Blue Jays lose a promising prospect to AL rival Red Sox

It's the end of the line for Angel Bastardo as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. The 23-year-old Venezuelan showed some real promise for the Blue Jays during Spring Training, but unfortunately he has been sent back to the Boston Red Sox per the Rule 5 Draft rules.

Bastardo didn't make the team out of camp and was then designated for assignment before ultimately becoming property of the Red Sox once again. It's an unfortunate result based on the Blue Jays gamble, but that's the price teams have to be willing to pay some times when building their club.

Bastardo back to the Red Sox after not making the Opening Day roster

The Blue Jays selected Bastardo in the Rule 5 Draft ahead of the 2025 season, but he spent that entire year rehabbing from an injury, and so the Blue Jays got to keep him around without needing him to make the big league club. That changed, however, going into 2026, as Bastardo would need to make the team out of camp or the Blue Jays would risk losing him.

Bastardo pitched in 7.2 spring innings and showed flashes of potential, with five strikeouts and allowing five hits, but he was also erratic, walking seven batters in that time as well. He was also amongst some heavy competition. Not only did he have to battle against players who already had big league playing time, but there was another Rule 5 Draft pick in camp with him, Spencer Miles.

Selected from the San Francisco Giants in this past years draft, Miles was also a long shot to making the team out of camp, considering his injury history, and the fact he had never pitched in the majors. Miles hadn't thrown a single pitch in pro-baseball since 2022 and yet he put together a spring that the Blue Jays simply couldn't ignore. In 9.2 innings pitched he struck out 11, walked five and scattered 11 hits.

The Blue Jays gave Miles a role in their bullpen as part of their Opening Day roster while Bastardo was not. Now, after over a year in Toronto's system, Bastardo will head back to the Red Sox who had him playing in Double-A Portland before he got hurt.

For Toronto, a team that has been dealing with pitching injuries ever since Spring Training began, it's unfortunate to have to also lose a pitcher that had the potential to make an impact on your team, and even more so that he automatically becomes property of a division rival. But the Blue Jays have continued to add pitching depth throughout the last few months and they'll hope this one loss doesn't have a major impact on them in the long run.