The Blue Jays’ latest prospect push is already underway in Dunedin, and the first wave brought a little bit of everything: a clean debut, a rough one, and a big organizational reshuffle behind it all.
Ryan Cooney, Dean West and Landon Waters all officially began their pro careers this week with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays after Toronto selected them in the 2026 MLB Draft earlier this month. Cooney, the third-round pick at No. 103 overall, made the loudest first impression.
In his first professional hit, he dug in against Clay Holmes on a rehab assignment, fell behind 1-2, fought off two pitches, worked the count full and then lined a single to center field after an eight-pitch battle. Cooney, who is being compared to Ernie Clement, also showed the kind of stubborn at-bat that gets noticed fast.
West, taken in the seventh round at No. 222 overall, matched him with a hit of his own in his first trip. He singled off Holmes on a 1-1 pitch in the bottom of the third, with the ball coming off his bat at 88.4 mph. His debut had a little less polish after that, though, as he was picked off trying to steal second.
Waters, the 17th-round pick at No. 522 overall, had a tougher opening night. Working out of the bullpen, he gave up a three-run homer to Elian Peña.
Those three were part of a much bigger influx. In all, 11 players were assigned to Dunedin as the Blue Jays shuffled the system around. The group included right-handers Reese Bassinger, Nolan Higgins, Isaac Williams, Gavin Seebold and Dax Dathe, infielder Ryan Franden, infielder Brayden Martin and catcher Jake Bennett, along with Waters.
The moves didn’t stop there. Toronto also pushed several players up the ladder.
Raimundo De Los Santos, Jean Joseph, Franly Urena, Dariel Ramon and two-way player Austin Smith were sent to High-A Vancouver. J.R.
Freethy, Austin Marozas, Jonathan Todd and Mathieu Vallee moved on to Double-A New Hampshire, while Nick Goodwin, Caleb Freeman and Beau Philip reached Triple-A.
To make room, the organization also cut loose a group of players. Released were Carson Pierce, Diego Dominguez, Luis Fonseca, Lluveres Severino, Luis Victorino, Jay Schueler, Irv Cater, Will Cresswell, Brock Tibbitts, Manuel Beltre and Kendry Chirinos.
Two of those names stood out most. Cater was Toronto’s fifth-round pick in 2021 and signed for an over-slot bonus of $850,000.
He quickly became a top-10 prospect in MLB Pipeline’s view, but his time in the system never fully settled in. This season, the 23-year-old appeared in 10 games for Double-A New Hampshire and posted a 4.86 ERA and 4.74 FIP before landing on the Injured List.
Beltre carried even bigger expectations early on. He was ranked the 24th best prospect in the entire 2021 international class, signed for $2.5 million and also jumped into the Blue Jays’ top-10 prospects.
He had a strong first year in the system, but the production didn’t hold. It took him three years to get above Single-A, and this season with High-A Vancouver he hit .244/.307/.393 with 16 walks and 49 strikeouts.
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