The Toronto Blue Jays ended the first half as one of MLB's most surprising teams. At 55-41, the Jays have a 2.0-game lead in the AL East, and are tied for the sixth-best team in the sport record-wise. They've exceeded even the highest of expectations thus far, and will almost certainly be trade deadline buyers as a result.
While the Jays have impressed, an important question Ross Atkins must ask himself is does he believes this Blue Jays team can legitimately win the World Series? Sure, anything can happen, and we see underdogs win all the time, but what are the odds the Jays actually pull that off? If I were Atkins, I'd say that the odds of the Jays winning the whole thing are not very high.
With that in mind, while the Jays should be buying, primarily in search of starting pitching and a power bat, Atkins should strongly consider refraining from trading any of these three prospects.
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3) Johnny King, starting pitcher
Johnny King might only be considered Toronto's No. 11 prospect per MLB Pipeline, but he's excelled in his first taste of professional baseball, and his prospect status has skyrocketed as a result. King, a third-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, didn't pitch at all for the Jays last season, but he has a 1.91 ERA in 10 appearances (eight starts) and 33 innings of work this season. He began the year in Rookie Ball, but his last three outings have come in Single-A.
What's been most impressive about King's season thus far is the strikeouts. He has fanned 58 batters in just 33 innings of work, striking out a whopping 15.8 batters per nine overall. Those are video-game numbers.
He's just 18 years old and is a ways away from making an impact at the MLB level, but even in a small-ish sample size, he's shown too much potential to give up on. Hopefully, Ross Atkins doesn't make that mistake.
2) Arjun Nimmala, shortstop
The Blue Jays selected Arjun Nimmala in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft in 2023, and he's been the organization's top prospect seemingly ever since, and for good reason. His ceiling is astronomically high, and he's proving that this season.
Despite being mired in a prolonged slump, he's slashing .237/.325/.418 with 11 home runs, 38 RBI and 20 doubles in 73 games this season. His numbers might not jump off the page thanks to rough months of June and July, but it's important to note that Nimmala is only 19 years old, and he's played all 73 of his games this season in High-A. Nimmala being an above-average hitter in High-A at just 19 years old and making substantial improvements along the way, is noteworthy.
Nimmala is striking out far less than he did last season, is walking more, and can hit 20 home runs. Watching a shortstop who happens to still be a teenager ascend like this makes him untradeable in my eyes, and hopefully, Atkins' as well.
1) Trey Yesavage, starting pitcher
Ross Atkins has made his share of mistakes as Blue Jays GM, but he's nailed his recent first-round picks. Nimmala looks like a future star, and Trey Yesavage, Toronto's first-round pick from last year's MLB Draft, looks to be following in Nimmala's footsteps. In fact, he might have an even higher ceiling.
Yesavage didn't pitch for the Blue Jays after getting drafted last season, but he's done nothing but impress in 2025. He dominated at the beginning of the year in Single-A, made light work of High-A, and has now made five starts in Double-A. Yesavage's numbers haven't been quite as good in Double-A thus far, but he's still fanned 23 batters in 17 innings of work, and 111 overall in 67.2 innings this season, to go along with a rock-solid 3.19 ERA across three levels.
Yesavage probably won't make his MLB debut this season, but the fact that he's made it up to Double-A already at just 21 years old in his first professional season is incredibly impressive. Assuming he can conquer the Double-A level and continue his ascension, it wouldn't be surprising to see the right-hander debut sometime next season for Toronto.
Toronto's rotation is pretty old and without much long-term certainty. Trading the best pitching prospect in the system and one of the best in the sport wouldn't make much sense given that.