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

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.