Blue Jays make a sneaky good move by adding versatile former Tigers prospect

Adding promising depth pieces to a contending roster is often the key to long-term sustainable success. For the Toronto Blue Jays, they did just that with an intriguing recent signing. The Blue Jays managed to add former Detroit Tigers prospect Carlos Mendoza on a minor league deal to serve as valuable positional player depth in the organization.

Despite having not being ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Tigers’ farm system during the past few years, Mendoza has always been an interesting prospect with high upside due to his ability to play multiple positions in the field. The 25-year-old utilityman has seen action at second base, third base, and all three outfield positions to date in his six-year professional baseball career, all with the Detroit organization.

Blue Jays make a sneaky good minor league addition

Last season, Mendoza split his time between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo in which he compiled a solid .287 average, .803 OPS, along with 64 runs scored, 16 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 41 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 97 games played. He may not possess a lot of power, but he can practically do everything else, whether it be flat-out solid contact hitting, speed on the basepaths, or strong defense in the field. More importantly, he has always shown great discipline at the plate, having drawn more walks than strikeouts throughout his professional baseball career in the minors.

Mendoza has continued to impress in the 2025-26 Venezuelan Winter League with the Caribes de Anzoategui, posting a stellar .323 average, .816 OPS, with 18 runs scored, six doubles, 13 RBIs, 13 walks and just 10 strikeouts in 108 plate appearances over 26 games played to date.

The Blue Jays are always looking for players with great positional flexibility to pair with solid contact hitting and defense in recent times, as with the emergence of Ernie Clement, the evolution of Nathan Lukes, and the maturing of Addison Barger, the overall mold of Mendoza fits in perfectly with Toronto’s makeup. Especially with Mendoza reaching the Triple-A level last season with the Tigers, he could even be ready to challenge for a potential bench role in the not-so-distant future with the Blue Jays.

Therefore, the Blue Jays can only get better and better with these sneaky good minor league additions. As they fully develop and mature into a solid contributor at the major league level, it will help Toronto keep the ball rolling in maintaining a highly-competitive lineup for years to come.