the more risk a team takes on with a long term contract, and therefore the lower the AAV.
For the record, I think this is a reasonable gamble for the Jays.
@ seamaholic 2;
You’re one of less than a dozen posters on this board that I think have something going for them, so please don’t take this as a slight…..
Your reasoning is exactly what the Dodgers had when they traded a young Pedro Martinez to Montreal for Delino DeShields .
The Dodgers ace at the time was Pedro’s older brother Ramón. Both brothers has a quirk in their physical makeup whereby when they threw a fastball it broke down a bit and slid sideways. Ramón was the Dodgers ace and stood 6’4″, but was skinny. Pedro was only 5’11”, although about the same weight. Tom Lasorda and the FO were using Pedro as a relief pitcher for a few years as they had other quality starters and felt that Pedro would not hold up with a starters workload. So when they needed more position players they traded Pedro.
Ironically, it was Ramón that got injured (torn rotator cuff) in his late 20’s, and while he tried for a few years he had to retire at age 33.
Great example and trip down memory road Sam
Great deal for Berrios. Agree about the trade aspect also. But does this signing mask the fact they aren’t bringing back Ray/Semien?
I don’t think this takes them our of the running for either player. Maybe for both, but they should still be in on them. Berrios was going to be a part of the staff whether he signed an extension or not. Ryu’s contract comes off the books after 2023, Gruchuk around the same time which frees up over 30 mil in aav. Even if they backloaded a contract to increase value starting in 2024, with springer and berrios being the only guaranteed contracts there should be plenty of room to make any contract work. Now with that said, a lot of players are going to be due raises through arb, potentially even final arb years/extensions of their own. But this is the price you pay and the problem(a good problem to have) you have if you want to compete and bring in players to best 2021’s record.
If it’s 7/140 then that is a huge commitment. The Jays never go that long on pitching. AAV is slightly lower than he would get as a free agent, but, the length is pretty eye opening.
They’re so close and rightfully going for it
Grats Jays fans. If they had him all year they’d have been a playoff team I imagine
I always thought he was adamant about testing free agency
They all just want the money and security. They don’t care HOW they get it, just as long as they get it.
Let’s go!!!
6 years for $130M. Probably some player/team option somewhere after the 3rd year.
Wow! Jays all in on this window.
It’s around $20M per year
As a non-jays fan in Canada its finally nice to see big contracts
Big contracts don’t mean anything. Big contracts mean huge risk. It would be nice to see fans understand drafting and developing. Encourage the team to turn over the team. Rotating players without control in for players who have control. Quit babying pitchers like Aaron Sanchez, use and abuse them. When they get close to free agency trade them for a haul of prospects.
Team building is also a skill. You don’t throw together a team of 24 year olds because they have “a bunch of control”
You need to have a blend of young and veterans. The Jays have that and want to solidify it moving forward. Guys will get paid. The money is in the game. This seems like an alright gamble to me.
The Jays have done a pretty great job of drafting and lately. They have a roster with plenty of young player they’ve drafted and or developed.
Wow, he was all about “reaching free agency”, he must of really liked Toronto.
Posturing about wanting to test free agency is all well and good. But when you’ve only made $11M in your career so far, it’s pretty darn good insurance to lock in another $131M in case you get hurt. Worth giving up another few tens of millions you might’ve made by waiting a year if that year went well.
Perhaps thinking about how much pressure there was on his 2022 season changed his mind.
As a long-time Jays fan, the quality of pitcher involved is exciting, but the length of the contract is a little concerning. Seven years is a REALLY long contract. A lot can happen in seven years.
Sure. But the guy is young. They’re getting his prime years for $18.7M AAV.
It a good deal for both parties. It’s not like they just signed a 32 year old to a 7 year contract.
I agree and am optimistic about the future, but I am also realistic so like I said, a lot can happen in seven years.
Especially for a pitcher. Very risky.
There is an opt out after 5 yr.
