Blue Jays leave talented group of players unprotected

The Toronto Blue Jays added five pitchers to their 40-man roster yesterday ahead of the upcoming Rule 5 draft conversely leaving a handful of talented players available for the picking.

The pending roster purgatory for many is a direct result of the Toronto Blue Jays depth throughout their minor league ranks. Teams with deep farm systems, unfortunately, have to pay the piper more often than not.

The likes of Jordan Romano, Forrest Wall, Jon Harris, Max Pentecost, Corey Copping, Travis Bergen, and Kevin Vicuna are a number of the interesting names left unprotected and in jeopardy of being plucked by another organization.

There is more of a likelihood a pitcher is picked up before any of the position players as Romano, Copping or Bergen could all slot into a major league bullpen. If retained Copping and Bergen could end up in the Jays bullpen in 2019.

Three of the players available are former 1st round draft selections- Pentecost 11th, Harris 29th and Wall 35th overall by the Rockies.

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Wall is an intriguing talent acquired in the Seunghwan Oh swap with Colorado at the trade deadline. The 23-year combines a blend of speed and power hitting .263 with 10 homers and swiping 38 bags in 128 games last season topping out in Double-A.

Vicuna is a 20-year old shortstop who has never played above High-A and is clearly not ready for the show. The infielder hit .266 with 10 stolen bases with the Lansing Lugnuts in 2018.

The once heralded Pentecost has been surpassed on the depth chart by backstops Danny Jansen and Reese Mcguire respectively. The 25-year old catcher has battled injuries for much of his professional career with only one season of Double-A under his belt.

In saying that the Jays still have Yangervis Solarte, Dalton Pompey, Jonathan Davis, and Mark Leiter Jr. all on the 40-man roster. It has been long speculated that Solarte will be non-tendered before the November 30th deadline.

Time will tell how it all shakes out, however, it is a pretty safe bet that the Blue Jays will lose someone during the annual Rule 5 proceedings.