Blue Jays farm report: Lefty Cole Carlon at centre of system boost

TORONTO — Hamstrung by the second-smallest signing-bonus pool and a 10-spot drop to their first-round pick due to 2025 payroll spending, the Toronto Blue Jays focused their draft resources on two players: Cole Carlon and Will Brick. 

Carlon, the Arizona State lefty taken at No. 39 who signed for $2.4 million, and Brick, the prep catcher from Memphis picked in the fourth round who signed for $2.5 million, accounted for 88 per cent of the $5,543,100 available to amateur scouting director Marc Tramuta. To make it work, the Blue Jays spent only $13,000 of the $1,365,100 allotted to their choices in rounds 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10.

“I was OK, I think our staff was OK with this, getting what we thought were a couple of first-round talents in the top four rounds,” said Tramuta. “We had gamed out some of these strategies prior to the draft. We liked, obviously, Will Brick a lot. He was a player that we had spent a lot of time with, had worked out privately and once we got that figure nailed down, then the picture became a little clearer, OK, we can do this, what do we do, how do we proceed afterwards? Obviously our bonus pool had shrunk a lot once we knew what it, in all likelihood, would take to sign him. You game these strategies out.”

Carlon ranked as the Blue Jays’ No. 3 prospect, with Brick at No. 5, in Baseball America’s post-trade deadline update, underlining Tramuta’s goal “to get as much high-end talent” with the resources they had.

Combined with the trade deadline additions of lefty Dasan Hill (No. 7), righty John Klein (No. 29) and infielder Dameury Pena from the Minnesota Twins for Jeff Hoffman, and infielder Ty Southisene (No. 19) and Brett Bateman (No. 30) from the Chicago Cubs for Kevin Gausman, the Blue Jays widened their asset base, even after shortstop Arjun Nimmala was the centrepiece of a deal with the Los Angeles Angels for Jose Soriano.

“We feel like we've added some impact pitching to our group at the major-league level and all the way down to the lower levels of the minor leagues and some position player depth, as well,” GM Ross Atkins said once the deadline had passed. “Obviously, we had to give up some things to do that, but we feel we're in a healthier position moving forward.”

Carlon, a six-foot-five, 230-pound lefty from Tempe, Ariz., is a big part of that. 

The Blue Jays didn’t expect him to reach them at No. 39, as Tramuta had him among “the top 20-25 players” available. When he was sitting there, they pounced, sold on the mid-90s fastball and whiff-inducing slider he used to strike out 133 in 83.2 innings with Arizona State.

Carlon was a reliever in his first two seasons before jumping into ASU’s rotation, and while Tramuta described him as having now stuff, his seldom-used changeup — he was so overpowering, he didn’t really need it in college — will be a developmental priority, both to give him a third weapon and help the other two pitches play up.

That will help keep him starting in pro ball, a goal for the 21-year-old.

“I think I have the ability to do that,” he said. “But ultimately my goal is to become a big-leaguer as fast as possible, so whatever the organization needs. … 

“I would say that I'm relentless,” Carlon added later on his approach on the mound. “I'm going to go out there and I'm going to compete. I'm to try to get to two strikes as soon as I can and try to get as many outs as possible in any way that I can. I really just love to go out there, compete, and go right after guys with my stuff.”

Scott Boras, Carlon’s agent, described his client as a “fresh arm” because he only started in his junior year, and that may have helped him get to the Blue Jays because “his late development was not as widely known as you would expect it to be. … Normally, in the draft, when you have Cole's abilities, they're going at much higher levels.”

Carlon’s jump from 54 innings as a sophomore to 83.2 innings this season is why, for now, he’s working at the complex rather than pitching for an affiliate, essentially starting his off-season early to prepare for the winter’s work. It’s an approach similar to the one the Blue Jays used with Trey Yesavage in 2024 after he was picked at No. 20, aimed at setting him up for a bigger workload in 2027.

“The biggest thing for me was obviously getting ready physically for that starter workload, so just working on my aerobic conditioning and make sure my muscular endurance was right to be able to go deeper into games,” Carlon said of moving from the bullpen to the rotation this year. “Mentally, I didn't change who I was as a pitcher. But during the season, definitely had to feel week-by-week how my arm was feeling. Some days my bullpens would be a little lighter in between starts, and sometimes I'd be able to go a little harder. But I was able to really get a good recovery system in place each week to ultimately feel pretty close to 100 per cent every single Friday. That was the biggest thing for me, was to be able to go out and pitch as much as I could for my team.”

A look elsewhere around the Blue Jays system:

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

The trade deadline brought two new starters to the mix in Klein, who debuted in the majors with a clean inning against the Blue Jays on May 2, and Josh Stephan. As with all new players coming into the organization mid-stream, the two right-handers will be observed initially, staff will get to know them and their inputs will be factored into off-season plans. … Some other reinforcements are on the horizon for the Bisons with players on the injured list. Utilityman Jay Harry is due to begin a rehab progression in Dunedin this week, with a return to Buffalo possible as soon as early next week. Outfielder R.J. Schreck is doing baseball activity aimed at a late-August return. Righty Yariel Rodriguez has started a throwing progression with games a possibility by early September. 

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Lefty Johnny King makes his double-A debut this week after earning a promotion from Vancouver, where he struck out 112 batters in 84 innings. … Righty Danny Thompson, an eighth-rounder last year, continues to pitch well since being promoted from Vancouver, with 44 strikeouts in 42.2 innings with a 2.32 ERA over nine games. Praised for being a strong competitor, he’s paired that with an uptick in velocity of about two m.p.h. to 94.4 on a fastball that has good shape. He’s also added a curveball this year that’s become a weapon. … Corner infielder Dub Gleed, acquired from the Marlins for Leo Jimenez back in the spring, continues to impress since being promoted from Vancouver, batting .286/.386/.517 with eight homers in 42 games. 

High-A Vancouver Canadians

JoJo Parker, the eighth overall pick last year, jumps up a level after batting .259/.389/.471 in 87 low-A games. Still just 19, he also stole 22 bases and has pleasantly surprised with his strong play at shortstop. He flashed his power during the Futures Game last month, when he turned around a 101.1 m.p.h. fastball from Miguel Sime Jr. for an RBI double off the top of the right-field wall. His developmental plan remains the same, only against better competition at Vancouver: improving his range in the field and his consistency in making routine plays; increasing his exit velocity on balls in the air; and continued gains in his base-running. … Southisene, who didn’t hit a homer in 157 games in the Cubs system, went deep in his fourth game with the Canadians.

Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays

Infielder Ryan Cooney, a third-round pick this year, and outfielder Dean West, a seventh-round pick, are among the 2026 draftees to jump directly into play with a full-season affiliate. Both are also examples of the type of high-contact hitters the Blue Jays identify, believing they can help the player add slug over time. “That would certainly be the premise,” said Tramuta. “You have to have room in the physical traits of the player, in the body of the player. … When you get further away from those top picks, even with pitching, if you're taking a plus skill, or a plus trait or a plus tool, at least they have that to work around if something else jumps. Usually that's what we're trying to target. … We think that our strength and conditioning program is really good. Some of these guys will look different in two years, where they have more dynamic moves in the box that may untap a little bit more damage.” … Pena, part of the return for Hoffman, is expected to join the Canadians once he gets through some visa issues. … Righty Carson Messina is the Florida State League’s pitcher of the week after throwing five no-hit innings with four strikeouts against Lakeland to earn his first professional win. He’s made steady gains since getting bumped from the complex league team, with 33 strikeouts and a 3.26 ERA in 30.1 innings over 10 starts.