What a win! That’s super reasonable for him I was expecting 25-27MM per when we traded for him.
From initial rumors and rumblings, i thought that Berrios was dead set on testing the free agent market. Glad to see that he enjoyed his time in Toronto and will be here for years to come! Lets go blue jays!!!
do mlb players get paid bi weekly? weekly? always wondered how that works.
“oh hey just got a deposit for $850,000 this pay period, lets splurge on 2 appetizers”
They get a venmo deposit after each half inning.
Bi weekly. Go look at McCutchen’s pay stub if you want the full breakdown
In Toronto their salary is just deducted off their Rogers cable and internet bill
Pretty solid extension. Berrios has been durable and consistently solid. 7 years is long but he’s only 27.
7/131 seems pretty team friendly
Wow an AAV under $20 million I’m surprised. Good deal for Toronto. I’m not his biggest fan but he’s a good pitcher and that’s a fair contract.
As a jays fan, this makes my morning.
They gave up a LOT to get him, so only right that they lock him up long-term and not for one and a half years
Well the Reds will surely trade Castillo now. If you have time, check the last three years between these two pitchers. Almost the exact same. Please don’t wish me unwell.
Huge “get” or should I say “keep” for Toronto. This is a huge step towards solidifying that team as a mainstay in the AL East.
How crazy zero focused in on the Braves last year that I missed him being traded to the blue jays. Wow, good for them… both on getting him and extending him.
You never know how these things work out, but Berrios is a work horse in an era that has very few of them.
7 years is long for any pitcher but he’s pretty young and the AAV is reasonable. If he had another year like last year going in to free agency he certainly would have got more years and AAV
Overall I think this is a nice extension, fair for both sides. Good job, keep going
Awesome. Was a little worried he was going to walk.
Wow what a deal for the blue jays
Obviously 7 years is a long time and risk, but the money is a steal.
Thor just got $21 million and has barely pitched in two years for comparison sake
A weird comparison when you consider that Syndergaard is a one year deal. They’re almost not comparable as one year deals are generally for more money, especially when it’s based on potential and not on-the-field performance. 7 years, $140 million vs 1 year, $21 million comparison doesn’t say much about either deal.
If you signed Syndergaard to a 7 year deal right now, it would have to be at a huge AAV discount, probably $60-70 million. If you signed Berrios to a one year deal, it’d probably be $30-35 million. I think that’s a better comparison.
This is a good deal for the Jays. Twins…no idea why they couldn’t do this. He’s in a better situation now though so good for him.
It was a good trade though they clearly didn’t have to trade Berrios based on the reasonable contract he signed. Don’t think SWR can be as good as Berrios was so it’s all on Martin to bring the value.
Ray is def getting more than $125M over 5 years now. Also will be signing elsewhere.
I sincerely doubt that this impacts jays ability to sign Ray. If anything this may help show Ray that the jays are serious about winning for the next 5 years
Fascinating. I feel like these contracts are the result of players such as Berrios thinking the next CBA is going to mint a new round of younger free agents in a few years, which could lower his bargaining power.
That’s an interesting thought. I tend to think it’s more likely players don’t see themselves getting better deals than what’s already being offered and want to jump on it before the team pivots elsewhere. For Berrios specifically, the Jays are in a good spot. They’ll likely lose Semien or Ray, maybe both, but they challenged for a playoff spot until late in the year and still have some very good prospects waiting to come up and contribute. Barring a major FA splash by the Yankees or Red Sox, the Jays have the second-brightest future in the division. A lot of good reasons for Berrios to want to stay.
Let’s goooooooooo
With us at least 5 more years before he opts out.
If he opts out it means we got PLENTY of value during those 5 years.
Even if he stinks up the joint 20 mil per shouldn’t handcuff an ownership group like Rogers
Let’s sign Ray, let Semien walk to the Giants and get Max or Verlander on a super high 2 year 60 million deal and give Iglesias some $$$ to shore up the back end of the BP and call it a successful off-season
Save our prospects for the deadline or if some As players are available on the cheap
Too rich for the cheap Twins…. We finally developed a decent pitcher and sent him away because he wanted to get paid…
The Twins have developed good pitchers before. Johan Santana comes to mind.
