TORONTO, ON – AUGUST 16: Toronto Blue Jays pitcher José Berríos (17) is seen in the Blue Jays dugout in the seventh inning of an MLB game between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays on August 16, 2025, at Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON. (Photo by Mathew Tsang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
After getting excruciatingly close to winning the World Series championship this past season, the Toronto Blue Jays seem determined to finish the job next year.
The team brought Game 7 against the Los Angeles Dodgers all the way to extra innings before ultimately falling short. But just a few weeks later, it has emerged as the most aggressive club in making offseason additions so far.
Midseason trade prize Shane Bieber decided to opt into his contract with the Blue Jays shortly after the season ended. Then the team announced its largest free agent contract in franchise history with a $210 million deal to bring in free agent starter Dylan Cease. And now the team has added pitcher Cody Ponce on a three-year, $30 million deal.
“As recently as a few months ago, the Toronto Blue Jays’ starting rotation looked completely different,” Ben Nicholson-Smith wrote for Sportsnet. “Those are significant additions to a group that already included Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and Eric Lauer.”
But now with such a deep pitching staff, the next move for the Blue Jays might include a bit of subtraction. And as the team tries to address other areas of its roster, it has decided it will now be listening on trade interest for Berrios in particular.
“Perhaps the Jays bump one of the current starters to the bullpen or run a six-man rotation to mitigate the workloads of (Trey) Yesavage (still a rookie) or Bieber (still just months after returning from Tommy John surgery),” Mitch Bannon wrote for The Athletic. “Most likely, though, Ponce’s addition could instigate a significant winter trade, and the Jays, a league source said, are willing to listen on Berrios.”
Though Berrios struggled this past season and was ultimately left out of the Blue Jays’ playoff rotation, there’s reason to believe he will garner some interest now that the team has opened him up to trade offers.
He is a two-time All-Star who has made at least 30 starts in each of the last four seasons. That being said, he’s owed $19 million next season and then $24 million in both 2027 and 2028 if he does not opt out of his $131 million contract, which he almost certainly will not.
Given that price tag, the Blue Jays might have to eat some of his remaining contract in order to move him and get anything of significant value in return. But with a suddenly overcrowded starting staff, the team will be fielding trade calls for Berrios.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterchawaga/2025/12/03/blue-jays-make-trade-decision-on-131-million-2-time-all-star-after-cody-ponce-news/
