The Jays are in the thick of a slapstick caper of a wildcard race, but with today being an off day I thought I’d look at the minor leagues as their seasons wrap up. The International League (AAA) goes through this weekend, so the Buffalo Bisons have a few more to play, but the other levels’ seasons came to a close over the course of the last couple of weeks.
The Vancouver Canadians won the Northwest League championship in a 12 inning thriller on Friday night. You can read a full recap here, but it involved a three run comeback in the ninth to force extras and plenty of other drama. It’s the Canadians’ sixth league championship since they became a Blue Jays affiliate in 2011, and their second since the Northwest League was converted from short season ball to A+ in the minor league reorganization.
As Tom mentioned in his roundup yesterday, the rosters for the Arizona Fall League were released. The AFL is a developmental league that is mostly used to give prospects who missed time or otherwise need a little more work an opportunity for some additional reps. This year, it runs from October 3rd through November 14th. Because the number of players teams want to send is limited, especially on the pitching side, AFL rosters are blended. The Jays team up with the Cubs, A’s, Red Sox and Angels to form the Mesa Solar Sox.
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Participation in the AFL can be a big opportunity for prospects. They get a chance to shine when there aren’t any other minor leagues going, with scouts from all 30 teams paying attention. Recent proof is Spencer Miles, who caught the Jays’ attention with 8.2 impressive innings in last year’s AFL.
The Jays prospects going this year are:
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Brandon Barriera: The 2022 first round pick has alternated between injured and ineffective so far in his career. This season was more of the same, as he managed just 38.2 innings but walked 29 in that span. He’s managed just 66 innings over four pro seasons, so the Jays are likely both inclined to get him more action and not too concerned with sheltering him anymore.
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Gilberto Batista: It was a rough year for Batista. He recorded a 7.86 ERA across 87 innings as a multi-inning reliever for Vancouver. He did show some promise last year with Dunedin, after being acquired from the Red Sox in the Danny Jansen trade.
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Jake Bloss: Bloss is the exciting name from a Jays fan point of view. He came back from Tommy John surgery throwing 2mph harder than he had before the surgery, but then went down almost immediately with a teres major strain. If he can make a few healthy appearances, retain the stuff bump, and continue to rediscover his command after the surgery, he’ll be set up for a potential rotation role with the big league club next year.
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Fernando Perez: The word for Perez’ season is mysterious. He ranked high on our prospect list last winter on the strength of his elite command and strong results across A+ Vancouver and AA New Hampshire, but had a disastrous start to his 2026, walking 10 in nine innings over his first three starts. He was placed on the Development List, a new addition to the minors since the 2021 reorganization that basically allows teams to take players off the roster indefinitely to manage workloads or to work on things outside of game action. He returned for three more appearances in August and September and didn’t look any better. Command is Perez’ whole draw as a prospect, so losing it so completely is concerning. The AFL will be a big opportunity to show that he’s righted the ship. He’s Rule 5 eligible, and coming into the season I’d have expected him to warrant protection, but that seems a distant concern now.
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Yondrei Rojas: Our #32 prospect entering the season, Rojas struggled to build on his strong 2025 this year. He struck out just 20% of batters, mostly at AA, and missed fewer bats that last season. He’s 23 and Rule 5 eligible, so this might be one more chance to harness his plus fastball-slider combination and mark himself as a future Blue Jays bullpen hand.
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Aaron Parker: 2026 was a breakout for the third year pro. He cut down his swing rate and went on a power binge at New Hampshire, launching 19 home runs in 87 games. He’s a below average defensive catcher and his 67% contact rate is scary, but plus power is plus power, and he may have a shot at the third catcher role at some point in 2027.
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Jake Casey: The Kent State prospect has just hit since the Jays took him in the 15th round last year. This season, a broken hamate wiped out his first couple of months, but he managed 13 home runs in just 64 games. He still needs to show he can adjust to upper minors quality spin, and the results are iffy so far, but as long as he keeps producing he’ll warrant watching.
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Jake Cook: Last year’s third rounder was just average in A ball, which would be concerning for most pedigreed college draftees. Cook is just two years into switching back to the field from the mound, though, and working to overhaul the pure slap, inside-out swing he used in college to try to develop a modicum of power. He did up his home run total over last year, from 3 to 5, in spite of switching to wood bats and facing better pitching, and he improved as the year went on. He was also 22 for 27 stealing bases, showcasing the athletic tools that convinced the Jays to gamble a top 100 pick on him. He needs reps, and the AFL will offer an opportunity against pitching a bit better than he’s seen so far.
Because they share a team with the Angels, the Jay’s prospects will get a chance to catch up with Arjun Nimmala. He finished the season red hot, clubbing four home runs and four doubles last week for the AA Rocket City Trash Pandas.
Baseball America has graded the year for each farm system. They give the Jays a B+ overall, which seems about right to me. When I reviewed the performance of the top 40 before the deadline, there were a lot of guys moving in different directions, but the overall trend seemed to be upwards.
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There were several impressive breakouts, although many of those guys will miss next year’s list because they’ve already graduated. Miles, Brandon Valenzuela, and Brett Bateman have all already far exceeded their prospect expectations. Valenzuela has fallen off badly in the second half and Bateman is surely playing over his head offensively, but both still project as at least quality role players now. For Miles, his peripheral stats fully support his exceptional performance this year, and continued health seems like the only real question. Still on the farm is Nolan Perry, who returned from Tommy John and immediately torched three levels, striking out 117 in only 82.2 innings. Sean Keys, who raced through AA and AAA early in the season, is in between. He’s with the Jays right now but not seeing a lot of playing time. His early MLB results haven’t been good, but the underlying contact and power data remain tantalizing.
Of course, there were some disappointments as well. Bloss showcased improved stuff in his own TJ comeback, but remained healthy only briefly. Juan Sanchez, last year’s Dominican Summer League star, has so far failed to consistently translate his success in the US. Ricky Tiedemann, among others, continued to struggle with his health.
The farm’s ranking, in BA’s reckoning, rose from 17 to 15 between the preseason and the midseason update. That’s impressive given that a lot of the preseason value was tied to Trey Yesavage, who graduated soon after returning from his early season shoulder issues. They might dip slightly this winter, as they traded top prospect Arjun Nimmala and had fewer resources in the draft than most other teams, but the system produced new talent, fed the major league team, and allowed them to make major deadline acquisitions without moving backwards in overall talent. That’s a good year.
