Report: Blue Jays Will Listen To Trade Offers for José Berríos

[Leo Morgenstern]

After signing Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce to kick off their offseason, the Blue Jays find themselves with a surplus of starting pitchers. Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage are locks for the 2026 rotation, as is Cease. That leaves one spot left for Ponce and José Berríos, unless the Jays are planning to use a six-man cycle. 

Berríos, who has started more games than any other pitcher in MLB over the last eight years, has three years and just over $64 million remaining on his contract. Yet, it seems unlikely the Jays would have committed $30 million to Ponce, the reigning KBO MVP, if they weren't going to give him a chance to start. 

One way to clear up the rotation logjam could be a trade, and to that point, The Athletic's Mitch Bannon reports that the Blue Jays are "willing to listen" to trade offers for Berríos. That doesn't mean a deal is likely, especially since Berríos is coming off a down year that ended with an elbow injury. In other words, it might be hard to find a taker for the veteran and his contract. Still, a Berríos trade is now a possibility that Jays fans must at least consider. 

So, do you think the Jays should shop Berríos? Which teams do you think might be interested, and what would you be looking for in return? Have your say in the comments below!

Featured image courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images.

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[Spanky__99]

It would be a Festivus Miracle if Boss Atkins could move his contract.

[jaysblue]

1 hour ago, Spanky__99 said:

It would be a Festivus Miracle if Boss Atkins could move his contract.

[Sorrow]

I think Berrios is going to end up in either Anaheim or Arizona. 

[glory]

Berrios is guaranteed 3/66 if he opts in (could be 3/68 if he reaches innings thresholds next season). Eating half of that money puts him at 3/33, which is probably closer to the type of value he would have if he were a FA right now. It's probably doable in that scenario. Just a matter of how much money the Jays are willing to cover. I kinda like the idea of trading Berrios and using the money saved on Bassitt. In that scenario the Jays would maintain their SP depth but with someone who doesn't look washed and who is willing to pitch out of the pen (effectively) if a need arises. I guess it depends on how much money the Jays actually have to spend this winter. 

[Jonn]

There's definitely teams who would like him as an innings eater if the Jays are eating 20-30 million of that contract. Whether its straight cash or taking another teams bad contract I think it's very doable and any savings you can get would be considered a win to reallocate those funds that will help this Baseball team.

[John_Havok]

54 minutes ago, glory said:

Berrios is guaranteed 3/66 if he opts in (could be 3/68 if he reaches innings thresholds next season). Eating half of that money puts him at 3/33, which is probably closer to the type of value he would have if he were a FA right now. It's probably doable in that scenario. Just a matter of how much money the Jays are willing to cover. I kinda like the idea of trading Berrios and using the money saved on Bassitt. In that scenario the Jays would maintain their SP depth but with someone who doesn't look washed and who is willing to pitch out of the pen (effectively) if a need arises. I guess it depends on how much money the Jays actually have to spend this winter. 

I really think people need to move on from this love affair with Bassitt.

[Perfect Game]

33 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

I really think people need to move on from this love affair with Bassitt.

Amen! Why aim for Bassitt when Imai's right there?

[Hipfan]

3 hours ago, John_Havok said:

I really think people need to move on from this love affair with Bassitt.

After the playoffs he had, NEVER!!! That’s blasphemy. Bring back Bassitt!!!

[DonJays]

3 hours ago, John_Havok said:

I really think people need to move on from this love affair with Bassitt.

Yes, it’s getting pretty bizarre. Great dude but definitely don’t want him back. We need to improve 

[saskjayfan]

6 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

It would be a Festivus Miracle if Boss Atkins could move his contract.

Manaea is getting 22 mil a year.  Pitching is expensive.  Berrios has a 17 mil luxury tax hit which matters if he goes to a luxury tax payor.  I think you could move him.  Might have to kick a little money in, but not that much.

[Ray]

6 hours ago, Sorrow said:

I think Berrios is going to end up in either Anaheim or Arizona. 

Arizona has been my thought all along. I can't shake the feeling that they are going to move Marte before his 10/5 rights kick in. And objectively, they need a lot of help in that pitching staff and need someone to eat innings

Berrios + cash + Barger + 1 of Macko/Francis for Marte. Not sure if that gets it done, but would start convos around a Barger + Berrios package and see what else they would want.

[Stangstag]

4 hours ago, John_Havok said:

I really think people need to move on from this love affair with Bassitt.

Yeah this whole Bassitt/Scherzer thing is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

If we are dumping Berrios to save some money, we arent then turning around and giving that money right back to Bassitt who could fall off a cliff at any moment.

 

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, DonJays said:

Yes, it’s getting pretty bizarre. Great dude but definitely don’t want him back. We need to improve 

I would have welcomed him back before the Ponce signing. Now he doesn’t fit on this roster 

[glory]

13 hours ago, John_Havok said:

I really think people need to move on from this love affair with Bassitt.

