Toronto Blue Jays Farm System Given Troubling Assessment in Latest Ranking

According to Keith Law of The Athletic, the Blue Jays don't have much in the way of reliable prospects in the minor leagues, but there is a faint hint of hope.
 East infielder Arjun Nimmala (22) during the Perfect Game All-American Classic high school baseball game at Chase Field in 2022.
East infielder Arjun Nimmala (22) during the Perfect Game All-American Classic high school baseball game at Chase Field in 2022. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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The Toronto Blue Jays have had a very tumultuous offseason at the major league level.

Though the team has secured Anthony Santander, Jeff Hoffman and Yimi Garcia in free agency - and traded for Andres Gimenez - the offseason has been marred by misses.

The Jays weren't able to sign Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried or Tesocar Hernandez, and they are likely to miss on Alex Bregman as well. Toronto has yet to sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a long-term deal despite him saying he won't negotiate beyond the start of spring training, which is less than three weeks away.

Unfortunately, that tumult extends to the minor leagues as well, where the Jays have not performed well in several rounds of recent prospect rankings.

For instance, Keith Law of The Athletic just ranked the Jays as having the 24th-best farm system in baseball. For a team that could lose Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette after the season, that's problematic.

Their 2022 draft, in which they had two extra picks on Day 1, hasn’t panned out at all, as first-rounder Brandon Barriera had Tommy John surgery and their other big high school pick, Tucker Toman, hasn’t hit at all. The Jays 2023 draft class didn’t get off to a much better start, although Arjun Nimmala had a great second half and is still just 19. Their Florida Complex League club was also one of the weakest in the league in terms of prospects. I’m bullish on their 2024 draft class, and I’m even more bullish on their announcement that my former colleague when I was with the Blue Jays, Marc Tramuta, is their new amateur scouting director.

The Blue Jays have an aging and expensive roster at the major league-level, so they will need to replace those players with minor leaguers in the near future. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they are many great options ready to step in - though 2024 first-round pick Trey Yesavage has generally graded well.

The Blue Jays finished last in the American League East last season at 74-88.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.