Wow. This makes the trade a good trade for the Jays
Wow. Not surprisingly you don’t know what sunk cost means.
An AAV under $20M for a pitcher of his quality at 27-years-old is a good deal for the Blue Jays. There’s risk in a seven-year contract, but Berrios also gave money back by not going to free agency as a 28-year-old. He can also opt out after five years and go for a bigger payday while still in his early 30s. Hard to argue against this deal from either side.
Truly is a nice compromise on both sides
Overpay tbh, theres no telling how good he will be within the next 7 years, this has bust written all over it
Berrios at 20 million a year for 7 years is a pretty good deal for the Jays
Solid deal.. Cant complain. And if his 5th year will be a good one, he’s opting out.
As a RS fan, I hate to say it, and will deny it later, but good move by the Jays.
For any of the Canadian posters, what is the tax in TO? My impression is that it is about 13% on top of a federal chop of 33%
Correct highest incomes in Ontario would be just over 46%. But he’ll only pay that for home games, plus he’s paid in USD and will spend CAD which should save him 20% while he’s here.
34yo by the end of it. Hopefully he stays healthy for most of the extension.
Smart move
If they can somehow move Grichuk, which would be great. This deal going against the payroll would be 10-11 million for two years. and in two years as well Ryu is off the books with his 20 million. So I like this deal a lot payroll wise.
If I’m the Jays I’m going to the Marlins for one of their young pitchers with Kirk, Gurriel and maybe even Groshans for Alcantara. Starting a base with a rotation of Berrios and Manoah isnt bad at all.
I wouldn’t move Gurriel as he seem to be a big part of that young core that hangs out together on the bench. I know its baseball and all but upsetting that core may make more of a negative impact than bringing in a big piece, in a trade, will have in making a positive impact.
Also i think they Blue Jays should move Jansen, over Kirk, to capitalize on his September performance before he reverts back to the 170 hitter that is a below average defender.
Jansen doesn’t have much value.
If they don’t want to just use prospects they are going to need to look at moving Kirk, Lourdes, Biggio heck maybe even Teo.
Also Gurriel isn’t useless. He’s a career .270 hitter with decent power, and an OPS+ of 118. He’s also dirt cheap. Trading him last year would have made sense because the market was sparse, but there are so many decent pitchers on the market this offseason, why give up assets when you could sign Anthony DeSclafani?
Because you are going to need convince FA pitchers to come and outbid 10-15 other teams.
Right Dusty. If I could get Alcantara for Gurriel, Kirk, Groshans, maybe even less, considering the Marlins never get back fair value for their players, I’d jump all over it. No point of hitting if we can’t pitch.
And as of now, only dependable guys in our rotation are Berrios and Manoah. Ryu fell off the face of the earth in the 2nd half.. we need starters, and with the payroll going up year by year with guys hitting arb, and will become free agents, the payroll has to be taken into account imo. And if we can save money by allocating cheap youngsters in the rotation who have the potential to be dominant, I’m all for it. And something they probably should do? Don’t know ..
We have to sacrifice some guys anyway, and we can’t keep all these guys in that lineup in the future.. Might as well sacrifice them for cheap young pitching that we obviously need.. while not having to give out 20 million or so to free agents.
Jays have to save money on some part of this roster, might as well be the rotation. I think Alcantara is just about to hit arbitration, not sure .. Berrios, Alcantara, Manoah is a solid 3 we can compete with. And if Pearson finally decides to be what everyone said he would we’d be that much better off.
Having a group of cheap electric youngsters like Alcantara, Manoah and Pearson, all starters getting pennies for what they potentially could be worth for years to come, to me, doesn’t seem like a bad idea imo. And the rotation could possibly even be the strength of this team moving forward, which isn’t a bad thing.
