“I can comfortably say that a contract extension is better than a free agent contract this winter.”
Jose Berrios was traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Toronto Blue Jays with a year and a half left in free agency. Of course, Ryu Hyun-jin is the ace, but he was already in his mid-30s. Toronto calculated that Berrios would be the center of the rotation for the long term.
In fact, Ryu Hyun-jin suffered from rapid ups and downs from the middle of the 2021 season. Berrios was fine with an average ERA of 3.58 in 12 games after the transfer. As a result, Toronto’s winning streak remained a failed deal along with a failure to qualify for the postseason.
However, the first thing the Toronto leadership did in the 2021-2022 offseason was to sign a 7-year, $131 million (approximately 161.8 billion won) contract extension with Berrios. There was no internal FA crackdown or outside FA recruiting. Berrios and Kevin Gaussman were set up as new one-two punches, and the reliance on Ryu Hyun-jin was reduced.
Toronto returned to the postseason in the 2022 season, but Berrios went 12-7 with a 5.23 ERA in 32 games. The effect of preoccupying the right-handed ace with a year before FA qualification could not be confirmed at least in the 2022 season. He won 12 wins, but his detailed stats were poor.
It was the lowest ERA among all major league pitchers who filled the required innings. His 1.42 WHIP was also the lowest among American League pitchers who completed the required innings. His 29 home runs were behind fourth among American League pitchers. Although he threw 172 healthy innings, he had three seasons in which he had already exceeded 190 innings.
CBS Sports had to go to the 2022-2023 FA market on the 19th (hereinafter Korean time), but pointed out the current 온라인카지노 addresses of players who signed multi-year contracts a year earlier. It was concluded that the contract extension saved Berrios. He said it would have been a disaster if he went to the FA market with the results of the 2022 season.
CBS Sports said, “Without the contract extension, Berrios would have had the worst season. His fastball took a hit in the 2022 season, recording the highest ERA and lowest strikeout rate (19.8%) among starting pitchers. After his contract, everything collapsed.”
Of course, since he was born in 1994 and is 29 years old, he assumed that he would not have had any difficulties signing the free agent contract itself. But of course, it would have been difficult for him to get a good contract. CBS Sports said, “If Toronto offered Berrios a qualifying offer ($19.6 million per year), Berrios was a strong candidate to accept. He would have been revived in the 2023 season and challenged again in the next free agent market. I can comfortably say that the extension is better than the free agent contract I got this winter.”
Toronto desperately needs Berrios to rebound this season. This is because Ryu Hyun-jin is undergoing rehabilitation with the goal of entering the major leagues in July, and his future this season cannot be optimistic. In addition, there is no guarantee that Alec Manoa will show the same performance as last year again this year.