Blue Jays: If MLB had expansion draft, who would the Jays protect?

As the NHL approaches their expansion draft, it got me wondering who the Blue Jays would protect if they had to choose only 10 players.

The NHL has been buzzing with news of their expansion draft this week, as the league is facing the addition of the Las Vegas Golden Knights. When a new team is added to the league, each franchise goes through a process prior to the expansion draft, where they choose a set number of players to protect in the expansion draft. The whole thing reveals a lot about how each club views their assets.

With that in mind, it had me wondering who the Blue Jays might protect if the MLB went through the same process. In the NHL model, each team is allowed to protect either 8 or 10 players, depending on the formula they choose between forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders. For the purpose of this exercise let’s pretend the Jays have 10 spots to work with.

I’ve determined my list using a variety of factors including age, potential, salary, contract commitment, etc, so it’s not a list of who I view as the best players on the team by any means. I’ve also decided to keep it to players who have made an MLB appearance this season, so for example, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. does not make the list, but Dwight Smith Jr. would be eligible.

The Obvious Choices

Marcus Stroman

Stroman is just 26 years old, and is having another solid season as his stock continues to rise. He’s 7-3 with a 3.15 ERA thus far, and is putting the struggles of last season’s first half far in the rearview mirror. He is under club control through the 2020 season, and is making just 3.4 million this year. He’s about to get more expensive, but at this point he’s definitely worth a lot more than the Jays have to pay him in 2017.

Aaron Sanchez

While this season hasn’t been anything to write home about for Sanchez, there’s no denying his talent and potential. It appears likely that we’ll see him back on the mound in the near future as well, so hopefully he can put together a healthy second half and remind Jays fans how good he really is. He won’t be a free agent until 2021 either, and is making just $535,000 this season.

Josh Donaldson

The Blue Jays have had one of the better bargains in baseball with Josh Donaldson since he’s arrived, and he really just got “expensive” this season, making 17 million in 2017. While that is a lot of money, the “Bringer of Rain” is well worth the dough when he’s healthy, which he has been since returning from the DL.

He’s eligible for arbitration one more time in 2018 before becoming a free agent in 2019. The Blue Jays will likely try to extend him before he hits that point, but his health and performance will go a long way to determining what kind of contract he lands. If he performs as the MVP contender that he can be, 17 million will look like chump change.

Roberto Osuna

Osuna has been one of the best closers in the American League since making the team in 2015, and there’s no reason to think the 22 year old is going to slow down now. He has a 2.64 career ERA and has saved 74 games, including his latest on Monday night.

I’m not a big believer in the value of closers per say, but I do think Osuna is a tremendous asset, and for the sake of this exercise there’s no way I’d let him go unprotected.

The last two spots go to…

Danny Barnes

Getting to the end of the list, it gets a lot more difficult to choose. I went with Danny Barnes for a variety of reasons, but mostly because he’s been lights out in 2017. The reliever won’t be a free agent until 2023 and has the ability to be a back of the bullpen type arm.

Making just the MLB minimum and with plenty of control, the New York native has turned himself into a pivotal part of the ball club, both now and going forward. I’d protect him, or he could end up getting a look as a closer with an expansion type of team.

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Anthony Alford

As I said, I was limiting the exercise to players who have made an appearance with the big league club this year, so I would use my last spot to protect Anthony Alford.

The former two sport star is still on the DL nursing a broken hamate bone in his wrist, but he should be back on the field sometime in the not so distant future.

He’s tremendously talented and has taken great strides since dedicating his attention exclusively to baseball. He’ll end up in the big leagues sooner than later, and Blue Jays fans would lament his loss for years to come if he were left unprotected. He gets my last spot.

Omissions

Sure, I could have included guys like Russell Martin, Troy Tulowitzki, Kendrys Morales or Jose Bautista, but each would have an argument against doing so. Bautista is on a one year deal (with options), and Tulo and Martin each make 20 million respectively, so they would be a tougher sell to the expansion team, and would likely slip through. Factor in each player’s age, and they fell just short of making my top 10.

I almost included Joe Biagini as well, but elected to use my last two spots on Barnes and Alford. I am a big believer in what he could bring to the table, but Barnes is really impressing me and I think Alford will end up being a star in the league as he develops.

Next: Blue Jays and the looming trade deadline

What do you think? Who would you swap out, and why? The fun part about fictional scenarios like this is there are no wrong answers (unless you disagree with me of course), so let me know what you think in the comments below.