Or the alternative is we go out in free agency and spend another 18-20 plus million on another starter.. I don’t want this team throwing money left and right, having more guys to sacrifice then in the lineup for years to come.
May not even take a Gurriel, maybe Kirk, Groshans, and a couple of other prospects could get us an Alcantara. I don’t know, but cheap young pitching to add to the group that we already have, is what this franchise needs in more ways then just one.
And every year it seems we’re looking for pitching, guys on 1 year deals, hoping to have a bounce back.. or whatever the case may be. Might as well try to solidify that pitching staff. Why not. Get it over with so they can focus on other parts of the roster, not having to deal with it year after year.
Never know with free agency… Last thing I want is the Jays give out 15-18 million for 3-4 years to a Desclafani, and he’ll be another Tanner Roark for us, due to age and pitching in the A.L east. Who knows.. Never really know with free agency. Last thing this team needs is dead money.. I’d rather risk it with young guys, who are under our control and are cheap.
Agreed.
My thinking is that they actually look to move Teoscar over gurriel. Teo is going to get expensive and hard to keep, there simply isn’t enough money to go around to lock up everyone.
Gurriel doesn’t give you the same production but he isn’t a slouch at the plate and gives you a low budget impact outfielder.
The hard part will be finding a team who will want to compete now but also have a surplus arm or third baseman to give up. Maybe Cleveland?
I hear you Dusty I’ve seen you mention Teo a few times. That’s a really tough one for me. But I definitely hear you.
Ryu will be fine. His stuff didn’t get worse, he wasn’t hurt, he just had control problems and there’s no reason to expect that to continue.
That said, you can never have too many aces with relatively cheap years of team control so I’d give up a lot for Alcantara. Gurriel is great, but power hitting left fielders aren’t hard to find. I’d give Teo + Kirk if that’s what it took, too.
Very tough for me too, he’s grown in to such a great hitter. I just don’t see them being able to keep him in 2 years when they have to pay Vlad, bo, Manoah and already paying Springer and Berrios.
His stock is so high now and lots of teams are desperate for power bats OF corner bats
I agree on the bench chemistry, it’s very evident. Gurriel is also dirt cheap salary.
Id move Groshans and Kirk for a young stud like Alcantra. I wouldn’t move Lourdes.
Wow this is so awesome. I thought for sure he was gonna test. A couple observations from afar, he seemed to really like a lot of the Jays team, they have a lot of Latin players and things like the barrio jacket probably made him comfortable. Also, after his first start he had a couple shaky starts and Pete Walker got him straightened out pretty quick, I can’t help but wonder if that had any value to him.
I love the compete in him, his breaking ball is all world, this is a good day.
For a guy dead set on testing free agency, I find this a bit confusing, as I think he could/would have gotten more money on the open market. It will be interesting to see if he has a “sore elbow” heading into or early this next season.
Lol I try to be nice on here but that’s a dumb take.
LOL! How could that possible be a dumb take? Did you not pay any attention to when the NYY extended Hicks and Severino? They were on the DL before the ink was dry on their extensions.
And, if this were me, and God forbid I receive really bad news from my doctor, I am going to retire tomorrow, and opt for 100% survivor benefits. Do you think agents never bother to ask their clients ‘how is the arm doing?’.
I guess it’s a dumb take because I’m aware of the fact that there is a complete physical before an extension can be signed. You know, opinions based on reality and reason.
It also completely ignores any far more reasonable reasons he opted to avoid free agency. Namely 131 million dollars, an opt out after year 5, a fun and competitive team and a world class city
Physical isn’t going to say squat. Only the pitcher knows how his elbow/arm feels. If Berrios was even the least bit concerned about lingering soreness/achiness, he’d consider signing sooner that than later.
Every player gets a physical.
Verlander had a physical and pitched only 6 IPs on his $66M contract.
