Blue Jays’ prospect system ranks 20th in MLB Pipeline’s midseason update

MLB Pipeline released its midseason update for all 30 organizations’ prospect systems on Wednesday, with the Toronto Blue Jays ranking No. 20 on the list.

All things considered, that’s a pretty respectable landing spot for this organization. They entered this season ranked 27th in the sport, ahead of only the San Francisco Giants (No. 28), Houston Astros (No. 29) and Los Angeles Angels (No. 30). But that was before their system started producing success story after success story.

Between season-ending injuries and poor performances, developing impact pitching — specifically of the starting variety — throughout all levels of the minor leagues had been among Toronto’s most glaring weaknesses. That narrative has suddenly been flipped on its head in 2025, though, becoming one of the franchise’s biggest strengths.

So much so that the front office was able to leverage some of that newly-found depth to help the big-league roster ahead of last month’s trade deadline, doing so without leaving the cupboards bare.

In total, the Blue Jays traded Juaron Watts-Brown (Seranthony Domínguez deal), Khal Stephen (Shane Bieber deal) and Kendry Rojas (one-half of the return in the Louis Varland-Ty France deal), all of whom are in the midst of breakout seasons. They also parted ways with outfielder Alan Roden, likely made possible by last season’s acquisition of Joey Loperfido (acquired as part of the Yusei Kikuchi trade) and Nathan Lukes’ emergence at the major-league level.

Those subtractions undoubtedly prevented this organization from soaring into the middle of the pack, undercutting the system’s first-half surge. The reason they still climbed seven spots, however, is that they didn’t surrender any high-level prospects, keeping Trey Yesavage, Arjun Nimmala, Johnny King and JoJo Parker — the eighth-overall selection in this year’s draft — in the fold.

There are also fresh waves of talent below the surface that should help replenish those trade-deadline departures.

Few pitchers have been more of a pleasant surprise than Gage Stanifer, who’s jumped up to No. 6 among the Blue Jays’ top 30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline. He’s been a breakout star at high-A Vancouver this season, both as a reliever and now as a starter. And he’ll soon be joined by another impressive ’25 standout, as Silvano Hechavarria transitions to the next level after excelling to a 1.90 ERA and 28.5-per-cent strikeout rate across 11 games (seven starts) with single-A Dunedin.

Fernando Perez is another surging pitching prospect to keep an eye on. After enduring an underwhelming first half at high-A, the 21-year-old dominated over his previous five starts, pitching to a remarkable 0.67 ERA with 31 strikeouts and zero walks across 27 innings, and is scheduled to make his double-A debut on Friday. He’ll attempt to help backfill New Hampshire’s rotation following the losses of Stephen, Watts-Brown and Rojas.

Getting key arms back from injury should help, too.

Landen Maroudis continues to work his way back after missing most of last season due to elbow reconstruction surgery, having made eight starts at single-A Dunedin thus far. There’s a chance that Ricky Tiedemann — the organization’s No. 4 prospect — could return to affiliated ball before the minor-league season concludes. If not, he’ll surely earn reps in the Arizona Fall League, preparing him for a run at the majors in 2026. While Jake Bloss and Brandon Barriera won’t return in ’25, both are expected to pitch next season.

Finding talent in this year’s draft, both on the pitching and position-player fronts, was also a key element for the Blue Jays here. Combine that with the immense success they’ve had on the player development side, and it’s been an excellent season for the farm system.

Moving forward, the next step will be to repeat this formula across future seasons, supplying management with sufficient depth to maintain the current competitive window well beyond ’25.