Blue Jays’ top prospects over the last decade

2010- Zach Stewart

If there’s a player on this list that surprised me a little bit, it was Zach Stewart. Not that didn’t remember him well, it’s just that I didn’t realize he was once the top prospect in the organization. Ya learn something new every day I guess.

The hard throwing right-hander made just three starts for the Blue Jays before he was traded to the Chicago White Sox. It was a complicated deal that sent Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen to Toronto, then ultimately tied in the St. Louis Cardinals and brought Colby Rasmus to the Blue Jays, sending Jackson to the Cardinals. That’s the Cole’s notes version anyway.

Unfortunately Stewart was unable to find much success to any major degree either, and hasn’t appeared in a MLB game since 2012 when he threw 5.2 innings with the Boston Red Sox.

https://twitter.com/BUCNbaseball/status/918629999896399873

2008-09- Travis Snider 

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If there’s one player I lament over the last decade, it might be Travis Snider. I remember believing that he would be at the centre of the heart of the lineup for years to come, and it was easy to see the power he possessed at the plate. Unfortunately for one reason or another, he just never fully put things together at the highest level, and hasn’t played in a MLB game since 2015.

Many Blue Jays fans and writers have expressed over the years that Snider’s development was bungled a little bit, and we’ll never really know how much truth there is to that. He was shuffled back and forth between Triple A and the big leagues a fair bit, but he also struggled to consistently deliver at the plate as well, so it wasn’t without justification. Still, it always seemed like for someone the organization claimed to hold in such high regard, the leash was often very short, and his place in the lineup was a constant question mark.

He’ll turn 30 in February and is actively playing in the minor leagues in pursuit of another opportunity, but the older he gets the more difficult that’s going to become. Here’s hoping he’s one of those feel good stories who finds his stroke and fills his potential in the back half of his career.

Next: Ross Atkins has the chance to win us over

As you can see, sometimes prospects worth out like in the case of Aaron Sanchez, and sometimes they don’t at all, like with Stewart, Drabek, and unfortunately more.