The Blue Jays have a whole lot of young infielders and not a lot of playing time

Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro - USA Today

Feb 26, 2025, 10:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 26, 2025, 03:36 EST

What the Toronto Blue Jays lack in high-end prospects, they make up with MLB-ready infielders.

One thing the Toronto Blue Jays still need to do before the 2025 season begins is to add another power bat. There is one potential option remaining in free agency – J.D. Martinez, who didn’t have a great season in 2024 but hit 33 home runs in 479 plate appearances in 2023. He’d serve as the team’s full-time designated hitter, and he’s certainly no worse than who they signed for the 2023 season (Brandon Belt) and the 2024 season (Justin Turner).

However, it seems as if the way the Blue Jays add before the season begins is through trade. Who they might be interested in is anybody’s best guess, but the team has a whole lot of MLB-ready infield prospects and young players and not a lot of spots available.

Looking at the roster, first base, second base, shortstop, and catcher are locked down by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Andrés Giménez, Bo Bichette, and Alejandro Kirk respectively. Meaning that third base is the starting spot that multiple players will be fighting for. Of course, there are also a handful of bench spots.

In this article, we’ll look at the infield prospects fighting for the final spots on the roster and what that means for playing time – both with the big league team and the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Moreover, the Blue Jays may have a few home-grown power bats on this list. We’ll also look at players on the 40-man roster only.

Leo Jiménez

Leo Jiménez torched Triple-A last season, slashing .271/.416/.431 with seven home runs in 226 plate appearances, one home run short of matching his career-best home run total in 184 fewer plate appearances. He didn’t get those Triple-A plate appearances because he was called up to the big leagues.

In 2024, Jiménez was one of five Blue Jays players who finished with a wRC+ above 100 with a minimum of 100 plate appearances. The other four players were Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Spencer Horwitz (traded in the off-season), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (traded mid-season), and Justin Turner (traded mid-season).

Overall, Jiménez slashed .229/.329/.358 with four home runs in 210 plate appearances. There are some worrying aspects of his game, such as his 28.1 K% and 5.7 BB%, but he was plunked an impressive 16 times last season for a 7.6 HBP%. Yes, he was hit more times than he walked.

Jiménez was given an additional option year as well, meaning more flexibility. He is strong defensively at shortstop and there’s probably another gear with the bat. However, the question is, where does he play?

Yeah, he could be a stop-gap at shortstop between Bo Bichette (if he leaves) and Arjun Nimmala (if he develops to his full potential), but the Blue Jays also have Josh Kasevich on the way to fill that role. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with Jiménez.

Davis Schneider

Davis Schneider’s first two months in the big leagues were unforgettable, as it was one of the best starts to a big league career, period. On the surface level, his 2024 was a disaster, as the second baseman/left fielder slashed .191/.282/.343 with 13 home runs in 454 plate appearances with a 10.4 BB% and a 31.7 K%.

Diving deeper into the stats, it may be hard to remember but Schneider actually started the season off quite well. From the start of the year until May 31, he slashed .245/.354/.470 with seven home runs in 181 plate appearances, with a 12.7 BB% and a 26.5 K%. This stretch was capped off by a walk-off home run.

In two-month sample sizes, Schneider has shown the ability to be an effective hitter at the big league level. However, the rest of his season, aside from a two-week stretch, was a struggle as he finished out his first full big league season.

Still, it doesn’t seem likely that Schneider will be traded anytime soon. The 26-year-old is versatile, playing both second base and left field, and could fill in as a fourth outfielder if need be. Schneider also has three option years remaining, meaning that if he doesn’t make the roster out of Spring Training, he could hit his way back to the 26-man roster.

Will Wagner

Acquired before the 2024 trade deadline, Will Wagner had an impressive big league debut where he slashed .305/.337/.451 with two home runs in 86 plate appearances before knee surgery ended his season.

Unlike Schneider and Jiménez, Wagner plays third base as well. While the power may be a little bit lacking and he may not have the arm strength to play the position, the Blue Jays need to find a way to get his bat in the lineup as he’s the perfect lead-off hitter.

There’s almost no chance Wagner will be traded before the start of the season as the team appears to be pretty high on him. Moreover, he also has all three option years remaining, making him even more valuable.

Orelvis Martínez

Why trade for a power bat when you have a cost-effective, home-grown power bat in your farm system?

Orelvis Martínez power is incredible, both raw and in-game. In every season except 2024 (due to his suspension), the third baseman/second baseman has led the Blue Jays minor league system in home runs. Despite missing a handful of months in 2024, his 17 home runs fell just four shy of the organization leader last season.

Since the 2021 season, Martínez has the third-most home runs in all of the minor leagues. It’s a hard sample size to look for various reasons, but only Luken Baker (aged 24-27) and Ryan Ward (aged 23-26) hit more home runs, 112 and 110 respectively. From 2021 until 2024, Martínez was 19, 20, 21, and 22 years old in those four seasons.

There are certainly concerns about his game though. Martínez’s hit tool was one of the biggest ones back in 2022, as he struggled mightily to hit for average in Double-A as a 20-year-old, but that’s become slightly below average at worst since the beginning of the 2023 season.

The other, more concerning aspect of his game is his defensive home in the future. Last season, the Blue Jays played Martínez at second base for the majority of the time, where he committed 12 errors in 316 innings at the keystone. Oof. He’s found much better success at third base, where ironically, the Blue Jays may need a player.

However, you can’t deny that Martínez is arguably one of their most valuable prospects in a trade. If, and it’s a big if, the Jays can find a trade for a game-changing player on a good contract, that’s the type of trade you include Martínez in. Otherwise, you see what you have in the 23-year-old infielder in 2025.

Addison Barger

Addison Barger is in a similar boat to Martínez. The 26-year-old has enormous power in his left-handed stroke and can play third base with experience at second base as well. However, the Blue Jays have been playing Barger in the outfield as well in recent seasons, splitting his time between there and third base during his end-of-season tryout last season.

On the surface level, Barger’s big league numbers don’t look great as he slashed .197/.250/.351 with seven home runs in 225 plate appearances for a 70 wRC+ and a -0.3 fWAR. However, from Jul. 25 until the end of the season, you know, when he got regular playing time, he slashed .214/.277/.414 with seven home runs in 159 plate appearances for a 95 wRC+.

Like the four other prospects on this list, Barger has at least one more option year remaining, giving the Blue Jays depth, flexibility, and time. His ability to play the outfield as well as third base and second base should help him stay in the organization for another season, maybe as a left-handed, power-hitting utility player.

It will get a whole lot more crowded

The Blue Jays love to teach their infield prospects how to play the outfield, which has a ripple effect when it comes to playing time. If Barger and Schneider play the outfield when the Blue Jays already have George Springer, Anthony Santander, and Daulton Varsho, someone has got to go down to the minor leagues. But in the minor leagues, the Buffalo Bisons have Jonatan Clase, Myles Straw, Nathan Lukes, Alan Roden, Will Robertson, Joey Loperfido, and Steward Berroa who all need playing time.

Sure, a handful of the five aforementioned players could head to the Bisons to play in the infield, but the same issue arises. Josh Kasevich, Damiano Palmegiani, Riley Tirotta, and a handful of other non-40-man roster players will be at that level.

At some point, the Blue Jays have to do something with their young infielders as there’ll be a playing time shortage, leading to developmental issues. Perhaps the solution is to trade a few of these players for a power-hitter.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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