The Jays got through the MLB section of the Rule 5 draft without losing a prospect, and actually added a player. Yohendrick Pinango, who posted video game numbers in AA and has very strong underlying contact and exit velocity data, and Yondrei Rojas, a reliever with big stuff and strong results in A+ and AA, had been tabbed as potential victims but were not selected.
Spencer Miles is a right handed pitcher who was drafted by the Giants in the fourth round back in 2022. He missed the entire 2023 season
with back surgery, and then made just four appearances in 2024 before a flexor strain that eventually lead to Tommy John surgery. He finally got back on the mound in the Arizona Fall League in October.
In the brief time he’s been on the mound, Miles has looked impressive. He sits 95 and can touch 99, with both a slider and a change that draw above average grades. In brief low minors looks in 2022 and 2024, he punched out 37% of batters faced while walking under 9%. In 8.2 AFL innings this fall, his stuff looked intact and he K’d 12 of 37 batters faced with just one walk and nine hits.
This looks like a purely speculative move. The Jays had three open roster spots, and now they probably get to use one to look at an intriguing arm that the industry has almost no data on through spring training. Miles’ stuff and command are enough that if he’s healthy he could force himself into the MLB bullpen mix. He’ll compete with 2024 Rule 5 pick Angel Bastardo, who also missed all of 2025 recovering from surgery, for that chance.
In the minor league portion, they selected Brewers A+ outfielder Hedbert Perez and Tigers AA reliever Travis Kuhn. Perez was briefly a top prospect in Milwaukee’s system back in 2021 after he flashed bat speed and big power in the complex league. He hasn’t ever quite put it together due to over-aggression and swing and miss, but showed improved swing decisions and marginally better contact at A+ this past season. Kuhn was the Mariners’ 19th round pick in 2019. He’s posted decent but unspectacular results and has stalled out at AA for the past four seasons. He features a sinker-slider combo that are both above average to plus but has always walked too many.
They did not have a player of theirs selected in the minor league portion either.
