A few Toronto Blue Jays prospects might end up finding out the cruel realities of Major League Baseball in the coming months.

This week, each of the 30 MLB teams had to sift through a Nov. 18 deadline to finalize which players will be on their 40-man roster for next season, or otherwise risk losing them to another club for the price of US$100,000.

Each December, any player not listed on the 40-man roster that has been in the major league system for five years or longer (if signed before age 18) or four years or longer (if signed at 19 or older) is eligible to be scooped up for free in what’s known as the Rule 5 draft, in reference to the MLB’s rulebook.

The draft order is done in reverse of the MLB standings, meaning Toronto will be near the bottom of the list and unlikely to have too much talent to add. Last year, 25 players were selected in the draft, with the Blue Jays picking up reliever Angel Bastardo.

After being picked, any player drafted must be then placed on their new team’s 26-man roster, or otherwise they will end up on waivers again if attempted to be returned to the minor leagues.

36 of the Blue Jays’ own players are at risk of being scooped up by other teams this year, even if most of them will end up sticking around.

With a hat-tip to TJStats.ca, which compiled the league-wide resource of Rule-5 eligible players, here’s the list of Blue Jays prospects that are set to be eligible for next month’s annual redistribution draft.

AAA

Josh Kasevich, SS/3B
Connor Cooke, RP
Ryan Jennings, RP
Yohendrick Pinango, LF/RF
Jimmy Burnette, RP
Ryan McCarty, 2B/LF/3B
Hunter Gregory, RP
Trenton Wallace, SP/RP
Riley Tirotta, 3B/1B/RF
Chad Dallas, SP
CJ Van Eyk, SP
Damiano Palmegiani, 1B/3B/LF
Hayden Juenger, RP

AA

Dahian Santos, SP/RP
T.J. Brock, RP
Johan Simon, RP
Yondrei Rojas, RP
Peyton Williams, 1B
Richard Gallardo, SP
Rafael Sanchez, SP
Geison Urbaez, RP
Conor Larkin, RP
Pat Gallagher, RP
Alex Amalfi, SP/RP
Victor Arias, CF/LF/RF
Cade Doughty, SS/3B/2B

High-A

Edward Duran, C
Bo Bonds, RP
Irv Carter, RP
Chris McElvain, SP
Alexis J. Hernandez, RF/LF/CF
Adrian Pinto, 2B/CF

Low-A

Eliander Alcalde, RP
Yhoangel Aponte, CF/RF/LF
Yeuni Munoz, RF/LF
Manuel Beltre, SS/3B/2B

The Rule-5 draft will be held at the MLB Winter Meetings on Dec. 10.

Lead photo by

Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images