TORONTO — Between promotions and demotions to cover the Toronto Blue Jays’ ceaseless roster churn, various rehab assignments and the usual demands of player development, the triple-A Buffalo Bisons made 273 transactions from April through September.
At an average of 45.5 moves a month, with a low of 38 and high of 50, that’s a lot of chaos to tame, and credit to manager Casey Candaele for not only overseeing the madness, but also graduating 14 of the 15 players to make their big-league debuts in 2026 (Kazuma Okamoto went straight from Japan to the big leagues).
Between that, the progress of top prospects such as shortstop JoJo Parker, left-hander Johnny King and righty Nolan Perry and the grooming of players used in trades such as shortstop Arjun Nimmala and lefty Adam Macko, the Blue Jays’ farm system delivered a productive season, extending the rebound from a dismal 2024 that started last year.
“Our job is to help the major-league team, and there are lots of different shapes to that,” said farm director Joe Sclafani. “With all the individual success and positive stories, there are plenty that we wish things would have gone differently, and we need to attack those and get better. But, overarchingly, we showed up to support the major-league team, and credit to Casey's staff, all our directors and co-ordinators, all the way down the line. That's been pretty neat.”
Focal points in player development this past season included an emphasis on base-running and base-stealing, something Sclafani said improved, especially at the lower levels of the system, where habits are less ingrained in players and there’s more raw speed to work with. That will continue into next season, along with the emphasis on helping the club’s contact-oriented hitters get to higher exit velocities.
On the pitching side, director of pitching Justin Lehr’s reset built around strike-throwing and count leverage continued to pay dividends. Last month, he looked at the progress the organization’s top arms made.
Along with a few pitching updates, here’s a look at how the club’s top position-player prospects fared in 2026:
Arizona Fall League
The Blue Jays sent pitchers Jake Bloss, Brandon Barriera, Fernando Perez, Gilberto Batista and Yondrei Rojas to the Mesa Solar Sox, along with catcher Aaron Parker and outfielders Jake Casey and Jake Cook. For most of them, the assignment is about getting more reps to make up for lost time, although Barriera and Perez are Rule 5 eligible this year, as well.
Brandon Barriera: The 2022 first-round pick made it out of low-A Dunedin, finishing out the season with high-A Vancouver, where he pitched out of the bullpen, and that’s a role the Blue Jays are considering for him. Reconstructive elbow surgery in 2024 derailed his progress and he’s logged 44.1 innings since, which is why his window as a starter might be closing. He’s relieving again in the AFL.
“The stuff still plays ridiculously well when he's been in the zone; especially this year, he was pretty damn good,” said Sclafani. “So seeing if he can harness it, it's a different approach when you're coming out of the 'pen — he'd really never done that much before — so it's kind of experiential for him to learn the routines and give us a look on how it looks in shorter stints. If he comes out and he shows his body can hold up, we still believe, just based on the stuff and how he's historically carried it when he has been out there, that he has a chance to start. We saw Javen Coleman fly up (three levels, to Buffalo), unique lefty with a good fastball. Why can't Brandon do that, at the floor?”
Jake Bloss: The Blue Jays mostly want him to get innings in the AFL, where his usage will be capped, maxing out at four innings and 60 pitches an outing, but with his stuff ticking up after reconstructive elbow surgery, “it's also trying to figure out how to harness new toys almost, to a degree,” explained Sclafani. “He loves the data part, too, so let him get into the flow of the game, keep track of how the quality of the stuff plays, how he holds things, and then how he utilizes it and executes. He's got to throw more strikes, he was behind in the count a lot when he came back, and he knows that, so going back into attack mode and figuring that out is a part of it, too.”
Jake Cook: The electric centre fielder chosen in the third round two summers ago played in 77 games after opening the season due to a hamstring injury that turned into an opportunity for the Blue Jays “to adjust his prep and recovery routines and how we're going to attack it,” said Sclafani. “He is so explosive, it's just different than other people, so he's putting a lot of stress on his body.
“He started to gain momentum throughout the year, which was really great to see and ended on a good trajectory. Felt like he was starting to figure some stuff out, make some adjustments to his swing and his approach. And it started translating to the game. So it's more game reps, continuing to lean into his defensive prowess out there.”
Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Catcher Brandon Valenzuela, infielder/outfielder Charles McAdoo — who picked up second base on the fly — corner infielder Sean Keys and outfielders Yohendrick Pinango, Brett Bateman — for two games before he was promoted to the majors after he was acquired from the Cubs — and Rudy Martin Jr. are the six position players promoted from Buffalo. The Blue Jays should have more on-the-cusp depth beyond them next year, too.
Josh Kasevich: The gifted defensive shortstop set career highs for games (130) and plate appearances (572), and while he continues to get on base (.364) and had a remarkably low strikeout rate of 11.3 per cent, he’s still searching for more slug (.363), too. He’s Rule 5 eligible again this off-season.
