The Toronto Blue Jays just made one of the more intriguing moves of their offseason, and it didn’t come in the form of a big-league signing or a blockbuster trade. Instead, they used the last of their 2025 international bonus pool money on a 17-year-old left-handed pitcher from the Netherlands - a towering 6-foot-6 prospect named Celwin Hurkmans.
If that name doesn’t ring a bell, you’re not alone. Hurkmans is far from a household name, even among international scouting circles, and his online player profile is almost entirely blank.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to get excited about. In fact, the Blue Jays are betting that this relative unknown could turn into something special.
A Low-Risk, High-Upside Swing
Let’s start with the context: MLB teams are required to use their international bonus pool money by December 15 each year. If they don’t, it disappears - no rollover, no exceptions. So when the Blue Jays found themselves with leftover funds, they took a swing on a high-upside arm in Hurkmans, a player who’s been turning heads in European baseball circles.
Hurkmans pitched for DSS Haarlem, a club in the Netherlands' second-highest baseball league, and helped lead them to a division championship. That league isn’t exactly the Dominican Summer League in terms of talent pipeline, but it’s a competitive environment - and Hurkmans stood out. He’s considered one of the top amateur prospects in Europe, with the only other name drawing similar buzz being Tjin Fredrikze, who recently signed with the Yankees.
The move is reminiscent of Toronto’s previous foray into Dutch pitching talent. Sem Robberse, another Netherlands product, was once part of the Blue Jays’ system before being traded to the St.
Louis Cardinals in the 2023 deadline deal for Jordan Hicks. Robberse is now pitching for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate, and while he’s still developing, that trade showed Toronto isn’t afraid to invest in international arms with unconventional backgrounds.
What We Know - and Don’t Know - About Hurkmans
Right now, there’s a lot we don’t know about Hurkmans. No publicly available velocity readings.
No scouting reports on his pitch mix. No video circulating on social media.
But what we do know is intriguing: he’s 6-foot-6, left-handed, and just 17 years old. That kind of frame at that age is exactly what scouts love to dream on.
There’s plenty of room for physical development, mechanical refinement, and, potentially, a significant uptick in velocity as he matures.
This isn’t a player who’s going to show up in Dunedin next spring and suddenly be on the fast track to the majors. He’s a long-term project - a lottery ticket with a potentially big payoff. And for a franchise that’s been aggressive in building out its pitching depth this offseason, both through domestic acquisitions and now in the international market, it’s a smart way to use funds that would’ve otherwise gone to waste.
What’s Next for Hurkmans?
Where Hurkmans begins his pro career is still up in the air. Most international signings at his age typically start in the Dominican Summer League, where the emphasis is on development over competition.
But given his European background and the travel logistics involved, the Blue Jays could opt to station him stateside from the jump, perhaps in the Florida Complex League in Dunedin. That would allow for a smoother transition and give the organization hands-on control over his development from day one.
Either way, this is a long play by Toronto - one that reflects both their willingness to explore non-traditional markets and their confidence in their player development infrastructure. Hurkmans may not be a name fans recognize now, but the Blue Jays clearly see something worth nurturing.
And who knows? A few years from now, this quiet December signing might just turn into one of those “remember when?” stories that scouts and fans love to tell.