Which Blue Jays prospect could be next to go by the trade deadline?

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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.

Orelvis Martinez (4th)

Arguably perhaps the best Jays’ hitting prospect currently in their minor league system, Orelvis Martinez has had an unorthodox yet impressive season so far in 2023. He began the year with the Fisher Cats, struggling mightily with the bat as he hit below .100 while striking out a ton, but at the same time, he somehow was connecting with home runs every time he managed to make contact.

However, whatever necessary adjustments he needed to make, it appeared to have worked as since mid-May, he has become a totally different player. Despite decreasing some of his long ball output in the process, he is now a more complete player, hitting for average, producing runs, along with developing great plate discipline by maintaining a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1:1. His drastic improvement was so astounding that he ended up getting a promotion to Triple-A Buffalo in mid-July, and has not missed a beat since then either.

For the 2023 season, Martinez has compiled a .226 average, .813 OPS, with 42 runs scored, 11 doubles, 19 home runs, 56 RBI, 47 walks and 69 strikeouts across two minor league levels. It appears Martinez’s bat is MLB-ready, which will draw many suitors at the trade deadline as a result. He should be an untouchable for the Jays, but in order to get value, they may need to give up some good value as well to get the piece they need for the stretch run.

Addison Barger (6th)

For Addison Barger, he had been one of the fastest rising players in the organization in the past couple of years as he began in High-A at the beginning of last year and actually rose right up to Triple-A by the end of the season. Building upon his 2022 success, he had a promising Spring Training with the Jays that almost landed him a roster spot on the Opening Day roster, until he was edged out by Nathan Lukes at the end.

As a result, Barger went back to Triple-A Buffalo to start the year and so far has produced an underwhelming season that has been marred in part by an elbow injury early in the season in April. In 44 games with Buffalo, he has hit .236 with a .725 OPS, with 30 runs scored, five home runs and 20 RBI. Nevertheless, Barger still possesses immense potential, as he had been also named by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com as the Jays’ top trade chip. In addition, he was included in a potential Jays’ trade package for Shohei Ohtani as proposed by FOX Sports, had the Jays had a shot at the Japanese two-way superstar. With Ohtani now off the table, perhaps Barger can be included in another package to land another superstar to join the Jays at the trade deadline.

Otto Lopez (14th)

We had mentioned in an article earlier that Otto Lopez could be a valuable trade chip at the trade deadline for the Blue Jays. After all, he could play multiple positions in the infield and outfield, along with a good-contact bat that could play well in the major leagues once he gets there. In addition, The Athletic (subscription required) also named Lopez as the most likely prospects from the Jays’ organization to be traded at the deadline. For the 2023 season with Buffalo, Lopez has hit a respectable .251 with 45 runs scored, eight doubles, five triples, two home runs, 31 RBI and 12 stolen bases.

Obviously, Lopez himself will not probably land a big name for the Jays in any transaction, but he definitely can make a difference as the package sweetener to entice potential teams to give up their prized asset. With Lopez being also a Canadian, it would be disappointing for many Canadian fans that have waited for him to develop and finally reach the big leagues, but if giving up Lopez helps the Jays have postseason success, it may be worth the sacrifice in the end.

Spencer Horwitz (18th)

As also one of our projections of Jays prospects that will be dealt at the trade deadline, Spencer Horwitz currently has the most-ready MLB bat in the system, and he has definitely put it on full display in recent times. In just the past week, Horwitz was the Triple-A Player of the Week in which he went 15-for-28 with six runs scored, three home runs, 10 RBI and two stolen bases. For the 2023 season, he is hitting .317 with an .893 OPS, with 45 runs scored, 21 doubles, seven home runs, 58 RBI, and seven stolen bases. In addition in his brief stint in the majors with the Jays, he went 2-for-8 with one run scored, one RBI and two walks, while showing good plate discipline.

With his position at the major league level being blocked by both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Brandon Belt, there appears to be no room for Horwitz at least in the coming year or two. So perhaps the ideal situation would be to utilize Horwitz while his value is at its highest now to address any trade deadline needs for the ballclub. In the “win-win” scenario, the Jays would get their player and Horwitz would finally get a starting job on a rebuilding team in the process.

Overall, the Jays may want to hold onto their prospects as much as they can, since they have spent so much time with their growth and development. But with the team’s mentality in win-now mode, it may be time they need to give up on a few of them to take them to the next level and beyond.

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