Toronto Blue Jays news: Will Austin Martin join team for 2020 season?

With the Toronto Blue Jays getting Austin Martin under contract, many will be waiting to see if he will join the team during the 2020 season.

It seemed like it was only a matter of time before the Toronto Blue Jays and Austin Martin would come to an agreement on a contract. According to Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae, it looks like it’s now a done deal.

There was a lot of excitement about the Blue Jays drafting Martin with the fifth overall pick, considering many expected him to go in the top three in the 2020 MLB Draft. Now the big question going forward is where the team projects him to play and when does he start making his way to the big club?

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In his debut on the MLB prospect ranking, Baseball America touted Martin as a top prospect in baseball listing him at 16 in their Top 100 Prospect list. A big part of that was because of his potential at the plate.

As the Blue Jays prepare to open training camp at Rogers Centre, there will be some wondering if the team wants one of their top prospects to join them. This, of course, has a lot to do with the fact there is no minor league season to send him to.

Initially, the Blue Jays had 58 players listed on their roster which can carry a maximum of 60 when camp opens. However, with the team adding four more players to its player pool they are now over the limit, which might only be the case because of positive COVID-19 tests.

You would have to think that if the team plans on adding Martin, they will be able to make room by removing a player from the roster who won’t be joining the team when the season begins. Of course, this also means that Martin would have to be willing to join the team considering other players have decided against the potential health risk.

For Martin, it would certainly make sense for him to be around the team considering the Blue Jays will have other top prospects joining them including Nate Pearson, Alek Manoah, Simeon Woods Richardson, Jordan Groshans and Forrest Wall. This would allow the Blue Jays to get a head start on his development and gauge where he is in comparison to other prospects on the team.

It’s encouraging to see Martin getting signed considering some thought that because he is a Scott Boras client, it would have been tough to get a deal done. However, with the opportunity the team was presented in having Martin available they seemed comfortable going over his slot value, which was probably the case here.

Do you think Martin will join the team for the 2020 season or is there no reason for him to? Let us know in the comments below.