Two bat-first infielders and couple of lottery ticket pitchers round out the 2025 list
The Top 40 countdown of the Toronto Blue Jays system kicks off with three new additions to the system (acquired in three different ways) as well as a new entrant from within.
2025: Full List and Index | 37-40
2024: Full List and Index | 1-4 | 5-8 | 9-12 | 13-16 | 17-20 | 21-24 | 25-28 | 29-32 | 33-36 | 37-40
40. Angel Bastardo, RHP, age 22/23 (DOB: 6/13/2002), grade: 35, 2024: Red Sox system
Bastardo was signed by the Red Sox out of Venezuela in 2018. He’d advanced as far as AA, working as a starter with solid strikeout numbers but too many walks, when he blew his elbow out this past June. The Sox left him off the 40-man, hoping Tommy John surgery would sneak him through, but the Jays took him in the Rule 5 Draft in December.
His fastball sits 94-95 and runs up to 98, but his arm angle gives hitters a good look at it and it’s fairly straight, so it plays as average in spite of plus velocity. His breaking ball is in the mid-80s, and he can manipulate the shape to be either a somewhat sweepy slider or a straight downward curve. He doesn’t land it as often as you’d hope, but just on shape the slider version is above average. His best pitch is an change up that just dies as it comes to the plate. He can get chases down and away from lefties or start it outside and bring it back to the outside corner to freeze righties.
On the 60-day IL now, he’s due back in September. He’ll then need to either stay on the active roster for 90 days (which will almost certainly bleed into 2026) or be offered back to the Sox. He has the stuff for a setup role if he sits closer to the 98mph end of his velocity range in short bursts, and the bullpen is his near term home. I think he’ll stay there, but with a full repertoire there’s some chance command refinement allows him to become a back end starter.
39. Carson Messina, RHP, age 19 for 2025 (DOB: 4/15/2006), grade: 35, 2024: HS senior
The Blue Jays drafted Messina in the 12th round last year, paying fourth round money ($550,000) to buy him out of a commitment to South Carolina. The right-hander is a solid 6’1”, 200 and looks strong but probably has limited projection for a high school arm.
Messina uses a drop and drive delivery with a three quarters arm slot that gives his fastball a flat plane to the plate. He’s a decent athlete but needs work on consistently repeating his delivery. Right now he tends to spin out and his control is somewhat scattershot.
His fastball sits 93-94 with big arm side run, and his angle to the plate allows him to get swings and misses up in the zone. The breaking ball is a mid-80’s slider with two-plane break that at it’s best is nasty, drawing some 70 grades on the 20-80 scouting scale. His change-up is inconsistent and rarely used, which isn’t uncommon for prep righties (when you’re throwing 93 to high schoolers, a change just gives them a chance to catch up). I saw a couple that looked average, though, with some run and a little depth.
Right handed prep pitchers are an ultra-high risk demographic. Messina already flashes the stuff to be a big league reliever if he’s able to refine it a bit, and if he’s able to harness his delivery some more and develop the change up he could become a #4 starter. That’s the development path the Jays will try first. He could be much higher or off the list entirely next year, and even if things go well he’s a ways away.
38. Charles McAdoo, IF, age 23 (DOB: 3/6/2002), grade: 35, 2024: Pirates system
The cousin of NBA Hall-of-Famer Bob McAdoo was the return for Isiah Kiner-Falefa at last year’s deadline. He tore up the lower minors and AA after the Pirates drafted him out of San Jose State in the 7th round in 2023. He struggled a bit more after coming to the Jays, with his strikeout rate jumping from 25 to 30% and his power drying up.
McAdoo has a somewhat long right handed swing that he makes work because of very good bat speed. He has plus power and does well elevating and pulling the ball, but his contact rates are below average and swing and miss, especially against good velocity, might become a problem as he moves up the ladder. He’s walked a lot so far, but that looks more like the product of passivity against erratic minor league pitching than a really good approach.
A fringe average runner, he’s racked up some steals on the strength of good timing and judgment on the base paths. McAdoo’s actions aren’t great at third, and he’s spent some time at first and in right field. In the long run he’s likely a corner utility type, although it’s possible that some defensive refinement and continued power production allows him to stick as a low end regular at third.
37. Peyton Williams, 1B, age 24 (DOB: 9/14/2000), grade: 35, 2024: unranked
Williams is a big guy. The 2022 7th round pick is listed at 6’5” and 255lbs, but he might be larger than that, and he looks like a left tackle as much as a baseball player. As you’d expect, that size comes with plus power. It also comes with some swing and miss, although his strong sense of the plate and quick, level left handed swing have done pretty well to keep that under control up through High A. His .289/.362/.470 line was 33% better than the Northwest League average last season, and his 22.8% strikeout rate was manageable when paired with his .182 isolated power.
Unsurprisingly, he’s a bottom of the scale runner, and while he moves around alright relative to his size he profiles best as a DH. That will put a lot of pressure on his offensive production if he’s going to have any kind of an MLB role.
He’s passed the test so far, but he’s also been old for his level. The jump to the upper minors in 2024 will be significant, and if he continues to manage his strikeouts as he advances to AA New Hampshire and potentially AAA Buffalo he’ll begin to significantly up his odds of carving out a major league career. His ceiling is as a near-everyday 1B/DH, but more likely he’s a power-oriented lefty bench bat.