Blue Jays Sign Jose Berrios To Huge Extension

 

This is exactly what Toronto head honchos Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins had in mind when they gave up the farm to the Minnesota Twins at this year's trade deadline: The Toronto Blue Jays have signed premium starting pitcher Jose Berrios to a massive contract extension — 7 years, $131 Million. 

A 7-year, $131 million deal essentially breaks down as $11 million for Berrios's final arb year followed by $20 million per free agent season for six years

Deal runs through age-34 season

Credit to @JonHeyman who was first on agreement & @jonmorosi who had the seven-year term https://t.co/sWHLcpsUau

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) November 16, 2021

With one year of arbitration left, the deal pays him $11M for 2022, then $20M per year, through 2028 — Berrios' age-34 season. The Jays have locked him up through his entire prime.

Berrios came to Toronto on July 30th, in exchange for a huge prospect haul, including the Jays' Nos. 2 and 4 prospects, the multi-tooled infielder/outfielder Austin Martin and young pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson. 

It seemed like a huge haul at the time, for what looked like basically a year-and-a-half of Berrios. But the Jays knew that once the Puerto Rican-born Berrios got the vibe of the impressive mix in the Toronto clubhouse, he would fall in love with his surroundings. 

With teammates the likes of Vladimir Guerrero, Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., as well as American superstar players like Bo Bichette and George Springer, Berrios obviously fell right in and fit like a glove. 

Berrios put up a 5-4 record, 3.58 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in his two months with Toronto—very similar to his career numbers—and now slots in as an important rotation piece for years to come. 

What this means for the future of Toronto's ace Robbie Ray, now a free agent, remains to be seen.

Photo Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports