The Toronto Blue Jays have historically had a lot of success with the Rule 5 Draft. Some notable names include Willie Upshaw (1977), George Bell (1980), Jim Acker (1982), Kelly Gruber (1983), Manuel Lee (1984), and Joe Biagini (2015), who were all contributing members of their respective Jays squad.

Bell’s name is plastered among the Jays’ franchise leaderboards, including hits (1294 – 5th), games played (1181 – 7th), and offensive bWAR (22.5 – 10th), while Gruber was part of the 1992 World Series championship squad. Fans will likely recall his diving tag on Braves baserunner Deion Sanders that would have resulted in a triple-play had the umpires not blown the call.

Since Ross Atkins took over the organization’s general manager role in December of 2015, the Blue Jays have made five Rule 5 Draft selections. Two have been made over the past couple of seasons, but there was a drought from 2019 through to 2024, with the 2020 season being excluded when it was cancelled. One of those players is currently fighting for a spot on the Opening Day roster, and fans should know by the end of today whether Spencer Miles makes the team or not.

Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane.

Fresh off a 2015 postseason run and just a week into his time in the general manager position, Atkins took a chance on right-hander Joe Biagini, a 26th-round pick of the San Francisco Giants in 2011. The highest level he had reached at the time was Double-A the previous season.

The result was a four-year stint and 204 outings, including 22 starts. Through 309 1/3 innings, Biagini posted a 4.74 ERA and a 4.28 FIP with a 1.429 WHIP. He was stellar in his rookie campaign, where he pitched to a 2.95 FIP across 60 relief outings, and the Jays flirted with him as a starter the following years, which saw him take a step back on the mound stats-wise.

The front office moved him at the 2019 trade deadline to the Houston Astros, where he immediately contributed to a combined no-hitter. The Astros would DFA him at the end of the season, and over the next three seasons, he spent time with the Cubs and then back with the Jays before being released on July 26th, his last appearance in pro baseball.

After having success with Biagini the winter before, the Jays tried to find gold again but this time in the Royals’ farm system with right-hander Glenn Sparkman. In 2015, Sparkman was rated as the Royals’ #28 top prospect.

A broken thumb in Spring Training sent the reliever to the sidelines to begin the season, and he landed on the 60-day IL shortly after. He would be good to go at the end of June and was called up to the big league squad, where he struggled through two outings, allowing nine hits and seven earned runs across one inning. The Jays would DFA Sparkman and he would be returned to the Royals shortly after.

Over the following three seasons, Sparkman split time between the big leagues and minors, appearing in 50 games (26 starts) and pitching to a 5.67 ERA and a 5.44 FIP through 179 1/3 innings. He would be designated in the winter of 2020/2021 and signed a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins that didn’t pan out. By mid-2021, Sparkman took his talents overseas, spending the next two seasons in Japan before being released in August of 2022.

During the Blue Jays’ rebuilding years, the club took a chance on Elvis Luciano, another right-hander from the Kansas City Royals farm system. He would crack the Jays’ Opening Day roster for the 2019 season and became the first Major League player born in the 2000s to make a team (and eventually debut).

Luciano would make 25 appearances for the Jays that season, posting a 5.35 ERA across 33 2/3 innings with 27 strikeouts before landing on the IL with an elbow issue that eventually shut down his season. He remained with the organization but stayed in Double-A over the next three seasons (2020 was cancelled due to COVID) before becoming a free agent during the 2022/2023 offseason.

Luciano ended up signing overseas and has pitched sparingly for the Yomiuri Giants since 2024, appearing in 10 games and 13 innings. The right-hander is listed on the Giants roster for the 2026 season.

Selected by the Toronto Blue Jays last winter, right-hander Angel Bastardo was in Double-A within the Boston Red Sox farm system at the time of the Rule 5 Draft. He was slated to miss the entire 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and the goal was for Bastardo to compete for a roster spot on the 2026 squad. Because of his injury last year, Bastardo just needed to remain on the big league squad for 90 days compared to the full season.

This spring, the Venezuelan pitched to a 4.70 ERA through seven relief outings with five hits, four earned runs, and seven walks allowed compared to five strikeouts. The raw stuff has been impressive, but the free passes came back to bite the 23-year-old on the mound, resulting in a 1.565 WHIP for the right-hander.

Bastardo was informed by the Jays staff that he did not make the 2026 Opening Day squad, so now the Jays can either offer him back tot he Red Sox or trade for his rights.

Injuries have limited Spencer Miles to 14 2/3 innings since being drafted in 2022, yet the Blue Jays saw something they liked in the San Francisco Giants prospect to make him their only Rule 5 Draft selection this past offseason. He had never appeared past Single-A ball at the time of the draft.

This spring, Miles posted a 3.72 ERA and allowed just four earned runs through 9 2/3 innings. While he struck out 11, Miles did see an uptick in his hits against (11) and walks (5) that may be cause for concern, although the Jays do have him and Chase Lee in the running for the remaining bullpen spot.

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