The 2024 Baseball America Top 30 Prospects list for the Toronto Blue Jays has a distinct Vancouver Canadians flavour to it.

C's Recap

Players who suited up for Monty’s Mounties make up 60 percent of the Top 30 Jays hopefuls in the minor league system. The top 10 features seven former C’s with lefty Ricky Tiedemann and infielder Orelvis Martinez occupying the top two spots. The Top 30 list is below with the years in parentheses for those who spent time in the red and white uniforms. The players are graded on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale with 50 considered to be average. The Risk Assessment grades are Low, Medium, High, Very High and Extreme.

NumberPlayer/PositionBA Grade/Risk
1.Ricky Tiedemann, LHP (2022)65/Very High
2.Orelvis Martinez, SS (2021)55/Very High
3.Arjun Nimmala, SS55/Extreme
4.Brandon Barriera, LHP55/Extreme
5.Addison Barger, SS (2022)50/High
6.Kendry Rojas, LHP55/Extreme
7.Leo Jiménez, SS (2022)45/High
8.Davis Schneider, 2B (2019, 2021-2022)40/Medium
9.Alan Roden, OF (2023)45/High
10.Connor Cooke, RHP (2022-2023)45/High
11.Enmanuel Bonilla, OF50/Extreme
12.Yosver Zulueta, RHP (2022)50/Extreme
13.Landen Maroudis, RHP50/Extreme
14.Chad Dallas, RHP (2022-2023)45/High
15.Josh Kasevich, SS (2023)45/High
16.Adam Macko, LHP (2023)45/High
17.Juaron Watts-Brown, RHP45/High
18.Dahian Santos, RHP (2022-2023)50/Extreme
19.Damiano Palmegiani, 3B (2022)45/High
20.Jace Bohrofen, OF45/High
21.Franklin Rojas, C50/Extreme
22.Spencer Horwitz, 1B (2019, 2021)40/Medium
23.Hagen Danner, RHP (2021)40/Medium
24.Franklin Perez, RHP45/High
25.T.J. Brock, RHP (2022-2023)40/High
26.Nolan Perry, RHP45/Extreme
27.Mason Fluharty, LHP (2022-2023)40/High
28.Hayden Juenger, RHP (2021)40/High
29.Sam Shaw, OF (Victoria, B.C.)45/Extreme
30.Tucker Toman, 3B45/Extreme

One notable omission from the BA list is 2023 C’s infielder Cade Doughty. The former LSU Tiger was ranked as the Jays number seven prospect in 2023. Though he did not match the pace of his 2022 pro debut with Dunedin when he batted .272/.370/.495, Doughty slashed .257/.334./444 with Vancouver and led the club with 17 home runs.

Another omission is Oakville, Ontario native Dasan Brown who patrolled center field with Vancouver in 2022 and 2023. He was 13th on BA’s list in 20223. There is one Canadian-born on the list with second baseman Sam Shaw who hails from Victoria, B.C. The 29th-ranked prospect was drafted in the 9th round of the 2023 MLB Draft by Toronto out of Lambrick Park High School. The other Canadian connections are lefty Adam Macko who was raised in Stony Plain, Alberta and infielder Damiano Palmegiani who grew up in Surrey. Macko and Palmegiani were teammates were at Vauxhall Academy in Alberta.

Also left off the list was Infielder Alex De Jesús. His last prospect ranking from BA came in 2022 when he was rated the 25th best prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers system De Jesús was then traded to Toronto at the 2022 MLB Trade Deadline. He batted .248/.340/.466 with 11 homers with the C’s in 2023 before being sidelined with a shoulder injury at the tail end of the season. Meanwhile, Nick Frasso is rated number four in the Los Angeles Dodgers system. The righthander was a part of the deal that sent De Jesús and pitcher Mitch White to Toronto and saw lefty Moises Brito going to Los Angeles.

Former C’s righthanders Sem Robberse (2021-2022) and Adam Kloffenstein (2019, 2021-2022) made BA’s Top 30 list of the St. Louis Cardinals. Robberse just missed the Top 10 by slotting 11th while Kloffenstein made the list at 29. The two pitches came to Missouri in a deal that sent reliever Jordan Hicks to Toronto last season.

Another prospect ranking submitted for your consideration is the annual Top 30 Blue Jays Prospects List at Batter’s Box that was put together mostly by fellow Irishman Gerry McDonald and myself. Our rankings varied widely from those at Baseball America which you can see for yourself here (30-21), here (20-11) and here (10-1).

There were a total of 20 players with C’s connections in the BB rankings. Again, years the player spent with Vancouver are in parentheses.

  • 1. Ricky Tiedemann, LHP (2022)
  • 2. Orelvis Martinez, SS (2021)
  • 4. Addison Barger, 3B/OF (2022)
  • 5. Leo Jiménez, SS (2022)
  • 6. Adam Macko, LHP (2023)
  • 8. Alan Roden, OF (2023)
  • 9. Spencer Horwitz, 1B (2019, 2021)
  • 12. Yosver Zulueta, RHP (2022)
  • 13. Connor Cooke, RHP (2022-2023)
  • 15. Damiano Palmegiani, 3B (2022)
  • 17. Chad Dallas, RHP (2022-2023)
  • 18. Josh Kasevich, SS (2023)
  • 19. Hagen Danner, RHP (2021)
  • 20. Cade Doughty, INF (2023)
  • 21. Dahian Santos, RHP (2022-2023)
  • 23. Alex De Jesús, INF (2022-2023)
  • 24. C.J. Van Eyk, RHP (2021)
  • 26. Dasan Brown, OF (2022)
  • 28. Lazaro Estrada, RHP (2021)
  • 29. Michael Dominguez, RHP (2022-2023)

C-Notes

C's Changes Roster Notes

There is not much happening in the transactions column so far but one pitcher has been assigned to the Vancouver Canadians. Righthander Alan Zhang Carter was signed as a minor league free agent by the Toronto Blue Jays on January 16. The Singapore native pitched for China in the 2023 World Baseball Classic after signing as a free agent with the Los Angeles Angels on January 30. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Carter spent last year with Low-A Inland Empire and Double-A Rocket City, At Inland Empire, Carter won two games and lost two games while recording a 1.77 earned run average with 32 strikeouts in 20 innings. He earned a promotion to Double-A Rocket City, bypassing High-A Tri-City, and did not fare nearly as well as he logged a 10.80 ERA over 8-1/3 innings before being placed on the injured list on August 1. Carter was then released by the Angels organization on August 31.

In college, Lee pitched for Columbus State University in Georgia and Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. We’ll see if the 26-year-old does report to Vancouver when the 2024 season begins. The season opener is in Spokane on Friday, April 5 and the home opener is set for Tuesday, April 9 against Hillsboro at Nat Bailey Stadium.

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C’s Plus Baseball strives to deliver plus coverage of the C’s through photos, observations and interviews of the players striving to make it to the major leagues. If you like what you see here, please spread the word about CsPlusBaseball.ca through your favourite social media platform. This blog began just before the C's championship season in 2017 and the goal is to deliver awesome content about Canada’s only affiliated professional minor league baseball club. Thanks a million for being here!

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