Yankees: 3 trade pieces NYY should buy for 2022 season

2. Jose Berrios

Will the Dodgers get Jose Berrios? If they don’t pull the trigger on Max Scherzer, probably. But fans of the team on the other coast — again, the team Scherzer already turned down in public — can still dream for a few more days.

Berrios, locked down for the next 1.5 seasons, is having his best season … because basically every season he puts forth is identical. This time around, he’s struck out 126 men in 121.1 innings pitched to a 3.48 ERA and solid 1.044 WHIP to his name. This would be the lowest full-season ERA of Berrios’ career, but not by much, considering he annually clocks in right around this range. Since 2017: 3.89, 3.84, 3.68, 4.00 (in 2020). That’s a level of consistency with about a strikeout per inning that will definitely play in any environment.

Is he a No. 3 starter in a playoff series? Probably. But he’s a bonafide third starter without any real question marks. In the Berrios Box of Chocolates, Forrest Gump knows exactly what he’s gonna get.

Earlier in 2021, the Twins made it clear they’d prefer to keep him in place and, similarly to the Bronx Bombers, reload for next season with a young outfield core and hopefully another step forward for Byron Buxton. Minnesota decided they’d rather offer Michael Pineda and JA Happ, and the world said … no.

Then, when Buxton emphatically turned down their latest attempt at an extension, a new path for 2022 seemed like a cleaner exit. Until Berrios goes elsewhere, we’ve endorsed a Yanks trade.