The Toronto Blue Jays have signed 2024 first-round draft pick and right-handed pitcher Trey Yesavage, according to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi.
Davidi reports that the deal is for approximately $4.1 million, just over the slot value for the 20th overall selection.
The Blue Jays drafted Yesavage out of East Carolina in mid-July. As an advanced collegiate arm who this season posted a 2.03 ERA in 93.1 innings over 15 starts, Yesavage struck out 145 batters against just 32 walks.
Per Baseball America’s scouting report, Yesavage features a fastball that sits 94 and has touched 98 m.p.h., with a “firm mid-80s slider, a power curveball in the low 80s and a low-80s (splitter) he deploys more against left-handed hitters.”
The Blue Jays had a signing bonus pool of $8,987,000, the 23rd largest among big-league teams, to work with this season. Of that total, $4,073,400 is designated to the No. 20 spot, while their second-round pick, No. 59, had an assigned value of $1,489,000.
Since 2015, when the Blue Jays selected Jon Harris, who never made the majors, 29th overall, Alek Manoah in 2019 is the club’s only positive bWAR player, at 7.5.
Manoah, Nate Pearson (who has since been traded to Chicago), and Brandon Barriera and Arjun Nimmala, the picks from the last two drafts, are the only first-rounders still in the organization.
Jake Bloss, whom the Blue Jays acquired from the Houston Astros in the Yusei Kikuchi trade, is a notable starting pitcher who has since entered the farm system. The 23-year-old is expected to make his Blue Jays debut sometime this season.
A flurry of Toronto’s pitching prospects have dealt with injuries this season, including Ricky Tiedemann (Tommy John surgery), Barriera (Tommy John), Landen Maroudis (elbow surgery) and Adam Macko (forearm). At the major league level, Manoah also underwent elbow surgery, which ended his season.
With files from Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi