5 top prospects the Blue Jays could trade next

With the big trade by the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday in acquiring St. Louis Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks, the Jays had to give up two key pitching prospects from their minor league system in Adam Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse, with Robberse being among the ballclub’s top ten Top Prospects according to MLB Pipeline.

The Jays may not be finished just yet for the trade deadline, so which other prospects in the Jays’ system could be next? Here, we take a look at five probable prospects that could be gone today as the Jays aim to make more deals. Their current ranking on the Blue Jays’ MLB Top Prospects list is shown in parentheses.

Yosver Zulueta (3rd)

Yosver Zulueta represented the most MLB-ready bullpen arm prospect that the Jays have currently in their minor league system, as the flamethrower can uncork fastballs that could reach triple digits. His main flaw so far in his professional baseball career is at times, he could lack control and command of his pitches, leading to a high number of walks. For the 2023 season with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons, Zulueta is 2-3 with a 4.63 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, giving up 24 earned runs, 39 walks and 51 strikeouts in 46.2 innings of work, primarily as a reliever along with seven starts.

However, with the recent acquisition of the hard-throwing Hicks at the major league level, Zulueta’s potential role with the Jays this year now appears redundant, so the Jays could possibly use him as a strong trade chip to help them land a big fish for their roster at the trade deadline. It could hurt down the road, but because he has yet to prove that his command is major league-ready and under control and the Jays need the help now and not the future, Zulueta could be good as gone in the coming day or two.