Blue Jays Add Deck McGuire, Kenny Wilson to 40-Man Roster

March 2, 2012; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Deck McGuire (72) poses for a portrait during photo day at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY SportsIn an early move to get their 40-man roster protection issues under way, the Toronto Blue Jays have added Deck McGuire to the team’s 40-man roster. The move will allow the team to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft on December 12th.

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet and Mike Wilner of Fan590 were the first to tweet the news:

McGuire was the 11th overall pick of the 2010 MLB Draft, but has failed to really establish himself as a solid prospect as of yet. The 24-year-old righty performed much better at the close of last season, his second at Double-A New Hampshire, but still finished with a 9-10 record, a 4.86 ERA, and 2.42 K/BB ratio. By adding him to the 40-man roster, the Blue Jays are indicating that they are not quite ready to give up on the man that was taken two spots before Chris Sale and 32 spots before Taijuan Walker.

With only three open slots on the 40-man roster, the Toronto Blue Jays were left in a tight predicament in terms of who to protect and who to expose to the draft. As we noted earlier in the week, the team was faced with five notable players that would need to be protected or exposed, with Deck McGuire being the most notable “at risk” name out there.

Not receiving protection were pitcher Justin Jackson, catcher Sean Ochinko, and left-hander Ricky Romero.

Kenny Wilson received a late addition to the 40-man, after it was assumed that he had also been left out to dry. However, a solid run in the Arizona Fall League may have turned a few heads in the organization and won him another year. However, he doesn’t project as a regular at the Major League level and would struggle to stay on a 25-man roster for an entire season at this stage.

The other notable name not being protected is Ricky Romero. The former Jays ace is owed $15 million over the next two seasons, with a $600k buy-out of an option year in 2016. However, given his complete fall from grace in 2012 and his inability to even grab hold of a spot on the team in 2013, no one is going to take the risk on picking up Romero and his contract at this stage.