The Athletic's latest farm system rankings spark some concern for Blue Jays

In 2025, the Toronto Blue Jays saw the opportunity for a championship was there in front of them. Trying to seize that opportunity, the Blue Jays used some prospect capital at the trade deadline to try and capitalize on their chances of securing the AL East division title and more.

The result was a roster that won the AL pennant for the first time in 32 years and came within a play or two of winning the World Series. Now as the dust has long since settled on that aftermath, reporters and analysts are compiling their notes on the future of the sport. Keith Law of The Athletic released his farm system rankings earlier this week and the Blue Jays, maybe not surprisingly have a lower ranking than their divisional rivals.

But while that shouldn't be a huge cause for concern internally, it could cause some issues down the road if those rankings hold firm over the next few months.

The Athletic's latest farm system rankings spark some concern for Blue Jays

Law separated the teams into different Tiers, and then numbered them 1-30. The Blue Jays ranked in Tier 6, the second lowest, and 25th overall. The other teams in Tier 6 were Miami Marlins (No. 22) followed by Colorado Rockies, West Sacramento Athletics, Toronto and Texas Rangers. Law wrote, "In fairness, they nearly won the World Series, and traded a lot of prospects to get there, sending nearly all of their top pitching prospects after Trey Yesavage to other clubs to bolster their roster for the stretch run."

They nailed their first pick last year, prep shortstop JoJo Parker, but lost their second-rounder for signing Anthony Santander, and this year won’t have a second-rounder either while they’ll also see their first pick knocked back 10 spots because they dared to spend money to try to win, tsk, tsk. Anyway, it’s an uphill battle to get this system back up into the top half of the league, but I assume Jays fans would rather win the pennant than win the prospect rankings"

He's correct about that last point and so while the rankings shouldn't faze the Blue Jays and their fans too much, the area of concerns lies within the fact that their division rivals farm system's all ranked higher. This in effect could hurt the Blue Jays in two ways; replacements and trades.

The Baltimore Orioles ranked ninth overall, with the Boston Red Sox right behind them. The Tampay Bay Rays found themselves in Tier 5 (No. 16 overall) along with the 20th overall ranked New York Yankees. The Orioles, Red Sox and Yankees are all going to pose as big threats to Toronto's AL East division repeat hopes those threats can loom larger if they are able to reap the rewards of their, percieved, stronger farms.

In terms of replacements, these teams should theoretically have at least a couple of higher end prospects that could be ready to jump into big league action if players at the major league level get hurt or underperform. But perhaps more significantly, they can use them as better trade chips at the deadline.

FanGraphs just released the ZiPS standings projections and it has the Blue Jays and Red Sox finishing tied with identical 90-72 records. Baltimore comes in next at 88-74, while the Yankees are right behind them at 87-75. With the margin for error so tight before the games have even started, having a higher ranked prospect or two at the deadline could make up the difference in those narrowed win columns.

The Blue Jays have done a great job this offseason adding to an already formidable roster and have also done enough to build up sufficient big league level depth. But there's no telling how a season will go and having a prospect breakout along the way could be the difference between having to fight for a Wild Card spot, or sailing into the ALDS with a rested rotation.