In a move that raised some eyebrows from baseball observers, the Toronto Blue Jays decided to leave outfield prospect Yohendrick Pinango unprotected going into the Rule 5 draft at the MLB Winter Meetings. Pinango had become one of the fastest rising position players in the Blue Jays system in 2025 and allowing any of the other 29 MLB teams pick him up for nothing would have felt like a waste.

But nobody took a flyer on the Venezuelan native and the Blue Jays should be counting their lucky stars as Pinango is raking right now in his home country.

Blue Jays prospect, who was spared in Rule 5 Draft, is raking in Winter

Pinango is spending the winter playing in the Venezuelan Winter League and through 22 games, Pinango is hitting .353/.424/.694 with an OPS of 1.118. He’s hit seven home runs, driving in 29 RBIs and and has 12 walks and only 21 strikeouts in 101 plate appearances.

Yohendrick Pinango in the Venezuelan Winter League:

22 G
101 PA
.353 AVG
.424 OBP
.694 SLG
1.118 OPS
7 HR
29 RBI
12/21 BB/K

Pinango was left unprotected in this year’s Rule 5 Draft by Toronto but went unselected. 122 wRC+ between AA/AAA in 2025. pic.twitter.com/xiVGi5ip97

— Tobey Schulman (@tschulmanreport) December 22, 2025

Pinango arrived in the Blue Jays system at the 2024 trade deadline when he was acquired from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for RHP Nate Pearson. The 22-year-old left-handed hitter slashed .298/.406/.522 through 47 games last season with Double-A New Hampshire, with eight home runs.

He was promoted to Triple-A Buffalo midway through the summer as a couple of players ahead of him on the depth chart were sent up to Toronto to cover off various injuries at the big league level. It’s arguably one of the silver linings of Anthony Santander being injured for much of the year as that hole created an opportunity for Pinango.

In his first taste of action at the Triple-A level, Pinango struggled at times, but still produced some decent pop, with seven home runs and a .714 OPS in 84 games. It’s probably one of the reasons he wasn’t selected in the Rule 5 Draft. Nobody was willing to give a year long roster spot for a player that hadn’t played more than 100 games at the Triple-A level.

But after what he’s done so far this winter in Venezeula, there has to be a few teams thinking they may have missed out on a free impact player.