Blue Jays top 25 list by Scott Mitchell.
3. SS/3B Arjun Nimmala
Last year’s ranking: NA
2022 rank: NA
Acquired: 2023 first round (20th overall)
2024 age: 18
Expected starting affiliate: Florida Complex League
YEAR IN REVIEW: Blessed with freaky power potential for a teenager as one of the youngest players available, Nimmala was sliding during the July draft before the Jays scooped him up at pick No. 20 and signed him for well below slot value at $3 million (slot was about $3.7 million). It’s a big time upside play by the Jays’ amateur scouting department, and you can dream on Nimmala being a big, rangy shortstop with high-end exit velocities and oodles of power. In his debut post-draft, Nimmala didn’t hit a homer, but did walk 14 times in nine games at the complex level.
OUTLOOK: As projectable as it gets, Nimmala being in the top three here speaks to both his immense upside and the lack of high-end prospect depth in the Blue Jays system. He’s their best chance at developing a star, and his full-season debut will be monitored closely by the entire industry as a fairly polarizing draft prospect last year. A hot start will have his name buzzing, while a slow one will confirm what most believe to be true today — he’s a long ways away. The highest-selected Indian-American player in draft history, the Tampa high school product’s focus will surround identifying spin and figuring out how to tap into all that raw power against professional breaking balls.
FUTURE ROLE: First-division starter
MLB ETA: 2028