Friday evening was the deadline for the Blue Jays to add players to the 40 man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft, scheduled to happen in early December during the GM Meetings. The club decided to add four players to the roster yesterday: RHP Hagen Danner, RHP Bowden Francis, LHP Zach Logue, and INF Leo Jimenez while also picking up RHP Shaun Anderson off of waivers.
While the Jays 40-man roster is not full, they are taking a gamble on a few players who could be picked up by other teams when the Rule 5 Draft happens this offseason. With the CBA set to expire on December 1st, if there is indeed a lockout, the draft would be pushed until after a new CBA is put into place.
Here are five players in the Blue Jays farm system who could be picked up by other teams during the Rule 5 Draft this offseason.
RHP Joey Murray
Known for his elite spin rate on his fastball, right-hander Joey Murray has amassed a pretty solid minor league career since being drafted in the eighth round back in 2018. Being used as both a starter and a reliever, Murray has pitched to a 2.69 ERA through 41 appearances with 209 strikeouts and a 1.136 WHIP.
He missed most of last season due to injury but could be an option for other teams considering he spent roughly one-third of his 2019 campaign in AA and was most likely going to be in AAA if it wasn’t for the injury troubles. Murray is currently ranked as the Blue Jays #25 ranked prospect.