TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays added three prospects to their 40-man roster Friday before the deadline for protecting players from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft: outfielder Anthony Alford, shortstop Richard Urena and left-hander Ryan Borucki.
The 22-year-old Alford entered the 2016 season ranked 25th among all prospects by Baseball America. He battled injuries early on, but ended up posting a .722 OPS with nine home runs with Class A Dunedin before impressing in the Arizona Fall League.
Urena reached double-A this past season while hitting .295/.335/.434 in 127 games across two levels. The 20-year-old switch-hitter’s considered a potential big leaguer, so adding him was an easy call.
Borucki posted a 3.18 ERA with 117 strikeouts against 38 walks in 135.2 innings for Toronto’s Class A Lansing and Dunedin affiliates in 2016. The Blue Jays initially selected the 22-year-old in the 15th round of the 2012 draft.
All three players will now have to be optioned to the minor leagues starting in 2017.
The Blue Jays also added two right-handed pitchers Friday, claiming Leonel Campos from the Padres and Dominic Leone from the Diamondbacks.
Toronto did leave a number of potentially intriguing players off of the roster, exposing them to next month’s Rule 5 Draft in the process. Among them: left-hander Angel Perdomo, right-hander Francisco Rios and outfielder D.J. Davis, a first-round pick in 2012.
The Blue Jays’ 40-man roster now has 39 players.
