Ranking the top 10 most important young players to the Blue Jays’ future

No. 10 - OF Gabriel Martinez

Sitting in at number ten is Gabriel Martinez, the potential biggest sleeper on this list. Martinez was signed out of Venezuela back in 2018 at just 15-years-old at the time. His huge breakout season in 2022 helped propel him through three minor league levels, from Rookie to Single-A to High-A, in just the past year. In doing so, he has displayed increased power potential compared to when he started in the Jays organization by hitting .293 with 14 home runs and 59 RBI in just 97 games across the three levels. This year, he has gotten off to a decent start with the High-A Vancouver Canadians, hitting .246 with an OPS of .662, 17 runs scored, three home runs, and 15 RBI in 33 games.

Despite being only ranked #12 on the Jays’ 2023 Top Prospects list, the reason why he fits in the #10 slot on our list is because he is the top outfield prospect currently in the Jays’ organization. Some have even pegged him to be the potential star-level, homegrown outfield prospect that the Jays have been desperately looking for over many years, after missing out on some in recent memory with Dalton Pompey, Anthony Alford, and Griffin Conine. Not only that, but with Kevin Kiermaier’s contract expiring at the end of this year and George Springer most likely moving more into a DH role in the later years in his contract, look for Martinez to be on the fast track to the major leagues with potential outfield spots available to him on the Jays’ roster in the coming years.