Blue Jays make exception with top prospect as World Series contention changes plan

There's clearly a different feeling about the Toronto Blue Jays this year and it's not just the fans who are feeling it, the players are feeling it to. The clubhouse vibes seem to be at an all-time high.

George Springer reinforced that feeling on MLB Network Radio on Sunday when he said, "It makes it easy to do my job every day and not do too much. We complement each other well. Everyone understands how each guy hits and each guy’s strengths. Nobody is just trying to be the guy every single day. We just want to have a good at-bat and get on to the next guy.”

From future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, to former Yankees legend Don Mattingly, everyone in the clubhouse seems to be buying in and telling anyone who will listen that this team has the make up to do something special.

The front office can sense that something special is happening as well, as this year they are throwing out their traditional playbook by calling up a top prospect during a playoff race.

Blue Jays make exception with top prospect as World Series contention changes plan

It started with their moves at the deadline as the Blue Jays gave up a couple of high ceiling prospects to shore up their areas of need. While it wasn't a deadline that took the world by storm, very rarely as General Manager Ross Atkins parted with as many prospects over a series of days as he did at this years deadline.

And now with a chance to win the AL East, Atkins is letting go of his most valued commodity in exchange for what could be a slight edge in a tight race. Atkins has long valued the contractual control the Blue Jays hold over young players and this is a team that has not been afraid to be blatant about service time manipulation. So with the recent promotion of Trey Yesavage to the big leagues, it bucks the trend that this front office has shown over their ten year tenure.

Yesavage was drafted just over a year ago and he made his MLB debut on Monday night. It is the faster a star prospect has risen through the ranks under the Atkins regime. The only other impactful player that went from drafted player to MLB debut in a relatively short amount of time was Alek Manoah. He was selected in the first round of the draft in 2019, and debuted with Toronto in May of 2021

It wouldn't have surprised anyone if Yesavage, after making it all the way up to Triple-A Buffalo, was kept there for the remainder of the 2025 season. It would not have been a shock if we heard things like, "We have to careful about his workload and monitor his innings" or "He's pitched a lot this season already for a player his age and the best thing for him is to come to spring training and compete for a job in 2026."

But that's not what we are hearing now. It's not what we are seeing at all. We are witnessing the Blue Jays completely throw out their playbook. They are letting the service time clock start on Yesavage late in 2025, in the hopes that it leads to a banner, or several banners, being raised at Rogers Centre.