Making gains if they’re suffering losses
Top talent on bubble as team decides who to protect from Rule 5 draft
When he was asked last week about how the Blue Jays would navigate their roster decisions while preparing for Friday’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft, Ross Atkins sounded as if he was already preparing for a loss.
The Jays have had players pried away in the major-league phase of each of the last two such drafts. Pitchers Jordan Romano, Travis Bergen and Dany Jimenez were all eventually returned to Toronto, although Bergen was later traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a mid-season deal for Robbie Ray.
The Rule 5 draft is perhaps as enticing as ever before, with expanded rosters and added financial constraints facing some clubs due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Saying goodbye to players for next to nothing is never a plus for any organization but, in this case, the possibility that the draft could cost the Jays another player is a sign that they are right where they want to be.
Happy with their depth. Happy with their 40-man roster. Actively working to acquire more big-league level talent to join that group.
“Subtractions become difficult,” Atkins said last week as the GM meetings came to an end. “We obviously had some free agents come off (the 40man roster), we need to keep room for adding free agents on our 40-man and we feel as though our system is in a really strong place, so every year those decisions get harder and harder, and I’m so glad they are.”
The deadline for protecting players is 8 p.m. on Friday night, with the draft to be held at the end of the winter meetings on Dec. 10. Players signed at 18 or younger must be added to their club’s 40-man roster within five seasons or be exposed to the Rule 5 draft; players signed at 19 or older need to be protected within four seasons.
Clubs pay $100,000 (U.S.) to select a player in the draft’s bigleague phase. He must be offered back to his former team for $50,000 if he doesn’t stick on the big-league roster for the full 2021 season.
Toronto currently has 35 players on its 40-man roster and a couple of potential cuts could still be made as the non-tender deadline approaches, with first baseman Travis Shaw a candidate for dismissal by Dec. 2.
The Jays are spending a lot of time talking about seven or eight names they would need to protect to avoid Rule 5 eligibility, among them catchers Gabriel Moreno and Riley Adams and infielder Kevin Smith, Atkins confirmed. All three are among Toronto’s top 30 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. Other names on that list who need to be protected or chance being taken include infielder Otto Lopez, right-hander Josh Winckowski and outfielder Chavez Young.
Moreno and Adams are among the most interesting names, given Toronto’s current catching situation. Moreno is the top Jays prospect facing Rule 5 eligibility, although he has yet to play above class-A. Adams, Toronto’s No. 22 prospect, could draw suitors given he spent time in Toronto’s 60player pool in 2020 and is expected to be ready for the big leagues next season.
In another year, where the Jays had more space, the pair could very well have both been adds. But with Danny Jansen, Reese McGuire and Alejandro Kirk already on their 40-man roster, Toronto now has to consider whether it’s willing to dedicate more than 12 per cent of its roster to catchers.
Right-hander Ty Tice and second baseman Samad Taylor, who the Jays sent to play with the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League alongside Young this fall, are also names to keep an eye on, as are outfielder Josh Palacios and right-hander Bryan Baker, facing eligibility for a second year.
Smith, Tice, Palacios and Baker all joined Adams in Toronto’s player pool this past year, which means there may be more information available to interested clubs compared to the players who trained individually during the lost minor-league season.
Between available roster spots and openings Toronto plans to leave for incoming talent, there is little to no chance of protecting them all, plus Moreno.
It is now up to the Jays to assess how much roster rejigging they’re willing to do.
“We want to be cognizant not only of the additions that we’ll be making this off-season but potential additions that would happen at the deadline and next off-season,” Atkins said.
If that means taking a loss, so be it.
“Our system is in a really strong place, so every year those decisions get harder and harder, and I’m so glad they are.”
ROSS ATKINS BLUE JAYS GM