Prospect watching has become quite an intriguing hobby among baseball fans, and Blue Jays fans have especially embraced it in recent years.
With the emergence of talents like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and others rising through the ranks, it’s easy to forget just how many highly touted prospects once passed through the Toronto system. The current regime of Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro used their farm system to build the core you see today, so it’s easy to see why fans get excited about the team’s future.
Let’s wind the clock back 10 years and see what we can dig up from the previous top prospects via
MLB Pipeline:
2015: Daniel Norris
Daniel Norris is a name many tend to forget, but he was once a top prospect for the Blue Jays. The MLB Draft is always full of talent, and the Blue Jays’ 2015 draft class alone featured players who made it to the big leagues, such as Joe Musgrove, Dwight Smith Jr., Aaron Nola, and Kevin Pillar, just to name a few.
While not all of these players remained with the organization, Norris was a pitcher who was projected to become a solid starter for the Jays after being drafted in the second round of the 2011 MLB Draft. He ended up making 10 appearances for the Jays split between 2014 and 2015, posting a 5.30 FIP with a 6.6 K/9.
What most fans remember him for, though, is being part of the package, along with Matt Boyd and Jairo Labourt, traded to the Detroit Tigers for David Price.
Following the trade, Norris spent eight years with the Tigers, posting a 4.52 ERA in 153 games before being traded to Milwaukee in 2021 for Reese Olson. He would go on to bounce between teams, including the Chicago Cubs, a return to Detroit, and then the Cleveland Guardians organization. Norris’s career was full of twists and turns, being diagnosed with thyroid cancer and battling through the disease through the 2015 season before being declared cancer-free in October of that year. He has not pitched professionally since 2023.
Ten years after that trade, the Blue Jays’ gamble on David Price helped spark a memorable postseason run that led them to the ALCS. While Norris could have potentially developed into a reliable arm, that 2015 trade is widely seen in hindsight as a move that paid off, despite not ending in a World Series title.
2016: Anthony Alford
Here’s a name many have likely forgotten. Like many fans, I was very intrigued by Anthony Alford during his time in the Blue Jays system. He had the tools you want in an outfielder: power, speed, and arm strength. Despite being passed over by many teams due to his football commitments with the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Mississippi, the Blue Jays saw his potential and drafted him in the third round of the 2012 MLB Draft. The contract he netted with Toronto allowed him to play football and then baseball in the summer. He would eventually leave Ole Miss in 2014 and become a full-time baseball player.
When Alford finally got the call to the majors in 2017, there was plenty of hype. Unfortunately, injuries quickly derailed his progress. He fractured his wrist just weeks after being called up and then struggled to carve out a full-time role on the team. In total, Alford appeared in just 46 games across four seasons with the Blue Jays, hitting only .155/.200/.454 with two home runs and five RBIs.
He later spent three seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he appeared in 65 games and performed better, slashing .235/.309/.423 with six home runs and 15 RBIs. His last MLB appearance came in 2022. He had a subsequent minor league stint Cleveland Guardians before signing with the KT Wiz in the KBO, where he spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He returned stateside for the 2024 season in the Cincinnati Reds organization but was released early into the campaign. Alford’s last professional game was with the Piratas de Campeche in the Mexican League last year before being released in January of this year. He is still a free agent.
2017–2019: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
This name needs no introduction. On July 2, 2015, the Blue Jays planted the seeds for their future by signing a 17-year-old Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a professional contract, signing him as an international free agent to a deal worth $3.9 million. He quickly shot up the prospects list in the Jays system and was the top-ranking player in the system from 2017 through 2019, and one of the top names in the entire game by 2019.
Following disappointing 2017 and 2018 seasons for the club, fans turned their eyes to the future. Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero Sr. tore up the minor leagues as a third baseman, and anticipation for his big-league debut grew rapidly. On April 26, 2019, fans finally got their wish. Guerrero’s first big-league hit—a double down the first-base line—sent the stadium into a frenzy.
What followed has been pure excitement. In just six seasons, Guerrero has racked up an impressive résumé: a Gold Glove in 2022, two Silver Slugger Awards (2021, 2024), four All-Star appearances, a Home Run Derby title, and a second-place MVP finish in 2021 behind Shohei Ohtani. Through his seven seasons, the slugging first baseman owns a .288/.363/.496 slash line with a .860 OPS and 164 home runs.
In terms of Blue Jays franchise records, Guerrero already ranks 7th in batting average, 8th in home runs, 10th in RBIs (525), and 10th in extra-base hits (354). With a 14-year, $500 million extension signed on April 9, 2025, pencil him in as a player who could break every major offensive record in Blue Jays history before his contract ends and the future of this franchise.
2020: Nate Pearson
Oh, what could have been. Nate Pearson is the classic case of “the one that got away.” Once touted as a future top-of-the-rotation arm, Pearson’s career took a downward turn not long after a promising debut. After being drafted 28th overall by the Jays in the 2017 MLB Draft, Pearson struggled to stay on the mound due to injuries. An oblique injury hampered his 2018 debut in high-A, and then a comebacker in his first start broke his ulna, and he missed the rest of the season.
When he made his MLB debut in 2020, against current Blue Jay Max Scherzer, no less, the hype was real. He went five shutout innings and struck out five batters. It seemed like the start of something special.
Unfortunately, recurring injuries and control issues plagued his development. Across 115 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays (including five starts, the rest in relief), Pearson posted a 5.21 ERA with 130 strikeouts. Despite his high-velocity fastball and sharp slider, he never gained the full trust of the fanbase and struggled to carve out a full-time role on the Jays’ active roster, while also missing time due to mono, a lat strain, an elbow strain, and an adductor strain.
Pearson was eventually traded to the Chicago Cubs for prospects Josh Rivera and Yohendrick Pinango at last season’s trade deadline. In 27 games with Chicago so far, Pearson has a 4.63 ERA. This season, he’s struggled even more, with an ERA over 10 in eight appearances and was optioned back to triple-A on April 15th. Sadly, one of Toronto’s most promising pitching prospects never quite became the ace many envisioned.
