5 former Blue Jays prospects who are thriving in their new homes

Over the last decade or so, the Toronto Blue Jays have done a good job at finding and developing talent throughout their minor league system.

While some of those players are helping the Blue Jays at the MLB level, there are a handful of former Blue Jays prospects who have found success with other MLB teams.

Here's a look at five former Blue Jays prospects who are having an abudence of sucess in MLB this year.

Note: All Blue Jays' prospect rankings are from MLB Pipeline's prospect rankings for each year mentioned.

5 former Blue Jays prospects who are thriving in their new homes

Gabriel Moreno

Moreno — Toronto's "catcher of the future" during his time in the system — was the Blue Jays' top prospect when he was traded to the Diamondbacks on Dec. 23, 2022 alongside outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to acquire outfielder and Gold Glove award winner Daulton Varsho.

The move was made in part because of Toronto's excess of catching depth at the time, as the trade of Moerno made room for Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen to serve as the Jays' two MLB-level catchers. Moreno found a consistent lineup spot in Arizona and hasn't looked back since.

He slashed .284/.339/.408 with seven home runs and 50 RBI in his first season in the desert, and also notched his first career Gold Glove award as the National League's best defensive catcher. On top of these personal achievements in 2023, he helped lead the Diamondbacks to the World Series, where they eventually lost to the Rangers.

He's already amassed 5.4 career fWAR with the Diamondbacks since the trade, and he's ranked in the 96th percentile in framing, so he could be on his way to another Gold Glove win.

It's already clear that Moreno is a much better talent than Toronto thought he was, but Varsho still has a chance to turn this trade into a win for the Blue Jays.

Otto Lopez

A former middle-infield prospect, Lopez got a bit of experience with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021 and '22 but was never able to do enough to cement himself as a regular contributor. He was Toronto's No. 4 prospect in 2022, but he could never break onto the big league roster.

Only getting 11 MLB plate appearances with the Blue Jays across those three seasons, Lopez was designated for assignment in early 2024 and was traded to the San Francisco Giants for cash. The Giants then cut him loose a couple weeks later, which is how he ended up in Miami.

Lopez has had plenty of success in Miami after getting an opportunity that he wasn't able to get in Toronto. He has an impressive skillset, and is fitting in well with a scrappy Marlins squad.

Last year, Otto Lopez slashed .270/.313/.377 with six home runs, 39 RBI, and 20 stolen bases and put up a ludicrous 14 Outs Above Average in 2024, the third-best second baseman in baseball last year in that field behind perennial Gold Glovers Marcus Semien and Andrés Giménez.

He's hitting .229 this year with two home runs and 11 RBI in 30 games and ranks in the 86th percentile in sprint speed in 2025, so it's clear that he can be an impact player in many different ways.

While he's still a bit of a subpar hitter, he's one of the most important players on a young roster that's been playing some entertaining baseball this year.

Simeon Woods-Richardson

Woods-Richardson was Toronto's No. 2 pitching prospect behind Nate Pearson in 2020 to 2021, and was traded to the Minnesota Twins in 2021 alongside infielder prospect Austin Martin in exchange for José Berríos.

The vast majority of Blue Jay fans would agree that this trade worked out well for Toronto, especially since the Blue Jays were able to lock up Berríos to an extension after acquiring him. Woods-Richardson never played in MLB for the Blue Jays, and ended up making his MLB debut for the Twins at the end of the 2022 season.

He only appeared in one game for the Twins in 2023, but broke into the rotation fully in 2023.

He's posted a 101 ERA+ and 147 strikeouts across 162 2/3 innings in 33 starts since the start of 2023. He has a dangerous off-speed arsenal, as he finished in the 97th percentile last year with a Run Value of 12 on his breaking balls (slider and curveball).

Although his advanced starts aren't as great as the Twins would like, he's still notched a 4.03 ERA across 29 innings this year with a 30/11 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Julian Merryweather

Unlike the previously-mentioned names, Merryweather spent a decent amount of time in the Blue Jays' bullpen before being shipped off to the Chicago Cubs. The Jays waived Merryweather in January 2023, where the Cubs picked him up in hopes he'd help with their struggling bullpen.

He appeared in 47 games as a Blue Jay across parts of three different seasons but he saw limited success, as he posted a 5.64 ERA in 52 2/3 innings. He's seen more playing time with the Cubs and is doing fairly well for himself.

Aside from an unsightly 2024 where he posted an unsightly 6.60 ERA in 15 innings, he had a 3.38 ERA in 72 innings in 2023 and has a 3.38 in 13 1/3 innings this year.

His ERA+ stands 21% higher than the MLB average and his fastball velocity still sits in the top 20% of all MLB arms.

He still has a slight problem with walks (which Jays fans should remember from his time in Toronto), but he's still a solid option in the Cubs' bullpen.

Griffin Conine

Griffin Conine, son of "Mr. Marlin" Jeff Conine, suffered an incredibly unfortunate season-ending injury in the middle of April, but it doesn't take away from his strong start of the season.

He was the Blue Jays' No. 14 prospect in 2020 before he was traded to the Marlins in 2020 as the Player to be named Later in Toronto's trade for Jonathan Villar.

He made his season debut for the Marlins last year and posted a slashline of .268/.326/.451 with an OPS+ of 111 and an arm strength in the 96th percentile in 30 games, he looked like a legit big leaguer at the start of the 2025.

He still boasts the third-highest maximum exit velocity thus far in the season with his 117.4 MPH double and was ranking among the league's higher ranks in chase rate (20.5%), average exit velocity (91.6 MPH), and barrel rate (15.6%) prior to getting hurt.

His combined brief stints in the MLB in both 2024 and 2025 may make Conine ineligible for Rookie of the Year voting next year, but it's worth keeping an eye on the next generation of "Mr. Marlin".

The success of these five players is not meant to disparage the Blue Jays' front office for deciding to part ways with each of them, as each trade showed that the Blue Jays were planning on competing.

It goes without saying, however, that the Toronto Blue Jays could benefit from having each of these five guys on their roster in 2025.