It’s not a “love affair” with Bassitt (with me at least, can’t speak for anyone else), it’s a way to trade Berrios without impacting SP depth. Replace Bassitt in my scenario with anyone who could conceivably be a ~2 WAR depth SP with positional flexibility (SP/RP) and the same applies. Find 2015 Marco Estrada somewhere. Removing Berrios is more about his ego and the clunky roster fit (not factoring contract). Having six big league SPs is actually a good idea that I am warming up to even if it causes a glut, especially since we don’t know what we’re getting with Ponce, and Lauer is a big regression candidate.

[Omar]

16 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

It would be a Festivus Miracle if Boss Atkins could move his contract.

Sometimes miracles do happen and you can end up moving the immovable....

[Laika]

Vernon Wells LOL there's one more case against signing Bo 

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, Omar said:

Sometimes miracles do happen and you can end up moving the immovable....

So, find a dummy, lol.

[Omar]

26 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

So, find a dummy, lol.

Hello, LA Angels, I have a deal for you!

[jmomcc]

I said this in the other thread but i'd offer him in trade and we'll take all the salary for this year. All 18 million. A team gets a free year and he might even opt out. Then we get the cash off the books next year when its a year where we could be trying to get under a number.

I feel like this has san diego written all over it. 

[mphenhef]

14 hours ago, saskjayfan said:

Manaea is getting 22 mil a year.  Pitching is expensive.  Berrios has a 17 mil luxury tax hit which matters if he goes to a luxury tax payor.  I think you could move him.  Might have to kick a little money in, but not that much.

It would be a 22 million dollar hit after a trade as the luxury tax numbers are recalculated when traded to include only the remainder of the the contract.  

[JaysForever]

If the Jays have thrown out any semblance of a salary limit, I would trade Berrios for a better player whose on a worse contract.

Ar least turn him into something more useful even if the cap hit is worse. So long as its only for 3 years or so, similar to Berrios.

 

Moving him for the hell of moving him seems pointless if its not even freeing up salary.

[glory]

20 minutes ago, mphenhef said:

It would be a 22 million dollar hit after a trade as the luxury tax numbers are recalculated when traded to include only the remainder of the the contract.  

Yeah Berrios has an $18.7M CBT hit for the Jays as long as he's with the team (even in 2027-28 when he's making $24-25M annually, he will count as $18.7M in the calculations), but that changes if he's traded based on what's left on the contract. The only thing I'm unclear on is how player options work in the calculation if he's traded. I'm assuming they are counted as guaranteed years, but they technically aren't guaranteed years since an option is involved. Does Berrios count as a $22M tax hit for the new team (18-24-24) regardless of what happens with the options, or $18M in 2026 and $24M in 2027-28 when options are picked up? I'm guessing it's $22M regardless, which does make him a bit less appealing for teams who are carefully looking at the CBT money. 

[Jonn]

All I want for Christmas is him off my Baseball team.

[saskjayfan]

On 12/4/2025 at 1:23 PM, mphenhef said:

It would be a 22 million dollar hit after a trade as the luxury tax numbers are recalculated when traded to include only the remainder of the the contract.  

I actually wasn't aware of that.  Giminez is making 96 ml with us yet his luxury tax number is 15.2, not 19....not sure why that is. 

[mphenhef]

16 minutes ago, saskjayfan said:

I actually wasn't aware of that.  Giminez is making 96 ml with us yet his luxury tax number is 15.2, not 19....not sure why that is. 

I would guess that spotrac has that wrong.

[saskjayfan]

 

On 12/4/2025 at 1:42 PM, glory said:

Yeah Berrios has an $18.7M CBT hit for the Jays as long as he's with the team (even in 2027-28 when he's making $24-25M annually, he will count as $18.7M in the calculations), but that changes if he's traded based on what's left on the contract. The only thing I'm unclear on is how player options work in the calculation if he's traded. I'm assuming they are counted as guaranteed years, but they technically aren't guaranteed years since an option is involved. Does Berrios count as a $22M tax hit for the new team (18-24-24) regardless of what happens with the options, or $18M in 2026 and $24M in 2027-28 when options are picked up? I'm guessing it's $22M regardless, which does make him a bit less appealing for teams who are carefully looking at the CBT money. 

That's actually not true.  I just checked.  Giminez' luxury tax number with the Guardians in 2024 was the same as it is with us.  Once the contract is set the Luxury tax number is set and does not change even if traded.  Berrios number is 18.7.  I originally said 17 going off memory but my memory isn't that good.  

Berrios' luxury tax number only helps the teams who actually pay luxury tax penalties.  Still of the teams that take him on, it's more than likely going to be a luxury tax payor  Maybe the Mets?  Regardless we have to pay down his salary if we trade him.

[saskjayfan]

2 minutes ago, mphenhef said:

I would guess that spotrac has that wrong.

No...You're wrong.  That or Spotrac and Google Gemini are both wrong..lol

[mphenhef]

3 minutes ago, saskjayfan said:

No...You're wrong.  That or Spotrac and Google Gemini are both wrong..lol

yeah, I was going off of google AI and some old articles.  Thinking more about it, Spotrac is a more reliable source than those.

[saskjayfan]

I don't like Giminez at 15.2 mil luxury tax number.  At 19, I'd really not like that number.  As much as I agree with trading Berrios even if we have to pay some money to do it to free up salary, I think we should do the same with Giminez.  I don't like the value on that contract.  Not sure who would take Giminez though.