5 Blue Jays prospects entering their final days with the team as trade deadline nears

As the Toronto Blue Jays get set for an exciting second half of the 2025 MLB season, they will be eagerly looking to get back into the postseason picture after missing out on it last year. Fuelled by an impressive winning surge in recent months, the Blue Jays have put themselves in a great position sitting atop the American League East heading into the stretch run.

More importantly, with the MLB trade deadline fast approaching, there’s no question that Toronto will be entertaining potential moves to help further bolster their roster. But in order to follow through with impactful trades, they will likely need to part ways with some valuable future pieces in the process. As a result, here are 5 Blue Jays top prospects that could see themselves entering their final days with the organization as the trade deadline nears.

5 Blue Jays prospects entering their final days with the team as trade deadline nears

P Khal Stephen 

Prior to 2025, many may not have taken notice of right-handed pitching prospect Khal Stephen. After all, Stephen was just selected during the second round of the 2024 MLB Draft and subsequently didn’t appear in a professional baseball game until finally this year.

Well, the 22-year-old right-hander has certainly captured peoples attention now after making a massive climb up the charts in just his first season in the Jays organization. Beginning in Single-A Dunedin to start his 2025 campaign, Stephen has already made his way to Double-A New Hampshire in a span of a little over three months. He literally has been lights out in his 17 appearances to date, compiling an elite 9-1 record, 1.75 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, while giving up just 17 earned runs and only three home runs along with just 17 walks and 97 strikeouts in 87 2/3 innings.

In doing so, Stephen now currently ranks 9th among the Jays’ top prospects in their system according to MLB Pipeline and has positioned himself to be on the fast track to the major leagues. However, with such significant growth and development in his game over just a short period of time, it also means that he has now likely caught the eye of many prospective teams ahead of the trade deadline. With the Jays top right-handed pitching prospect Trey Yesavage practically reaching untouchable status and Landen Maroudis still trying to find his game after missing most of his 2024 campaign due to a UCL injury, Stephen becomes the most valuable right-handed pitching prospect in the organization that will likely be highly sought after by rebuilding teams.

INF/OF Charles McAdoo

Coming over from the Isiah Kiner-Falefa trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, Charles McAdoo represents one of the best power bats currently found in the Jays’ farm system not named Orelvis Martinez. McAdoo came off a solid 2024 minor league campaign split between the Pittsburgh and Toronto organizations in which he batted .279 with an .843 OPS, 68 runs scored, 27 doubles, six triples, 17 home runs and 78 RBIs over 124 games played.

This year, playing for the Jays’ Double-A affiliate New Hampshire, he has posted a .245 average, .731 OPS, together with 34 runs scored, 15 doubles, 10 home runs and 28 RBIs in 71 games of action. 

On top of that, McAdoo has shown some sneaky speed despite that not being his forte, going 21-for-25 last year and now 17-for-19 so far this season in stolen bases. McAdoo has also seen playing time in both the infield and outfield, so he provides the added flexibility in his deployment defensively, but that has also been a work in progress.

With the Jays not having too many position players in their top 15 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, McAdoo becomes one of their most intriguing, versatile, power-hitting prospect in their system as a result.

SS Josh Kasevich

Taken in the second round by the Jays in the 2022 MLB Draft, shortstop Josh Kasevich has made great strides in his growth and development during the past three seasons with the organization. Within that time frame, Kasevich had ascended four minor league levels to reach as high as Triple-A Buffalo already as of last season.

For his 2024 campaign, the 24-year-old infielder posted a .296/.348/.385/.733 slash line along with 74 runs scored, 28 doubles, six home runs and 64 RBIs over 128 total games played. More importantly, he looked even better once reaching Triple-A, registering a .325 average and .815 OPS in 41 games of action. However, Kasevich has missed the bulk of the 2025 season so far as a result of a back injury, but has recently returned to action.

But with Bo Bichette, along with the incumbents Ernie Clement, Andrés Giménez and now even Addison Barger filling up the crowded Jays infield, Kasevich’s eventual path to the big leagues with the organization could be blocked to some extent.

Added to the fast rise of top infield prospect Arjun Nimmala during the past couple of seasons who happens to also play shortstop, Kasevich ultimately could become an expendable piece for the Jays at the trade deadline that they could use to help address their roster needs.

INF Orelvis Martinez

Without question the prospect with the biggest power potential within the whole Jays minor league system falls in the hands of Orelvis Martinez. With a Power grading of 60, many had been looking forward to his eventual arrival in Toronto as he has the makings to become a high impact slugger for the franchise for many years to come. That potential was further justified during his 2023 minor league campaign when he compiled an .835 OPS with 70 runs scored, 25 doubles, 28 home runs and 94 RBIs in 125 total games played.

However, a huge 80-game PED suspension in 2024 held his growth back to some extent, which has since been further dampened by a struggling 2025 campaign thus far with Triple-A Buffalo.

On the year, Martinez has recorded a .192 average, .658 OPS, along with 12 doubles, 11 home runs and 27 RBIs in 75 contests to date. Nevertheless, there is a reason why he has been ranked among the Jays top 5 prospects for four consecutive seasons now, including in MLB Baseball’s top 100 in 2022 and 2024.

That is because his power potential could be limitless if he can manage to effectively work out his hitting approach and mechanics at the plate. As a result, his current stock may be a little lower than in previous seasons. But any prospective trade partner that believes they can fully unlock Martinez’s potential will value him highly and would likely take the chance on acquiring a huge future offensive piece to add to their organization.

P Ricky Tiedemann 

Finally, we have what was supposedly the next pitching phenom for the Jays in Ricky Tiedemann. Selected in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft, Tiedemann burst onto the professional baseball scene with a sensational inaugural season in 2022 when he posted a stellar 2.17 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, while yielding just 19 earned runs and three home runs along with registering a whopping 117 strikeouts in just 78 2/3 innings pitched.

That year, he has already made it to Double-A New Hampshire and appeared well on his way to a quick path to the majors.

However, ill-timed injuries during the next two subsequent seasons, including undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery in 2024, would hold back the rapid ascension of the promising 22-year-old left-hander. Nevertheless, because of his tremendous potential, Tiedemann has maintained his top-5 prospect ranking within the Jays organization despite missing over a year now in his recovery.

But with Yesavage having now passed Tiedemann in the organization’s pitching prospect rankings, if it comes down to the Jays having to give up one of their top pitching prospects to land a big piece at the trade deadline, they will likely be more willing to part with Tiedemann than Yesavage.