3 top prospects the Blue Jays could move at the Winter Meetings

The Toronto Blue Jays have already gotten off to a great start this offseason with some huge free agent signings to shore up their pitching. First came the $210 million megadeal for Dylan Cease to bring an ace-calibre addition to their starting rotation. That was quickly following by the bold recruitment of 2025 KBO MVP Cody Ponce to add further solid pitching depth to their current roster.

However, the Blue Jays shouldn’t just look to the free agent market for candidates to bolster the team for the upcoming 2026 season, as some potential key pieces could be obtained via the trade route. But in doing so, the Blue Jays will likely need to part with some promising prospects to get any substantial deal done.

With the Winter Meetings approaching this week in Orlando, Florida, here are three of those prospects the Blue Jays could be talking to other teams about.

3 top prospects the Blue Jays could deal this offseason 

P Gage Stanifer

One of the Blue Jays' fast-rising prospects last season was right-handed pitcher Gage Stanifer. Despite being taken in the 19th round by Toronto back in the 2022 MLB Draft, Stanifer made great strides in his game this past season in which he was promoted from Single-A to High-A and ultimately finished the year in Double-A with New Hampshire.

The 22-year-old posted a solid 8-6 record with four saves, a 2.86 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, along with 161 strikeouts in just 110 innings pitched over 27 appearances that included 16 starts.

In doing so, Stanifer was named the Blue Jays’ biggest prospect breakout in 2025. By the end of the season, he had risen all the way to No. 6 on the Blue Jays’ top MLB prospects list according to MLB Pipeline.

His rapid ascension has likely caught the eye of prospective teams as well, as Stanifer becomes the top right-handed pitching prospect the Blue Jays can offer, since Trey Yesavage should be off-limits in any trade talks.

SS Arjun Nimmala

With the selection of infield prospect JoJo Parker by the Blue Jays in this year’s draft, it suddenly gave Toronto two promising shortstops coming up through their system along with Arjun Nimmala. The combination of both Parker and Nimmala projects to make up the Blue Jays’ middle infield of the future.

However, with the possibility that Toronto could end up bringing back Bo Bichette on a long-term deal, it could create a logjam at the position, one that would likely make one of the top prospects expendable.

In such a case, of the two prospects could be a part of trade talks and Nimmala would be the one more likely to be moved. First of all, he already has 220 minor league games under his belt and has proven to be productive already at 20-years-old.

During that time, Nimmala has posted a .244 average, .746 OPS, along with 140 runs scored, 50 doubles, 11 triples, 30 home runs, 111 RBIs and 27 stolen bases, making him a more attractive piece for those looking for an offensive infielder.

Parker, on the other hand, hasn’t seen any professional baseball action as of yet, making him more an unknown commodity despite his massive potential. In addition, with Parker predicted to be the more well-rounded player with a ton of upside when he eventually reaches his full growth, the Blue Jays would be wise to hold on to their No. 2 prospect and see what he can do first to avoid any rash moves in giving up potential elite talent.

P Ricky Tiedemann 

Finally, we have a player who was, at one time, the top Blue Jays prospect in the organization in left-hander Ricky Tiedemann. Tiedemann had an impressive first season in the organization back in 2022 in which he posted a 5-4 record with a stellar 2.17 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, with 117 strikeouts in just 78.2 innings. However, he's been inconsistent since then and injuries would follow him for much of his subsequent three minor league seasons, including missing the latter half of 2024 and all of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery.

Nevertheless, at just 23-years-old, Tiedemann has time to rediscover his game after returning from his major elbow surgery and remains the organization’s top left-handed pitching prospect. Given what we had observed when he was healthy, there is certainly a high probability that we see him return to form. But to get quality, the Blue Jays need to give up quality in any significant trade talks.

With Yesavage likely untouchable given what he has already accomplished for Toronto this past season, it makes Tiedemann the top pitching prospect that they can dangle to secure a key roster piece in return.