Blue Jays: 15 minor league players head to free agency

Thanks to the fine folks at Baseball America, a total of 574 minor league players were declared free agents on November 6th, five days after the World Series. It’s the same timeframe for Major League players as well, in terms of being able to speak with other organizations, and minor league players have the same right for free agency as well (if eligible).

Many of these players reach free agency once their sixth full season in the minors is complete and they haven’t been added to a 40-man roster – many of these players were drafted/signed around 2019. Others are heading back to the open market after signing MiLB deals, which run only for the course of that year. These players have already been released from other organizations or their original deals. The Jays already had two players declare free agency (Ryan Borucki and Michael Stefanic) who were on MiLB deals.

For the Blue Jays, 15 players are heading to free agency:

• RHP Andrew Bash (AAA)-
• RHP Edinson Batista (A+)
• RHP Elieser Hernandez (AAA)
• RHP Adam Kloffenstein (AAA)
• RHP Bobby Milacki (AA)
• RHP Robinson Pina (AAA)
• LHP Joe Mantiply (AAA)
• C Phil Clarke (AAA)
• C Rene Pinto (AAA)
• 3B Alex De Jesus (AA)
• 3B Buddy Kennedy (AAA)
• 3B Eddinson Paulino (AA)
• OF Dasan Brown (AAA)
• OF Eloy Jimenez (AAA)
• OF Gabriel Martinez (AA)

Of the group, only a handful of players are heading to free agency who have been with the organization their entire careers. The name that sticks out from the group is Canadian Dasan Brown, who was drafted by the Blue Jays in the third round of the 2019 draft. A speedster on the base paths and a defensive-minded player overall, Brown spent most of the year in Double-A before being promoted to Triple-A towards the end of the campaign. RHP Andrew Bash, C Phile Clarke, and OF Gabriel Martinez join Brown in this category.