15 Blue Jays minor leaguers become unrestricted free agents

While the majority of the focus is on Shohei Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell and the rest of the big leaguers who recently reached free agency, there is much more movement on the minor league side of things.

Per the transaction logs of all 30 MLB teams, a whopping 573 players - a number that is still rising - reached minor league free agency on Tuesday. There is no difference between traditional free agency and minor league free agency, but since these players were all down on the farm, that's the label their status is given.

As far as the Toronto Blue Jays go, 15 players officially became free agents on Tuesday. Let's dive into the list and break them all down.

Blue Jays minor leaguers hitting free agency

Stevie Berman - C

Berman, 28, re-upped with the Blue Jays after spending most of last year in the organization as well. He is a light-hitting backstop who is more 'minor league filler' than anything else, but teams could do worse than him behind the plate in the high minors.

Jamie Ritchie - C

Ritchie is another catcher who has little-to-no bat to speak of. However, he has an incredible eye at the plate (38 walks against 39 strikeouts) and is strong defensively. I've heard that the 30-year-old has interest in returning to the Blue Jays on a new contract and that Triple-A pitchers loved working with him this past season.

Lyle Lin - C

Somehow, Lin has even less of a bat than Berman and Ritchie do. The 26-year-old made it into 28 games for the High-A Vancouver Canadians in 2023, hitting .214 with a .619 OPS. He is regarded as a strong defender who can also line up at first base if needed.

Abiezel Ramirez - INF

Ramirez, 23, spent the first six years of his professional career in the farm system of the Tampa Bay Rays. He was brought aboard on a minor league deal by the Blue Jays in April of this year and spent time on four different affiliates during the regular season. He hit .218 in a total of 58 games, striking out in 39 percent of his at-bats.

Rafael Lantigua - INF/OF

Losing Lantigua is going to be a major blow for the Blue Jays. The 25-year-old was Rule 5 eligible and with multiple players on the Blue Jays' 40-man roster with similar traits to his, he was deemed expendable. I've heard that a reunion is being explored, but there is going to be interest from other clubs. Lantigua hit .305 with 40 doubles, 12 home runs, 28 stolen bases and an .893 OPS in 129 games this past season.