Blue Jays’ prospects poised to soar in 2017

TORONTO — The Blue Jays are going to need a couple of years to rebuild their farm system, but there’s at least a handful of prospects who could become factors before then.

Rowdy Tellez, Harold Ramirez and Conner Greene are among those who could force their way onto the big league roster in the not-too-distant future.

• Blue Jays’ top prospects

Toronto ideally would give each of them another year to develop but injuries, performance and lack of overall depth could eventually change those plans.

Here’s a closer look at those three prospects plus a few others to keep an eye on in 2017:

Tellez, 1B (.297/.387/.530 at Double-A New Hampshire): Tellez has by far the biggest opportunity of any prospect on this list. He posted a .917 OPS over a full season for New Hampshire and will open the 2017 campaign at Triple-A Buffalo. The Blue Jays are expected to platoon Steve Pearce and Justin Smoak at first base but there’s no guarantee that plan is going to work. If Smoak struggles with the bat, there’s an outside chance Tellez will make the jump a little earlier than expected. Tellez’s home run total jumped from 14 in 2015 to 23 over the last calendar year and his power will need to continue to trend up if he wants to become a regular big leaguer.

Ramirez, OF (.311/.360/.767 at Double-A): Ramirez was one of the prospects Toronto acquired alongside Francisco Liriano prior to the non-waiver Trade Deadline. He made a statement with Pittsburgh with 11 hits in 19 at-bats last spring and he’ll be looking to do something similar for …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com