TORONTO -- To appreciate the value of the Blue Jays’ farm system, we need to step back and look at the bigger picture.
Year after year, this front office has shown a willingness to deal top prospects and first-round picks. At this Trade Deadline, it helped them land a potential frontline starter in José Soriano, which cost them a prospect package fronted by No. 2 prospect Arjun Nimmala. A year ago, the Blue Jays dealt several prospects from their top 10 to fuel a World Series run with Louis Varland, Shane Bieber and Seranthony Domínguez.
COMPLETE BLUE JAYS PROSPECT COVERAGE
This isn’t new, either. José Berríos was brought to the Blue Jays from the Twins for a big-time package, too, headlined by Austin Martin. This farm system has improved at steadily producing big league contributors and hit the jackpot with Trey Yesavage a year ago, but Toronto’s player development staff also deserves a great deal of credit for the trade chips they’ve stacked up for their front office.
Outside of the Soriano deal, though, this Deadline was more about selling than buying, which brings some fresh talent back in the other direction.
Here’s a look at where the Blue Jays’ farm system stands after our full midseason re-rank, including all new prospects from the MLB Draft and the Trade Deadline.
Here’s a look at the Blue Jays’ top prospects:
- JoJo Parker, SS (No. 26 in MLB)
- Nolan Perry, RHP (No. 96 in MLB)
- Johnny King, LHP
- Cole Carlon, LHP
- Will Brick, C
Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the preseason list:
Jump: Danny Thompson Jr. (Preseason: NR | Midseason: 16)
An eighth-round pick from the 2025 Draft, Thompson is looking like one of this system’s better development stories, and at 24, he’s putting himself in a very interesting spot with a good stretch at Double-A New Hampshire. Between the two levels this season, Thompson has posted a 3.10 ERA with 112 strikeouts over 90 innings. A strong finish to this season will set Thompson up for a shot at Triple-A in 2027, bringing an opportunity to emerge as a legitimate piece of big league depth.
Fall: Silvano Hechavarria (Preseason: 14 | Midseason: NR)
After starting his season a few weeks late, Hechavarria has put up some inconsistent outings that all add up to a 7.98 ERA with only 46 strikeouts over 58 2/3 innings. Walks have been an issue, too, with 37 over that span, which is a surprising line from the young right-hander who showed a much stronger sense of control in previous seasons. Hechavarria is a big, physically gifted pitcher with real mound presence, but coming into this season, he needed to miss more bats. That clearly hasn’t happened, but he remains an interesting developmental project given his raw tools and success at the lower levels.
New to the list
Here are the players added to the Top 30 from outside the organization:
No. 4 -- Cole Carlon, LHP (Draft, Rd. 2)
No. 5 -- Will Brick, C (Draft, Rd. 4)
No. 8 -- Dasan Hill, LHP (Trade, Twins)
No. 17 -- Brett Bateman, CF (Trade, Cubs)
No. 19 -- Ryan Cooney, SS (Draft, Rd. 3)
No. 20 -- Ty Southisene, SS (Trade, Cubs)
Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.
Hit: 60 – JoJo Parker
Power: 55 – Sean Keys (Parker, Juan Sanchez, Charles McAdoo)
Run: 80 – Jake Cook
Arm: 65 – Will Brick
Defense: 65 – Brett Bateman (Cook)
Fastball: 60 – Johnny King (Hill, Tiedemann, Guerra, Coleman)
Curveball: 55 – King (Nolan Perry, Dasan Hill, Ricky Tiedemann, Jake Bloss, Chad Dallas)
Slider: 70 – Cole Carlon
Changeup: 60 – Ricky Tiedemann
Control: 50 – Perry (Jake Bloss, Danny Thompson Jr., Dallas)