Revisiting Blue Jays' Trade for Jose Berrios and If It's Worked Out for Them

As the trade deadline came down to the wire in 2021, the Toronto Blue Jays had a 52-48 record and sat in fourth in the American League East.

The Boston Red Sox (63-42), Tampa Bay Rays (62-42), and New York Yankees (54-48) were looking down at the Blue Jays as the July 31 deadline approached.

But there was still a shot for Toronto to make a push for both the division and a Wild Card spot.

The Minnesota Twins found themselves stuck in the basement of the AL Central with a 43-61 record and a fire sale was imminent.

The Twins ended up striking deals with the St.

Louis Cardinals, Rays, Red Sox and Blue Jays, shipping out J.A.

Happ, Nelson Cruz, Hansel Robles and Jose Berrios.

More News: Hard Work Pays Off For Outfielder As Major League Debut Arrives With Blue Jays Through 20 starts, Berrios had a 3.48 ERA with 126 strikeouts over 121.2 innings to go with a 7-5 record for the basement-dwelling Twins.

While Toronto eventually missed out on a playoff spot with a 91-71 record, the Blue Jays ended up in the postseason over the next two campaigns.

Toronto threw together a package that included two of its top four prospects in Austin Martin (No.

2) and Simeon Woods Richardson (No.

4) to add Berrios an established rotation consisting of eventual AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, Hyun Jin Ryu, Steven Matz, Alek Manoah and Ross Strippling, who only made two more starts after the trade.

More News: Toronto Blue Jays Have One of Best Franchise Building Blocks in MLB Woods Richardson had joined the Blue Jays' organization after being shipped away from the New York Mets in the Marcus Stroman trade near the 2019 trade deadline and impressed in a small sample size (2.54 ERA over six starts) before the COVID-19 pandemic prevented all minor leaguers from playing in 2020.

Fresh off of being drafted with the fifth overall pick in the prior year's draft, Martin was looking to prove doubters wrong after falling in comparison to where he was projected to go in mock drafts with a .281 batting average and .807 OPS in his first taste of professional ball at Double-A New Hampshire Berrios continued a strong season with a 3.58 ERA over 70.1 innings as a Blue Jay down the stretch, putting together a 5-4 record, nearly matching his 1.9 bWAR as a Twin with a 1.5 bWAR in a little less than half of the workload.

More News: Four Potential Blue Jays Trade Deadline Targets if Team Keeps Winning Games Since the trade, the 2012 first-round pick has a 3.98 ERA over 707 innings in Toronto while the then-prospects he was traded for have struggled to become Major League-quality contributors.

Woods Richardson has a career 4.65 ERA over 185.2 innings pitched, scuffling with a 5.74 through nine outings this season.

Martin hit .253 with a .670 OPS in 233 at-bats last year, with those 93 games being the only time he has spent in MLB.

He has struggled through multiple hamstring injuries this season, only making nine appearances at Triple-A Saint Paul.

Toronto and Berrios will have a decision to make after the 2026 campaign, with Berrios holding a player option that will trigger a two-year, $48 million guarantee for his age 33 and 34 seasons.

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