What is the Blue Jays’ endgame with Dalton Pompey?

Is there anyone on the Blue Jays 40-man roster who’s experienced a wilder up-and-down journey than Dalton Pompey? Once believed to be the centre fielder of the future in Toronto, an unfortunate series of injuries and bad luck sidelined him from the Major Leagues for a year-and-a-half.

Pompey finally made his return to the Blue Jays in May of 2018. For those keeping count, he went 580 days in between Major League games. After Pompey’s demotion to Triple-A, he had a spat with his manager in August and the Jays suspended Pompey. There’s also this; every single member of 40-man roster suited up for the Blue Jays in September 2018, save for one: Pompey.

If there was any speculation whether the 26-year-old was in the doghouse with the organization, that lack of a call-up said it all. Technically, he’s on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster, but Pompey is seemingly hanging by a thread.

What exactly is the Blue Jays’ endgame here with Pompey? In November, the club made the curious decision to keep him on the 40-man roster, despite ending the season in a dreadful fashion. In lieu of adding players like Jordan Romano or Travis Bergen to their eligible roster, Pompey stayed put.

Not that losing players of that ilk is catastrophic to the Blue Jays organization, but why continue on this path with Pompey when it’s clear he has no future with this club? That’s what everyone is trying to figure out.

It’s not like Pompey hasn’t had opportunities. One of the reasons why Pillar has remained the team’s starting centre fielder for the last four years is he hasn’t been challenged by anyone like Pompey or even Anthony Alford.

In a year when the Blue Jays got pennies on the dollar for Josh Donaldson and ate $38 million owing to Troy Tulowitzki, the Jays demonstrated they covet precious roster spots, even if it means paying that player to go away. Again, Pompey’s still here.

In a few ways, this feels a little like the Tulowitzki situation. If money’s not the issue, given the history here, the local choice is to cut ties, in order to free up a roster spot for somebody else who factors into the future of this organization.

From all accounts, for Pompey to get suspended by his own team is pretty bad. Just ask Ken Giles; blow-ups with your manager will not only get you demoted, but they’ll also get you traded. Pompey has not found himself on the end of a move to another organization … yet.

Shi Davidi had an interesting quote in one of his latest pieces up on Sportsnet about how Pompey stayed on the 40-man roster in lieu of guys like Romano and Bergen.

There are only two reasons I can think of why the Blue Jays are still hanging on to their maligned outfielder. For one, he’s a distressed asset, but he still has some value. Since his service time hasn’t accrued very much over the last five years, Pompey isn’t eligible for arbitration until 2020 and he’s under team control for six more seasons. That comes with a caveat; he’s out of options next year and has to go through waivers if the Jays want to send him to the minors.

In theory, let’s say that everything goes right for Pompey in 2019. He breaks camp with the Blue Jays as one of their outfielders and stays on the 25-man roster the entire season. Pompey then has to stay on the big league roster for the next five seasons (without getting demoted and exposed to waivers) for the Jays to maximize that asset.

My second suspicion – which is more outlandish than the first – is the Blue Jays have a suitor lined up for Pompey and they’re merely waiting for an opportunity to trade him as part of a package deal.

I can’t explain why, but for some reason, I feel like if this whole Elvis Luciano project doesn’t work out, the Jays could work out a trade with the Royals and Pompey could be a piece going back to Kansas City. That’s just pure speculation on my part, but I can’t see Pompey as anything but a trade chip at this point.

Ultimately, it’s one lowly 40-man roster spot on a Jays team that doesn’t figure to contend in 2019, so it’s hard to get upset about it. On the other hand, why would Pompey continue to occupy a roster spot when prospects like Romano and Bergen forecasted into this team’s future?

Does the value of a player like Pompey outweigh the upside of an arm like Romano’s or Bergen’s? Technically, three teams felt like these guys were worth a shot, after the White Sox selected Romano in the Rule 5 draft and then flipped to the Rangers. Bergen went to the Bay area to suit up for the Giants.

There must be a legitimate reason for Pompey’s presence on this roster, even if it’s unknown to the public. The organization wouldn’t knowingly waste a roster spot on someone who didn’t factor into the team’s plans. If Pompey sticks around through the offseason, only to find himself on waivers by April, that’s extremely poor asset management by the Blue Jays.

It was cool to see Pompey back in a Blue Jays uniform last season. I’ll always remember him as the Blue Jays larcenist on the basepaths during the 2015 playoffs. His home run off Felix Hernandez in September 2014 was another memorable highlight.

In retrospect, it may have been too much too soon for Pompey. He’s capable of being a big leaguer again, but the question is – will that be with the Blue Jays or an entirely new organization?

Given his age and his skill set, Pompey will catch on somewhere. It just won’t be with the Blue Jays.