The Toronto Blue Jays updated Top 30 organizational prospect rankings were recently released by MLB.com and there were a few surprises sprinkled into the list.
The Blue Jays Top 10 was fairly cookie cutter with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Danny Jansen grabbing the top three spots. Pitchers Nate Pearson and Eric Pardinho rounded out the top five while shortstops Jordan Groshans and Kevin Smith nabbed the sixth and seventh spot respectively on the MLB.com rankings.
Hurlers Adam Kloffenstein and Sean Reid-Foley landed in the eighth and ninth spot while Cavan Biggio rounded out the Top 10. Kloffenstein was previously ranked 12th but surprisingly moved up four notches even after a small sample size in the minors last season.
There are a number of familiar names 11 through 20 including Anthony Alford, Billy McKinney, T.J. Zeuch, Trent Thornton and Hector Perez to name a few.
The biggest surprise, however, was catcher Gabriel Moreno who unexpectedly slid into the 22nd spot. The 19-year old tore up the Gulf Coast last season hitting .413 in 101 plate appearances before being promoted to the Appalachian League. Moreno came back to earth a little hitting .279 in 17 games with Bluefield but still ended the season with a .359 average in 40 games.
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The promising Chavez Young also appears on the list for the first time ranking just below Moreno at 23rd. Young hit .285 while swiping 44 bags last season for Single-A Lansing and is a prospect to keep an eye out for in the coming years.
Another catcher filled the 29th spot as Alejandro Kirk made his Top 30 debut. Kirk is less athletic than Moreno but hit .354 with 10 round trippers for Bluefield in his professional debut last season.
The smooth-hitting Cal Stevenson rounded out the list at 30 following a monster rookie year. Stevenson hit .369 with 21 steals in 22 attempts after being selected in the 10th round of the 2018 amateur draft.
Logan Warmoth fell out of the Top 30 after previously being ranked 17th organizationally, also omitted from the rankings this time around were Ronny Brito, Jonathan Davis, David Paulino, and Santiago Espinal.
The future is definitely bright when the above names are no longer qualifying in your Top 30 organizational rankings. For the complete MLB.com Top 30 List click HERE.