Happy Family Day (or happy Louis Riel Day to our Manitoban readers, Heritage Day to our Nova Scotian readers, and Islander Day to, well, our islander readers. Sorry to our Québécois, Newfoundlander, Yukoner, Northwest Territorian and Nunavummiut readers, hope you have a good day at work).
The Blue Jays have signed Amir Garrett to a minor league deal with a salary “in the low seven figures” if he makes the major league team. The hard throwing lefty has played in eight major league seasons, mostly with the Cincinnati Reds. He’s perhaps best known for the time he fought the Pirates 26 on one, although he got his share of punch outs on the mound as well. Command has never been a strong suit, though, and he’s walked more than six batters per nine over the past three seasons. He spent most of last year in the Angels’ system.
Ross Atkins singled out outfielder Alan Roden as a prospect the organization will be watching closely in training camp. John Schneider is quoted in the same piece speaking very highly of the 2022 3rd round pick. Roden doesn’t currently have a spot on the 40 man roster, but he hit his way to AAA by the middle of his second full pro season last year, and is probably first in line for a shot at an everyday corner job among the organization’s outfield prospects (assuming Joey Loperfido is a better fit as a fourth outfielder). We’ll get into it in more detail when Matt W and I publish our prospect rankings next month, but I’m a massive fan of Roden’s. He’s got a very strong all around offensive game, and possesses some sneaky value in the field and on the bases. It’s good to hear the front office picking him out as a player who’s commanding attention.
Hazel Mae has an update from Daulton Varsho, who sounds pretty happy with his throwing progression. It also notes that he’s full speed in the batting cage. No dates are mentioned, but it at least sounds like everything is moving along.
Fangraphs has their top 100 prospects out. It has three Blue Jays: Jake Bloss at 66 (!), Arjun Nimmala at 82, and Ricky Tiedemann at 102. That’s a fairly optimistic take on the top of the system, but I think it reflects where they are: no elite prospects, but several who are on the borderline of being top 100 types so it comes down to individual writers’ preferences. Tiedemann won’t move much either way this year as he rehabs, and Bloss will likely graduate, but a strong year from Nimmala would do a lot to ensure that the system looks stronger this time next year.
And finally, it’s deadline day for Vlad. The first full squad workout is tomorrow, at which point he’s said he’s not interested in continuing negotiations. There are no public updates right now, which doesn’t mean nothing’s happening. We’ll know by tonight what the future of the franchise looks like.