The Toronto Blue Jays have quickly gone from a team that needed to add starting pitching to potentially having a surplus.
Toronto announced the signing of Dylan Cease to a massive seven-year, $210 million deal on Tuesday. Afterward, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that the Blue Jays also were in agreement with fellow starter Cody Ponce on a three-year deal.
The Blue Jays are stacked in the rotation with Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, José Berríos, Trey Yesavage, and Eric Lauer also options for the organization. There are only so many spots to go around, though, and The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon reported that Toronto is “willing to listen” to trade offers for Berríos.
“After signing Cease to the largest free-agent contract in franchise history, Toronto’s rotation was seemingly full,” Bannon wrote. “The former San Diego Padres righty joined Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, and Berríos. Then the Jays signed Ponce. Toronto entered the offseason looking for both a top-of-rotation arm and some starting depth. You could argue that’s exactly what the Blue Jays acquired in Cease and Ponce. But with a $30 million commitment, Ponce is expected to be a clear starting pitcher for the Jays next year.
“Perhaps the Jays bump one of the current starters to the bullpen or run a six-man rotation to mitigate the workloads of Yesavage (still a rookie) or Bieber (still just months after returning from Tommy John surgery). Most likely, though, Ponce’s addition could instigate a significant winter trade, and the Jays, a league source said, are willing to listen on Berríos. The right-hander pitched through injury at the end of the 2025 season, lost his rotation spot, wasn’t on Toronto’s playoff roster at any point and departed from the team ahead of the World Series.”
Berríos is a star in his own right. He’s a two-time All-Star and inked a seven-year, $131 million deal with Toronto. The deal has three years left, although Berríos has an opt-out after the 2026 season if he wants to take it.
Berríos had a 4.17 ERA and 138-to-56 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 166 innings pitched in 2025 for Toronto. Before the 2025 campaign, he hadn’t had an ERA above 3.65 since 2022.
If the Blue Jays want to trim the payroll a tad to spend elsewhere, this could be a solid way to do so.
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