Blue Jays release 26 minor leaguers: Who were they?

Like most of the MLB franchises, the Blue Jays released a long list of minor league players over the last few days. Who was on the list of cuts?

It’s really unfortunate that baseball is being hit so hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the effects are pretty far-reaching.

I don’t blame you if you’re not feeling all that bad for billionaires who are missing out on a year of revenue, but they represent just a small percentage of those affected. As we’ve seen over the last few weeks, minor league baseball is being hit particularly hard, with an all but cancelled season, and now mass releases.

The Blue Jays were no exception to the rule over the last few days, and we now have a list of 26 players who are no longer with the organization. Depending on how closely you follow the minor league system, there are a few names that may be familiar to you, and one in particular that most baseball people will be familiar with in the son of Roger Clemens, Kacy Clemens.

For those wondering, here is the list:

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RHP: Brayan Aquino, Joneivy Polonia, Jorman Gonzalez, Juan Acosta, Juan Martinez, Miguel Olivo, Ronald Govea, Santos Moreno, Turner Larkins, Yunior Hinojosa

LHP: Juan Diaz, Junior Guzman, Warnel Valdez

OF: D.J. Daniels, Yeison Jimenez, Aldo Ovando, Hunter Steinmetz

IF: Kacy Clemens, Christian Williams, Jake Brodt, Pedro Hurtado, Jesus Navarro, Jose Zepeda, Gustavo Gutierrez

C: Francisco Ruiz, Junior Ramos

As you can see, there list doesn’t include any of the Blue Jays’ top prospects, but no one should have expected the cuts to go that deep. The top-tier prospects were never going to lose their jobs, but for the guys that are grinding it out and hoping to achieve a MLB dream, the developments of 2020 have been a big blow.

I was hopeful that the Blue Jays would follow the lead of the Kansas City Royals organization and not cut any players, but I’m not surprised that they didn’t take the good will that far. Overall the Blue Jays have been fairly good to their minor leaguers and their fan base compared to some other franchises, but it’s still unfortunate that the step of cutting players had to be taken, and it likely could and should have been avoided.

For now, all we can do is wish these fellas well and hope that baseball returns soon enough that they can find another job in the game.