Blue Jays acquire right-hander Berrios from Twins for pair of top prospects
In need of pitching as the trade deadline approached, the Toronto Blue Jays significantly upgraded their starting rotation by acquiring right-handed Jose Berrios from the Minnesota Twins on Friday.
The two-time all-star has a 7-5 record with a 3.48 earned-run average and 126 strikeouts over 20 starts with the Twins this season.
Berrios's services did not come cheap. Toronto parted with two top prospects -- infielder Austin Martin and right-handed Simeon Woods Richardson -- to land the 27-year-old.
The six-foot, 205-pound Berrios was selected by Minnesota in the first round (32nd overall) of the 2012 first-year player draft.
He was named an American League all-star in both 2018 and 2019.
Berrios has a 55-43 record with a 4.08 ERA over six seasons.
Martin, 22, was selected by the Blue Jays fifth overall in the 2020 first-year draft. He was ranked the No. 2 prospect in the Blue Jays organization behind pitcher Nate Pearson.
Woods Richardson, 20, was 2-4 with a 5.76 ERA over 11 starts for Double-A New Hampshire this season. He was ranked the No. 4 prospect in Toronto's system.
The trade was confirmed a couple of hours before baseball's Friday afternoon trade deadline, and on the same day the Blue Jays were set to play their first game at Rogers Centre in almost two years.
The Jays had been based in the United States for the entire 2020 season and the first four months of the 2021 season due to COVID-19 restrictions at the Canada-U.S. border.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Former Air Canada employees among suspects identified in gold heist at Pearson Airport: police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
'Enormous sum of money': Actor Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against tabloid
British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
U.K. plan to phase out smoking for good passes first hurdle
The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Australian clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police began arresting suspected rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.
A wobble reveals the most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy
Astronomers have spotted the most massive known stellar black hole in the Milky Way galaxy after detecting an unusual wobble in space.