Blue Jays may need to promote this prospect just so the Red Sox don’t get him back 

Back in 2024, the Toronto Blue Jays took a gamble on a promising prospect that belonged to one of their arch rivals. The Blue Jays snagged young pitching prospect Angel Bastardo from the Boston Red Sox with their first pick in the Rule 5 Draft that year. Bastardo had undergone Tommy John surgery during the summer of 2024 and was expected to miss all of 2025 as part of his recovery process.

As a result of the injury, the 23-year-old right-hander didn’t need to be on the Blue Jays’ active roster last season in order for Toronto to keep hold of him. But now that Bastardo is good to go once again this year, the Blue Jays may have no choice but to add him to their Opening Day roster just so that the Red Sox don’t end up getting him back.

That is because the rules for a Rule 5 draftee is that they need to be on the acquiring team’s active MLB roster for at least 90 days from the start of the regular season or else they need to be returned to their original team.

Blue Jays may need to promote this prospect just so the Red Sox don’t get him back 

Given that the Blue Jays took the chance on Bastardo and his potential when they clearly knew that he wouldn’t be available for at least a year later, Toronto will most likely give him all the opportunity to make the team this spring to fulfill their investment. After all, Bastardo has all the skills and abilities to become an elite pitcher in the major leagues. 

Currently the Blue Jays’ No. 29-ranked prospect in the organization according to MLB Pipeline, Bastardo possesses an advanced changeup that grades out to a 55 to go along with a nasty fastball that could consistently hit in the mid-90s and ultimately touching 97-98 mph. In his five minor league seasons with the Red Sox previously, he has compiled a 4.76 ERA and 1.37 WHIP while reaching all the way to Double-A already before he was hit with the elbow injury. More significantly, Bastardo showed that he could be a big-time strikeout machine, punching out 357 batters in 327.1 career innings.

Although he worked mainly as a starter throughout his time in the minors with the Red Sox organization, the Blue Jays will likely use Bastardo as a reliever for obvious reasons. One being the fact that he had just come off of Tommy John surgery, so Toronto would want to ease his workload for the coming season. The other being the fact that the Blue Jays have a much bigger need for help with their bullpen than their starting rotation heading into 2026. With Bastardo’s impressive strikeout ability, the Blue Jays should be able to maximize his effectiveness with that proper deployment.

As a result, barring a huge implosion during his performance in training camp, expect Bastardo to be a part of the Blue Jays squad heading back up north once the regular season begins.