José Berríos signed a seven-year, $131 million extension with the Blue Jays Tuesday morning. Héctor José Torres Donato of La Garata had the first report, mentioning that Berrios will get seven years and around $140 million. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet was the first to give the official details of the contract.
The Puerto Rican right-hander was dealt from the Twins at the deadline to the Blue Jays in exchange for top prospects Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson.
Berrios, 27, pitched to a 3.52 ERA in 2021 over 32 starts. After joining the Blue Jays, he had a 3.58 ERA, with a WHIP of 1.095. The Blue Jays acquired him to provide a much-needed boost to their starting rotation down the stretch as they hunted a playoff spot. He was a very hot topic at the trade deadline, with the Blue Jays, Mets, and Yankees all being involved.
Whichever team acquired him had one more year of team control over the starter, thus giving the Twins more leverage to ask for a bigger haul. The extension buys out one year of arbitration, then tacks on six years after that. This sets the Blue Jays up for a long time, as they look to compete with the highly stacked AL East.
