Jays trade for Twins ace Berríos a bold move to shore up pitching for playoff drive.

Price was high for Twins ace, but not all prospects pan out — and banners fly forever

If there’s one thing this year’s trade deadline has taught us, it’s that the Blue Jays’ front office can no longer be accused of hoarding all the prospects.

General manager Ross Atkins pulled off arguably the biggest trade of his career on Friday by acquiring ace righthander José Berríos from the Minnesota Twins. The cost wasn’t cheap, with top prospects Simeon Woods Richardson and Austin Martin going the other way. Later in the day, the Jays also acquired reliever Joakim Soria from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for a pair of players to be named later.

The deals were made against the backdrop of the Jays’ long-awaited return home. Backed by home runs from Teoscar Hernandez and Bo Bichette they earned a 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night in the first game back at Rogers Centre since Sept. 29, 2019. President Mark Shapiro made some bold claims earlier in the month about trying to make some significant deals to celebrate the highly anticipated homecoming and his organization delivered a few hours before the first pitch back on Canadian soil.

The cost for Berrios was a lot more than the Jays got from the Mets for Marcus Stroman at the 2019 deadline. Woods Richardson was in that deal as well, but had not yet become a ranked prospect, while Martin — ranked No. 16 overall by MLB Pipeline — has a lot more pedigree than backend starter Anthony Kay, the other half of the Stroman return.

Just like Stroman did, Berríos comes with a year and a half of control. He is eligible for salary arbitration this off-season and won’t hit free agency after 2022. That gives the Jays a bona fide top starting three of Berrios, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Robbie Ray as they push for the postseason with two months to play.

“We’re just trying to do our part and we’re trying to improve the organization to the best of our ability,” Atkins said. “We’re trying to be the best teammates we can be in the front office … Our job is to create a good environment for (the players) and continue to build that roster out in the

most balanced and thoughtful way we possibly can, and these opportunities presented themselves.”

The Jays were linked to just about everyone available ahead of Friday’s deadline, but Berríos had long been assumed to be their top target. Acquiring someone who is a longer-term fit made more sense than a push for pending free-agent Max Scherzer, and while a lot of big bats were up for grabs this week, the Jays needed pitching more than anything else.

Berríos is a proven talent and considered a bona fide No. 1 starter. The 27-year-old is a two-time all-star and in the middle of his best season to date. The Puerto Rican went 7-5 with a 3.48 ERA while striking out 126 batters across 121 2⁄3 innings for the Twins. He has posted sub-4.00 ERAs in three of his last four seasons while frequently pitching deep into games.

The trade provides another upgrade to a Jays team that has been trying to stockpile arms for the better part of a month.

On Thursday, they acquired closer Brad Hand from the Washington Nationals. The next day they added Soria, while previous deals brought in relievers Adam Cimber and Trevor Richards. Whether that will be enough to make a run remains to be seen. The Jays entered Friday 4 ⁄ games back

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of Oakland for the second wild card and 9 ⁄ back of Boston for

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first place in the American League East.

“When you look at the starters

that we could get … there’s not that many (available) next year when you think about it,” Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “Getting (Berrios) for this year and then next year, that’s just a great move in my opinion. Of course we gave up good players, but Berrios is 27 years old and he’s a really, really good starter.”

In Martin, the Jays traded away a promising middle infielder who was the club’s first pick in last year’s draft. The

22-year-old was considered the club’s second-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, and batted .281 with an .807 OPS in 55 games this season for Double-A New Hampshire. One notable cause for concern was a lack of power, with just two home runs in 196 at-bats.

Woods Richardson had been on an upward trajectory almost from the day the Jays acquired him in the Stroman deal. By the end of that 2019 season, he went from a guy who wasn’t mentioned by most prospect experts to having a spot on all the top lists. Prior to this season, he was ranked No. 69 by Baseball America and No. 87 by MLB Pipeline. The results this year, however, haven’t been great: 2-4 with a 5.76 ERA for New Hampshire.

The Jays gave up a lot of their future to make a run, which previously would have been considered out of character for this front office. Since 2016, Atkins and the rest of his staff prioritized acquiring young, controllable players. They built up the farm system to become one of the best in baseball, and until now had been resistant to parting with anything but excess depth.

All along, the Jays claimed they would spend when the timing was right. The purchases began through free agency in the form of Ryu and centrefielder George Springer, among others. The spree has now been expanded to include trades, with the Jays willing to make some sacrifices to upgrade their current roster.

“The development and maturation of our young core, the opportunities we’ve had over the last couple off-seasons to add to it, and now having our farm system in place and a team we’d like to help push to the next level,” Atkins said when asked why he picked Friday to move some of his top prospects. “The combination of those things made sense, and then the opportunity to acquire talent that we were excited about.”

With Berríos, Ryu and Ray in the fold the Jays have a big three that rivals almost any top team.

Berríos also offers protection in case Ray departs as a free agent. If the Jays manage to re-sign Ray, their rotation should remain a strength next year as well, with rookie Alek Manoah offering a ton of upside as the No. 4 option.

The Jays are much better now than they were a few weeks ago, and it cost a lot to make that happen. The thinking is that not all prospects pan out, and banners fly forever.

After years of stockpiling prospects, Atkins was finally convinced to make a big move. Now it’s up to the players on the field to make sure it’s one the Jays don’t regret.