The Blue Jays should take a shot on this former Yankees top prospect

This week, the Chicago White Sox to designated Yoendrys Gómez for assignment, marking the third time that a team designated him for assignment this year.

The Blue Jays should take advantage by claiming him off waivers.

Even though he's struggled so far this year (there's a reason he's been designated for assignment so many times, after all), the upside is still there. He was the Yankees' No. 9 prospect in 2022 per MLB Pipeline and was also their No. 11 prospect in 2023.

The organization was high on his arm early in his career, and he was an unfortunate roster casualty earlier this season due to the Yankees' roster churn.

But that shouldn't stop the Blue Jays from taking a chance on Gómez.

The Blue Jays should take a risk on former Yankees prospect Yoendrys Gómez

Gómez has a 6.62 ERA across 17 2/3 innings with the Yankees, Dodgers and White Sox this year, and the ultimate reason as to why Gómez has bounced around so much this year has been because of his lack of control.

He's walked opponents at an alarming 15.1% rate, and he also strikes guys out at that same rate, so his stuff is not generating the chase that he needs. His chase rate is below average at 24.3%.

He has a seven-pitch mix led by a mid-90s fastball. He relies heavily on that fastball and his sweeper . He hasn't fooled many hitters with those pitches, however, as hitters are slugging .420 or better against both pitches.

He's been able to get left-handers out with his curveball (.077 batting average against), and he also hasn't used his cutter or slider much this year.

While his counting stats aren't great, Gómez has been able to limit some hard contact. Opponents have had an average exit velocity of 89.2 miles per hour against him, and they've had a hard-hit rate of just 39% against him.

He started the season with the Yankees and allowed just three earned run in 10 innings in the first two weeks of the season, but was DFA'd a day after throwing three innings due to the team needing a fresh arm.

He was scooped up on waivers by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but his stint on the west coast didn't last very long. He threw three innings of scoreless relief but then allowed seven runs in 1 1/3 innings in his next two outings with the Dodgers before being cut from there.

Then he went to the White Sox (dizzy yet?) and was DFA'd after 3 1/3 innings. That DFA was arguably the most surprising of the three considering the White Sox aren't playing for anything and should be rolling the dice on lottery tickets like Gomez.

The biggest positive for Gómez is his extension; he's in the 87th percentile at 6.9 inches.

Gómez has the tools to be a solid major leaguer, he just hasn't had opportunity to put it together in MLB. He deserves a chance to a get a long MLB look, and the Blue Jays would be smart to give it to him

The worst case scenario is that he struggles and the Blue Jays DFA him when they need to add someone like Max Scherzer to the roster. They have plenty of players who are close to losing their spot on the roster, so there's room for Gómez in the Blue Jays' MLB picture.