Baseball

Things don’t look good for Jose Berrios in Toronto
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Things don’t look good for Jose Berrios in Toronto
Credit: Toronto Star

In the last few days, the Blue Jays have acquired two starting pitchers: Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce. The latter has just arrived in town after a stint in Korea, armed with the biggest contract in baseball history for a guy returning from Korea. We're talking $30 million over three years.

Did playing with Hyun-Jin Ryu help tip the scales for the Blue Jays?

More and more, you get the feeling that the Toronto organization is putting the emphasis on batting strikeouts. They want pitchers who force batters to swing for the fences on a regular basis.

Is this a factor working against Jose Berrios, a pitcher whose name has been cropping up in trade rumors lately? It doesn't help his cause, in any case.

We're hearing more and more that the Blue Jays could part with him – although it wouldn't be easy, considering his low market value. Ponce isn't just an insurance policy, having signed for $30 million.

And clearly, the Blue Jays' depth in the starting rotation is crazier than ever. That gives the club options galore should it ever be decided that Berrios is no longer part of the plans.

Right now, Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber and Dylan Cease have their place in the rotation. Eric Lauer, Bowden Francis, Adam Macko, Jake Bloss, Ricky Tiedemann and other prospects will battle Berrios for the last available spot.

Finally, some real depth… which may also help the bullpen.

But inevitably, this leads us to believe that the Blue Jays could really tamp down Berrios, who hasn't been seen around the team in the playoffs. Even if he was injured, he wasn't with the rest of the club's cripples in the Blue Jays dugout.

Something isn't right with Berrios, and the clues leading to a potential departure are starting to accumulate. Because an “insurance policy” making tens of millions of dollars a year doesn't work.

PMLB
  • A good contact in Korea for the Blue Jays.

  • Next challenges: relief help and a bat.

This content was created with the help of AI.

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