Blue Jays roster moves: Who they added to the 40-man and the notable players left exposed to the Rule 5 draft - The Athletic
Notable players left off the 40-man roster
Samad Taylor, 23, had a breakout season in Double A, hitting .294 with an .888 OPS while slugging a career-best 16 home runs. However, he struck out nearly 30 percent of the time. Since he was acquired in a trade with Cleveland in 2017, Taylor has hung around in the bottom half of the top 30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline. Defensively, he can play all over the infield and outfield. Speed is part of his game, too, with 30 stolen bases in 38 attempts last season.
However, his role on the Blue Jays’ roster would be redundant, with guys like Cavan Biggio, Breyvic Valera, Kevin Smith and Otto López all functioning as utility options already. By leaving him exposed, the Blue Jays run the risk of seeing him taken, especially if a rebuilding team needs a versatile defender. But without playing experience above Double A, and with a lot of swing-and-miss in his game, perhaps the Blue Jays can run that risk, assuming it would be a long shot for him to stick in the majors all season.
Miguel Hiraldo, 21, was among Baseball America’s top 10 Blue Jays prospects before the season, but after hitting .249/.338/.390 in 105 games in Low A, he dropped down that list. He’s still so young, though, so while teams might be tempted to look at him for his prospect pedigree, there’s little reason to believe he could last a full season in the majors on another team’s 26-man roster.
Graham Spraker, 26, transitioned to a full-time reliever in 2021 with Double-A New Hampshire and had a 2.74 ERA in 42 2/3 innings with 62 strikeouts and 23 walks. He’s enjoyed a nice run in the Arizona Fall League, having yet to allow a run in 11 1/3 innings of work with 17 strikeouts. The Blue Jays are on the lookout for swing-and-miss for their bullpen, so the fact Spraker was unprotected suggests they don’t believe he can offer that yet at the MLB level. He’ll be among many relievers up for grabs in the draft, so there is some protection in the fact he’ll be one of many, but he could catch another team’s eye, especially after his fall league performance.
Joey Murray, 25, and Eric Pardinho, 20, are two of Toronto’s starting pitching prospects, but both spent almost the entire season on the injured list. Depending on his health status, Murray might attract some attention in the draft since he’s been an under-the-radar prospect with a deceptive high-spinning fastball. But it sits in the low 90s, so there’s also some skepticism that it would play in the majors. Law previously noted the track record for pitchers like Murray isn’t great in MLB. Pardinho continued to work his way back from Tommy John this past season. He’s pitched just three innings since 2019 and has never been above Low A. He has top-prospect shine, but a team would be hard-pressed to keep him on an MLB roster.