Kluber had a physical and pitched 1 inning after TX acquired him.
Yates had a physical and pitched -0- innings last year.
Clevinger had a physical and pitched and pitched 19 innings.
Hicks, Severino, O’Day and Britton all had physicals for the NYY and broke down quickly.
My rule is that anytime someone looks like they are giving you something, aside from family and friends, you have to ask what their motivation is. It doesn’t mean they are trying to con you, but it would be naive to not raise the question of ‘why’.
Okay now list all the players who had physicals and didn’t get hurt.
I don’t get this argument at all, you don’t even know the story the very likely scenario is that the jays approached him about an extension, and he felt 131 million was more than enough. He didn’t ‘give’ the jays anything, this isn’t a steal, it’s a reasonable contract for both sides.
If he excels in the next 5 years he opts out, makes 90+ million and then goes back to FA.
To suggest he’s hurt or about to get hurt so ran to the jays to sign a team friendly deal is not based on any fact or reasonable opinion. It can not be backed up whatsoever by common sense
A big part of the reason it’s not a steal is that the incentives plus the player opt-out makes it roughly like this:
4/90m if he’s good
4/120m if he’s bad
That’s hardly a steal for a player who’s a 3 WAR pitcher turning 29 at the beginning of the extension. It’s not bad, but it’s no steal. The opt-out is very valuable to the player.
Dustyslambchops23
Okay now list all the players who had physicals and didn’t get hurt.
==========================================
Most players are healthy. But that’s not what i am saying. What I am saying is that, anytime someone comes to you with a good deal, you have to ask about the motivation.
He didn’t come to them, and this isn’t that good of a deal. He’s not selling speakers out of a van, chill
Jack,
Both your numbers and your analysis are wrong.
Are you a) a bitter twins fan? ( you shouldn’t be, Martin is going to be awesome)
B) one of those jays fans that criticizes everything they do no matter what, but will be here and say I told you so when they win
Or c) other
@Dustyslampchops23 Your ongoing brainlessness and warranted loathing by other posters, plus your inability to even mount a single meaningful argument, let alone a point, should tell you something about yourself. Should.
It won’t, but it needed to be said. Perhaps over the years you’ll figure something out. I hope so, as otherwise you’ll have even less than what little you have currently.
Now shoo.
This could be the floor for a potential Lucas Giolito contract extension with the White Sox. Giolito is about two months younger than Jose Berrios but does have 2 more years of arbitration eligibility remaining. Berrios had only one before his contract extension.
Pretty great deal!
Did not see this one was coming.
Teams seem to be jumping early which makes me think that there won’t be a lockout.
TO clearly has go ahead from ownership to spend money.
TO’s owner is worth mega billions & TO is one of the highest revenue generating teams in baseball. They could have the highest payroll in MLB and not even flinch.
Will be fun to watch.
IMO, this had to happen. Two good prospects where traded for Jose. Missing the playoffs hurt that trade. Now we have Berrios and Manoah as a solid 1-2 for next while.
Now let spend on BP.
Good job Jays!
This is an incredibly fair deal on both sides. Great deal for them.
Seems a slight overpay, but I have to applaud them for recognizing their window is opening and going for it. Wish the White Sox would go all in like this, but do it intelligently, so no more stupid trades of middle IF for pitchers.
He’s a nice piece. Coupled with Manoa for the next 7 years could bode well.
Now to my Yankees
For the same $eager money
Please sign
Story, Verlander and Marte.
Thanks
I hate the Yankees, but this is the right approach for them. The team has some mashers, but needs to get more athletic and upgrade that rotation. Much better to spread the cash around than focus on one player, even if he is the best of the ones listed.
Same total money, but not even close to the same money per year.
And trade for Olsen.
If we sign a SS we don’t need Volpe or Peraza. Use them for a trade wisely.
Now Matz is a number 3? You said last March he was a number 47? And Semien was spare parts. Ray didn’t know where the ball was going?
