José Berrios wants to turn the page on his frustrating end to 2025

Coming out of the 2021 season, the Toronto Blue Jays made a significant investment in a talented pitcher they had paid a heavy price to bring in. José Berrios was acquired from the Minnesota Twins for two top prospects and after a fantastic two month audition with the Blue Jays, the front office decided they wanted to keep Berrios around for the long-term. Ahead of the 2022 campaign, Berrios signed a seven-year $131 million extension and over the following four seasons, the native of Puerto Rico has had varying degrees of success.

But the end of the 2025 season brought things to a head between Berrios, Manager John Schneider, and the Blue Jays front office. Berrios was removed from the rotation and placed into a bullpen role.

After initially not loving that move, he accepted his new assignment, but then an injury flared up, and he was left off the playoff roster. Berrios was also absent during the team's run to the World Series and based on comments from both general manager Ross Atkins and Schneider at the Winter Meetings, he left on a sour note.

Now, it appears that Berrios is hoping to put those injury woes behind him, but it's not clear on what his relationship will be like with the Blue Jays before the 2026 season.

José Berrios wants to turn the page on his frustrating end to 2025

Speaking to MLB Network earlier this week, Berrios said, "I was bothered all year long with my elbow and my bicep and with the way the team was competing, I was trying to be out there and compete every five days with them. But at the end of the season, I just couldn't hold back that feeling in my arm anymore."

He said that the MRI revealed that there was some bicep tendon inflammation, but that it wasn't anything that was a major concern going forward, but that was the reason he wasn't able to pitch in the playoffs. Berrios added, "I'm already training to get back on the mound and I'm on track to be there in Spring Training."

The hosts asked him about the prospects of pitching in the World Baseball Classic, something he did as a 19-year-old in the 2013 tournament, before he was even in the big leagues. Berrios said, "That is something I want to do, get back on the mound and pitch in that tournament again. That's my goal. Hopefully we'll get through Spring Training healthy and strong and then get to the WBC."

On one hand, it's great to hear from Berrios himself talking about the health of his arm and his competitive nature, wanting to compete on a big stage like the WBC. On the other, he never addressed how things stood between himself and the Blue Jays, especially after Toronto has made a number of moves that could put his rotation spot in jeopardy.

The Blue Jays already had Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage penciled in to two of those spots. Shane Bieber took the option in his contract to remain with the team for another year for $16 million. They signed Dylan Cease, arguably the top arm on the free agent market. And they added Cody Ponce, who could be a starter, or used in a swing-man role, similar to the situation Eric Lauer finds himself in as well.

If Berrios is healthy and things have cleared up between himself and management, there is no reason to think he can't be one of the team's starting five going into the year. Especially with other health concerns surrounding Bieber, who is coming off Tommy John surgery and pitched in a lot of high leverage moments down the stretch and into October. But it feels like there needs to be some fences mended between Berrios, management, and possibly the rest of his teammates before the start of next season.