Blue Jays: Former prospect Connor Greene claimed by Royals

Once a centrepiece of the Randal Grichuk trade, right-handed pitcher Connor Greene has joined his third organization in two years.

According to an official team release, the Kansas City Royals have claimed right-handed pitcher Connor Greene off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals. Greene, 23, was designated for assignment by the Cardinals on November 20.

Greene, who was drafted by the Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2013 draft, was considered one of the team’s most promising pitching prospects upon being drafted. On MLB Pipeline’s annual list of organizational top 30 prospects, he was the #10 prospect in 2016, the #8 prospect in 2015, and was recently listed as the Cardinals’ #27 prospect before being designated.

With the Cardinals, Greene, a native of Santa Monica, California spent a middling 2018 between the Memphis Redbirds (Triple-A) and the Springfield Cardinals (Double-A), pitching to a combined 4.09 ERA in 88.0 innings with a record of 4-5, striking out 69 and walking 63 – contributing to an ugly WHIP of 1.580.

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Even more recently, he appeared in the Arizona Fall League for the Surprise Saguaros (the same AFL team that housed Blue Jays prospects Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, and others), pitching to an ERA of 11.17 in 9.2 frames, walking an astounding 15 while only striking out 6.

As unfortunate as it seems, Greene, once considered a promising prospect in the Jays organization, has seen his career take a dive, at least for the time being. He still, despite the obstacles he evidently faces, has the chance to once again crack a major league roster, seeing as the Royals organization he’s joining has been deprived of pitchers for the last pair of seasons.

All in all, Greene’s (current) fate signals to Blue Jays fans that trading him away didn’t matter all that much, seeing as he sadly didn’t end up turning into much. Regardless, Blue Jays fans will be following his career with some level of interest as he tries to reinvent himself in the depleted American League Central.