3 Blue Jays prospects who are expendable, 2 they should keep for 2025

Which Jays prospects could be used as trade bait, and which should be off-limits?

Mar 15, 2024; Dunedin, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Ricky Tiedemann (70) delivers a pitch in the first inning of a spring training game against the Detroit Tigers at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Mar 15, 2024; Dunedin, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Ricky Tiedemann (70) delivers a pitch in the first inning of a spring training game against the Detroit Tigers at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
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Keep: INF Orelvis Martinez

The Jays and their faithful had highly anticipated for the eventual arrival of power-hitting phenom Orelvis Martinez. For a Jays’ offense that have had its troubles scoring runs in recent times, they fully expected Martinez to provide a significant offensive impact the moment he joined the big league club. After all, he was coming off a strong 2023 minor league season in which he amassed 28 home runs and a whopping 94 RBI along with 70 runs scored in just 125 games played.

Despite starting the 2024 season with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons, Martinez continued to mash the ball while becoming the master of run production along the way. The Jays took notice and finally gave him his well-deserved promotion in June. However, after registering his first MLB hit in his debut against the Cleveland Guardians on June 21, Martinez would be handed a momentum-stopping 80-game PED suspension that would essentially wipe out the bulk of the remainder of his 2024 season. After coming back from his suspension, he would finish off the year in Buffalo and posted a final stats line of .267/.346/.523/.869 with 54 runs scored, 19 doubles, 17 home runs and 49 RBI in 74 total minor league games.

Despite missing out on a huge opportunity to fully develop his game in the big leagues and potentially locking down a permanent spot on the Jays’ big league roster, Martinez remains the most prolific hitting prospect within the organization. If taking a look back in the past couple of decades,, the Jays have had only been a handful of homegrown, power-hitting talents in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Vernon Wells to show for. Due to its rarity in the organization’s history, Toronto must keep this precious asset at all costs as Martinez could become a huge difference maker for the club just like his predecessors in due time.

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