Happy Thursday. My wife and I are leaving on a pretty long vacation on Sunday. Wifi will be rare for the whole trip, but thankfully, Tom_M will fill in.
The other day, Keith Law put together his top 100 prospect list, and there were two Blue Jays:
- Arjun Nimmala #71, SS:
He’s a true shortstop with good actions and a plus arm, and the power he showed on the field is legit, as he’s got very strong hands and wrists, with a swing that’s very rotational and puts the ball in the air a ton — his groundball rate in Low A last year was just 31.4 percent. He’s still only 19 and remains projectable enough to end up a 30-homer bat in a few years; right now it’s more consistently hard contact (his 90th percentile EV in Low A was 102.3 mph, and his EV50 was 99.0 mph on the dot) than huge top-end EV (peak was 107). He’s still a high-risk, high-reward player, as he continued to strike out 29.7 percent of the time in his second go-round in Low A, and generally needs to tighten up his pitch recognition and bring his chase rate (31 percent) down at least a little. I keep coming back to his results for his age, though — he was younger than Dante Nori, the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2024, for one example — and the potential for big power at a position up the middle. He’s still every bit the prospect that made him a first-rounder in the 2023 draft — and a top-10 talent on my own board.
- Trey Yesavage #96, RHP:
He has one of the shortest arm actions I’ve ever seen on a prospect of his caliber, but the stuff that comes out is undeniable, as he has a 91-96 mph four-seamer and a plus splitter with huge bottom and even some lateral movement, along with a decent slider in the mid-80s he uses mostly versus right-handers. His short arm stroke and the shape of his stuff make him much more of a north-south pitcher and I think he’ll have to find something to work a little more east-west, just to keep hitters honest on both sides of the zone. The delivery does worry me, because it’s unusual, and short arm actions like this generally end up in the bullpen. He’s been healthy the last two years as a starter for ECU, however, and I wouldn’t change anything given how good the stuff is. I’d move him as quickly as possible, as you’re not waiting for any projection on the current pitches, and see a potential No. 3 starter in the near future.
He also had Orelvis Martinez on his ‘just missed’ list.
Martinez was on the top 100 a year ago, had a great start to 2024 in Triple A, got to the majors for five minutes, and was suspended for the rest of the year for testing positive for a PED. He didn’t slide off the top 100 for the suspension, but for concern now that he might have to move off the dirt, and his value as a high-power, low-OBP corner outfielder may just not be good enough to be more than a solid regular. It is real power, though; he has hit 75 homers in 317 games in Double A and Triple A over the last three seasons.
He’s tightened up the approach enough to make it work against better pitching, chasing fewer pitches than he did when he was younger, although he still hunts fastballs and all offspeed pitches give him trouble. When he was a potentially above-average defensive third baseman as a 20-year-old, it was easier to see different scenarios where he could be a 4-win player in the majors. He still has major-league value, and could end up a regular in a corner, but those paths are a little narrower now.
And Law put up his ranking of the minor league systems. The Jays are 24th. He mentions that the 2022 draft didn’t work out for them. Brandon Barriera had Tommy John, and Tucker Toman ‘hasn’t hit at all.’ Law likes the 2024 draft and is happy that Marc Tramuta has been made amateur scouting director.
MLB also has Nimmala (#87) and Yesavage (#88) on their top 100 list.
Beyond that:
- The Jays signed former third-round draft pick Adam Kloffenstein to a minor league contract to add to their starting depth. Kloffenstein was traded to the Cardinals in the Jordan Hicks deal. He’s still just 24.
- Max Scherzer ‘worked out’ for several MLB teams, including the Jays, who were one team in attendance. As with all free agents, the Jays have been talking contract with him.
- There are continuing Pete Alonso rumours.
- And SI.com tells us that Alex Bregman has a six-year contract offer from the Jays. Alex turns 31 in March. Six years would keep him a Blue Jay until he can no longer play third.
- They also say that the Jays had a trade for reliever Ryan Pressly all done, but Pressly wouldn’t agree to drop his no-trade clause for us.