“Many managers would tell you reliability is one of the things they look for with their players, to know exactly what version of them is going to show up every single day, and Kas fits that mould perfectly,” said Sclafani. “Probably frustrating for him that he didn't get an opportunity because of that logjam (at-big-league level) but didn't waver in the way that he was attacking the day and his preparation. He's a player that helps the team win. We still need to continue working on tapping into those EVs that have improved. He knows that and he's aware of it and at times he's found it. But we still have some work to do there. If he can unlock that, he's a scary player because he's just consistent.”
Jay Harry: The utilityman acquired from the Twins for Trevor Richards during the 2024 deadline selloff spent the off-season locking in adjustments to his posture at the plate, designed to limit his head movement and better control his move forward, and ended up mashing with an .838 OPS in 105 games between double-A and triple-A. A solid defender at shortstop, second and centre field, he’s a candidate to be added to the 40-man roster to avoid 40-man exposure. A hip injury cost him a month in the summer, slowing his progress.
“He's the story that nobody's really talking about,” said Sclafani. “Last off-season he was at the PDC every day. We thought we identified something that that would really help him with his swing, and he bought it and you saw the results. Could not be happier for him. I think he's a left-handed version of Ernie Clement with more power, if he continues on the track that he's on. Definitely ran out of gas a little bit and the hip bothered him towards the end there, but his numbers are ridiculous. We're pumped.”
R.J. Schreck: The left-handed hitting outfielder missed time with hand injuries in 2025 and a left-wrist injury limited him to just 70 games this year, when the big-league club could have used his on-base with power profile.
“Frustrating year for him and he'd be the first to say, dealing with the hand stuff, and missing the time and then seeing guys get opportunities that he had felt he had earned,” said Sclafani. “We've got to figure out, and he'll tell you this as well, how to get him off to better starts. My opinion, because he's so cerebral, what makes him good over time: he uses previous information to prepare him for future at-bats against a pitcher, so he gets better. But he's a very complete player. He can do a lot of things, solid defender, has impact, good plate discipline, still a guy we're high on. But I wish he would have stayed healthier to get that opportunity this year.”
Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Between promotions for Keys and Harry, along with several pitchers, and the trade for Jose Soriano that sent Nimmala and outfielder Eddie Micheletti Jr. to the Angels, along with rookie-ball righty Angel Rivero, the Fisher Cats were more of a transit point than stopping ground in the Blue Jays system this season. Infielder Dub Gleed, acquired from the Marlins for Leo Jimenez, ended up here as did Danny Thompson, a righty with many fans internally, but it will be a level to watch next year with King due to start there.
Victor Arias: The outfielder returned from major shoulder surgery to play in 87 games but there was internal disappointment about his conditioning during rehab, and he batted just .221//277/.379 while striking out 83 times in 351 plate appearances.
Still, Sclafani points to Adolis Garcia and describes Arias as “a version of that” because “he can just do so many things,” but “he didn't adjust very well this year. I think he learned a lot. He's a pending minor-league free agent and we have some interest in bringing him back and he does as well, so we'll see what happens on that front, because I could imagine that other teams would be interested in him, as well.”
High-A Vancouver Canadians
A late-season run pushed the Canadians into the Northwest League playoffs, where they beat the Eugene Emeralds for the championship. Like New Hampshire, Vancouver saw plenty of traffic with players passing through, pushing up Nimmala while getting Parker, the eighth-overall pick last year, for three weeks at the end. Several deadline pickups, including righty Dasan Hill and a pair of position players, ended up there, too.
Ty Southisene: Acquired with Bateman from the Cubs for Kevin Gausman at the deadline, the infielder was working through a finger injury and played in 11 games upon coming over. Like Bateman, he’s a unique profile as a high-on-base, low-slug player but takes to an extreme, posting a .245/.388/.277 line last year and a .300/.419/.380 clip this season when he hit his first pro homer.
“Really like what he brings to the table,” said Sclafani. “Plays the game the right way, scrappy, puts together ridiculously good at-bats, pitchers can't take a pitch off with him, he makes them work, finds a way to get the job done. He'll walk, steal a bag, so there are a lot of tools to like. The finger was still affecting him a little bit. He wanted to play, credit to him, make an impression on the org. It did impact him a little bit, so we let him play some second base. We're definitely going to give him a look at shortstop (next year).”
Demeury Pena: Part of the return from the Twins along with Hill and triple-A righty John Klein for Jeff Hoffman, the diminutive infielder fits the high-contact profile the Blue Jays are increasingly targeting.
“We'd seen him a fair amount because he kicked our ass with Fort Myers" (in the Florida State League), said Sclafani. “Similar profile to Ty, scrappy, probably runs just as well if not a little bit better. Definitely going to try to lean in to see if we can leverage the athleticism for stolen bases. Defensively, definitely some work to do. Might end up being in the outfield. But in the box, doesn't give an inch. Hopefully, we can make some progress and unlock some of the impact ability. Dynamic player.”
Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Led by Parker, a significant wave of talent cut its teeth at this level and below, and the organization is looking at those groups to help fill the current gap in impact talent feeding into Buffalo.
JoJo Parker: Perhaps the club’s best position-player prospect since Gabriel Moreno, the 19-year-old batted .270/.399/.460 with 28 stole bases in 108 games between Dunedin and Vancouver. His progress in his pro debut made the Blue Jays more comfortable parting with Nimmala in the Soriano deal.
“That first pro season is always a beast and, from Day 1, great human being, cares about the right things, cares about his teammates, great worker, transformed his body, changed his body composition, put on a bunch of muscle in preparation for it,” said Sclafani. “Defensively, we're very encouraged with the strides he made. Definitely some opportunity still for him with the range if he can figure out how to use his body so he can let it rip, because he does have a pretty good arm. No reason to think that we shouldn't be giving him more opportunities at shortstop going forward. He's hungry to stick there.”
Blaine Bullard: Like fellow teenage Parker, the high-octane, switch-hitting outfielder learned to deal with the rigours of full-season ball firsthand, posting a .265/.328/.365 line with 37 stolen bases in 42 attempts.
“Really good defender and plays his ass off. Love watching him play,” said Sclafani. “Plays (with) his hair on fire, trying to make a play at all times. He fully took to our challenge on the base-stealing piece and he's determined to make that even more of a threat. The hitting was up and down, and he learned a lot of things playing against pitchers that were a lot older than him. We fully anticipate him to continue to improve on that side. TBD on where he starts next year, but I'm very confident he'll at least spend a significant chunk of time in Vancouver, no matter where he's starting.”
Juan Sanchez:The recently turned 19-year-old infielder lit up the Dominican Summer League a year ago and was given an aggressive assignment in Dunedin. After a slow start, he pulled his numbers up to .213/.296/.342 with seven homers in 94 games.
“The biggest thing for him was the experience,” said Sclafani. “The thing that stood out was whether he was swinging it well or, in one of the tougher stretches, he had a smile on his face every day. He showed up. Was asking questions. He was on top of his routines. Great teammate. Worked his tail off. He didn't let it impact him. It's a massive jump. Overall, felt like he held his own. Quality of the at-bats were probably another thing that stood out. When he first got there, he looked like he got hit by a bus. By the time, I want to say mid-May, rolled around, the at-bats were consistent no matter what, good at-bats, taking his walks, finding stretches where he found the power. The ability is there. We believe in the upside. It was a good learning year for him. Now all that matters is how he responds to it.”
2026 draftees
Cole Carlon: The six-foot-five, 230-pound lefty selected 39th overall in the summer was shut down after 83.2 innings at Arizona State and given an early start on his off-season program. He’s got a chance to move fast next year.
“Feel really good about where he's at,” said Sclafani. “He's been engaging with us in the weight room. Everybody wants to throw and show off what they want to do, but he really leaned in to his opportunities and understood our reasoning behind stuff. He knows himself pretty well, which is a great start. In the next month or two, we'll start mapping what does ideal look like. This is a dude with a bunch of major-league pitches already. We'll factor in everything that we always do, how does he show up in spring training, assessments, all that stuff. We'll see if he does what we think he can do, and he's really damn good, (so) I would anticipate we're probably putting together a plan where at the upper levels there's an option later in the year.”
A Trey Yesavage-like plan?
“Yeah, similar,” replied Sclafani. “The only difference with Trey is he had posted in college for years and Cole made that transition last year. Did it remarkably well, but it's still a little bit of a different workload background, so we'll have to be thoughtful about it and maybe we control the innings for a little while, dial it up, dial it back, but we want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to make our best options, options for the major-league team next year.”
Will Brick: Prep catcher Brick played only in the unofficial Bridge League, a loop organized by big-league clubs for their recent draftees, but the 18-year-old made an immediate impression on and off the field.
“He's special,” said Sclafani. “I joked that he's going to be the mayor of Dunedin in two weeks. Positive energy every single day. Literally loves being here, befriends everybody, works his tail off, he wants to live here and work all the time, constantly asking what else he can do. Already, he's one of those guys we're going to have to monitor and pull the reins back a little bit. His first game, he threw two guys out, he also had a homer of about 430 feet. Just incredibly talented, but the combination of who he is and the impact he can have so broadly because of the position he plays and how he goes about it is exciting. I can't guarantee it right now, but I think he's going to start in Dunedin. He's talented enough and will be prepared enough to potentially move at some point next year.”
Ryan Cooney: The infielder picked in the third round out of Oregon State got into 23 games with Dunedin before his season wrapped up.
“He's a grown-up,” said Sclafani. “That stands out. He does things the right way. He's prepared. Just a sound, sound baseball player. The plate discipline and the contact ability are obviously appealing. We see some ways to unlock, because he's a good athlete, some of that athleticism in the swing. It was a good taste this year and we think we have a good plan. He's going to go crush the off-season and, hopefully, he comes back and we start to see it translate into games pretty quickly.”
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