The Toronto Blue Jays got the pitcher they needed before the trade deadline, as they completed a trade with the Minnesota Twins for right-hander Jose Berrios.
They surrendered a lot to get their man, though, sending top prospects Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson to the Twins.
Martin is a shortstop/outfielder selected fifth in last year’s MLB Draft.
Woods-Richardson is a right-handed pitching prospect that had landed on the Blue Jays after the Marcus Stroman trade with the Mets.
Berrios is a 27-year-old righty with a history of being good, but not quite excellent.
Here are the grades for the two teams involved in the transaction.
Grading The Deal For Toronto
Toronto, sitting in fourth place of the AL East with a 51-48 record, badly needed another reliable pitcher to face what is left of the regular season.
They are 9.5 games out in the East, but the second Wild Card is attainable for Toronto.
They have a phenomenal lineup, filled with stars: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Marcus Semien are some of them.
Hyun-Jin Ryu and Robbie Ray lead the rotation, with rookie Alek Manoah right behind them.
Now, Berrios gives a good rotation some more length.
It’s true that he is not a bonafide ace, but Berrios is a good number two or three starter on a contender and deserves a lot of praise and respect.
Time and time again, this front office has shown it knows what it’s doing.
Time and time again, we learn that deals can never be judged on the day they’re made.
Important thing is that Berrios is a #BlueJays player and ready to help this team now. Time to go win some games 👍
— Jason (Hanshin) Lee (@Jasons_JaysHub) July 30, 2021
This season, he has a 3.48 ERA in 121.2 innings, while striking out 9.32 hitters per nine frames.
He has a career 4.08 ERA, which is not star-level ability.
However, Berrios consistently eats quality innings and is a gift for any team’s bullpen.
He is on his second season of arbitration eligibility and has another one before hitting free agency after 2022.
He is also affordable, as he is making $5.6 million this year, with a projected raise for 2022.
All in all, he is a good get, but the price that Toronto had to pay earns them a B grade.
Grading The Deal For Minnesota
Minnesota’s season went south in a hurry, and they realized that competing in 2022 was going to be difficult.
That helped them decide to trade Berrios when he had an additional year of team control.
That, and the fact that Toronto approached them with a really, really good offer.
Austin Martin was a top-five pick in last year’s draft, and has elite plate skills, namely plate discipline and contact.
He doesn’t have too much raw power, but has enough bat control to hit more than 20 homers annually if things break right, with solid averages and on-base percentages.
He is also versatile.
Woods-Richardson projects as a mid-rotation starter if he develops correctly.
He sits in the 93-94 mph range with his fastball, but can dial it up to 97 if needed.
He is athletic, competitive, and has two solid secondaries in his changeup and curveball.
He started this season in High-A, and a 2.54 ERA earned him a promotion to Double-A, where he has struggled to a 5.76 ERA.
He is a work in progress, but the potential benefits could be huge for Minnesota.
The Twins got themselves an A- for this deal.
This has the looks of a potential win-win trade, which is actually quite rare, but with more weight on the Twins’ side.
NEXT: Why Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Will Not Win MLB Triple CrownSS/CF Austin Martin and RHP Simeon Woods-Richardson are headed back to the Twins for Jose Berrios, sources tell ESPN. Wow. That is a massive haul for a year and a half of Berrios.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 30, 2021