Excellent signing. Shapiro and Atkins wearing the big boy pants.
Next is to sign or trade for a true #1 in the rotation and a #3 to replace Matz as he isn’t likely to repeat last years fluke performance.
And Pearson is a closer, pure and simple. Enough already trying to make him a starter in the big leagues.
Jays rotation now:
Berrios #2
Ryu #3
Manoah #3
Hatch #3 if healthy
Stripling #5
Kay is only a reliever.
That leaves a lot of work to be done for a #1 and another #3 plus the giant need for quality depth in the BlueJays rotation.
Next up, I’d prioritize Graveman 3/36 ish to shore up the backend of the bullpen.
Then I’d deal Kirk and Groshans (include Grichuk maybe) for a young controllable starter like Alcantra.
I’d then focus on Chris Taylor 4/68 ish to play second base. Semiem will cost too much. They need some payroll room for future mega deals for Bo and Vlad.
Looks like a far far better signing than ERod on paper. Durable and consistent. 2.0 mill for a good number 2 (or even potentially a one) isn’t an overpay.
Overpaid for an overhyped pitcher.
Damn Minnesota market overhyping players lol
Oh dang
Wow didn’t see that coming at this point.
Hasn’t missed a start since 2017!
Wow……what colour should I get his jersey in……great terms all things considered.
Overpay
Wait. Dollars Canadien? A steal!
– Re-sign Robbie Ray.
– Trade for 3B Matt Chapman, if they can’t re-sign Semien
– Sign a closer
They have two closers already.
Fans pay through the nose because all GMs are apparently idiots.
That’s not how pricing works. The Jays will charge the fans whatever they think they can get away with.
Maybe its that GM’s pay thru the nose because fans are apparently idiots
Fair to both sides. Settles arbitration for 2022 for $11m, then…
4/$80m-90m, really, for Berrios’ age 29-32 seasons, with a player opt-in for 2/40m for his age 33-34 seasons. You only end up paying him 40m if he’s not very good, which the team obviously doesn’t want. It’s 40m in insurance to the player in case he’s bad, in short.
So, 4/90m if he’s good, then he’s gone.
6/120m if he’s bad.
That math doesn’t add up
The math is: guaranteed 5 years, $83M. Option years at 2 years, $48M. Total is 7 years, $131M, potentially as high as $141M if Berrios hits his escalators. That’s a great contract.
I took out the arb settlement for clarity, then you put it back in in order to make an entirely different point—never mind the useless ambiguity of your closing sentence.
Wow. This site has collapsed if that’s passing for a point.
Great extension fo Toronto. After years of the Twins front office essentially claiming Berrios’ demands were too high and he seemed hell bent on testing free agency, this extension proves the Twins front office lied. The money is not bad at all. Pitching is incredibly hard to find.
Toronto has built quite a core roster for the future, as a Twins fan watching everyone good leave I’m very jealous.
Anything above Baseball’s equivalent of minimum wage is an outrageous demand to Pohlad. I wonder what Brad Radke would be worth in todays market and if he would have stayed a Twins lifer if he were playing today
Damn, what a fantastic year by year salary for the Blue Jays. Great contract for the team!
Apparently Toronto didn’t look at the Carlos Martinez debacle….comparable pitchers size and stats until Martinez lost his mojo. The Cardinals have been crippled by that contract and finally out from underneath it.. I predict the same fate for Toronto in years 3-7….
Martinez was used as a reliever, then a starter, then a reliever, then a starter again. There were a lot of up’s and down’s just in the way the Cardinals used Martinez.
LoL at this signing.
There are, maybe a handful of pitchers worth a a 7-year contract… Berrios ain’t one of ‘em.
7 years is long, but it’s spread out so it’s a lower average salary. This should help with future payroll to add future extensions for Bo, Vlad and others.
Plus, it’s not as bad considering Berrios’ age.
Love this contract. Remains under QO until he has an opt-out. And he’d be 20ish/year on open market in 2022.