Alan Roden’s Case for Making the Blue Jays’ Opening Day Roster

The Blue Jays Spring Training has been full of pleasant surprises so far. Max Scherzer looks like he’s turned back the clock, Kevin Gausman finally looks healthy again, and both Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. look good at the plate as well. But there is one player who is catching everyone’s attention this spring: Alan Roden.

General Manager Ross Atkins caught a few people by surprise in February, when Keegan Matheson asked which prospects he was excited about going into spring and he called out Roden specifically saying, “I’ll single out and put some pressure on Alan Roden. He’s done so much to put himself in a position to move through the system quickly.” Its quite rare for Atkins to call out a prospect in the public like that, and Roden appears to be listening. So far in the Spring he’s 6-for-14 with two home runs. On top of that, he’s drawn four walks, has been hit by three pitches, and has yet to strike out in his 21 plate appearances. Really impressive stuff. 

The minor league track record has been pretty impressive too, in 2023 between Low A, High A, and Double A, he put together a 149 wRC+ with more walks (68) than strikeouts (64). In 2024 between New Hampshire and Buffalo, it was more of the same: a 136 wRC+, 64 walks, and 75 strikeouts. Combine that with 16 home runs and 14 stolen bases he’s been a very complete player.

No matter what expectations were from Atkins coming into camp, it's a safe bet that Roden has already exceeded them. The real question is whether he's put pressure on the front office to make the Opening Day roster. It's an interesting dilemma and an important decision for the Blue Jays. Let’s take a look at some of the arguments for and against Roden being on the opening-day roster.

1) Alan Roden might be one of our top nine hitters already.
It's hard to predict that a player who has yet to see any big league time already be a top-nine hitter but Roden might fit that mold. He’s done nothing but hit in the minor leagues and has put it together again this spring. Even some of the projection systems seem to be buying into the skill set Roden brings to the table. Steamer projects Roden to finish sixth on the team in wRC+ and ZIPS has him fifth. Projections aren’t everything; that's why they play the games, but when the data and the eye test both look promising, it's a good assumption to assume Roden will be an above-average offensive producer in his rookie season.

2) He’s 25 years old, so starting his service time clock shouldn't be an issue.
We’ve seen the Blue Jays in the past wait to call up their prospects until they’ve secured an extra year of service time with their top prospects. The Blue Jays did this with Guerrero in 2019 and the Cubs did this with Kris Bryant during his rookie season. Even if the Blue Jays were to call up Roden and have him here until there on Opening Day, he’ll be under team control for six more seasons, meaning he will not be a free agent until he enters his age-31 season, and that's around that time where MLB players start showing a sign of decline. The Blue Jays are going to get the peak years of Roden's career whether he’s on the Opening Day roster or not.

3) There is a sense of urgency to win now.
Let’s take a bigger pitcher look at this team. As of now, it's the last season with both Guerrero and Bichette under contract, and the Blue Jays have made a lot of win-now moves, adding Anthony Santander, Jeff Hoffman, and others to help give this team the best chance to win this season. If Roden truly is one of the best hitters on this team, then getting a full 162-game production out of him will help maximize his potential impact on the roster.

Now as much fun as it would be to have Roden on the roster, The Blue Jays are the ones who are ultimately going to make the decision on this, and here are some reasons why they might not do so:

1) He’s currently not on the 40-man roster.
This might be fairly minor, as the Blue Jays do have some names to consider. Alek Manoah and Adam Macko will likely be moved to the 60-Day IL once the season starts, which would open up some spots. There are some names on the back end of the roster that the Blue Jays might not be willing to give up on yet. Sending Roden to Buffalo and off the roster to start the season might give the Blue Jays a chance to get a further look at guys like Nick Robertson, Easton Lucas, beacuse Ryan Burr and Erik Swanson are both currently dealing with injuries. Either way, it won’t be long until Roden cracks the roster

2) He might not get extended playing time in the big leagues.
As things currently stand, the Blue Jays outfield group is quite crowded. Daulton Varsho is currently DH'ing in spring, and even if he does start the season on the IL, he may not be for long. George Springer and Santander are likely going to see the majority of the playing time in right field, with Springer seeing occasional time in left field. Then you have players like Addison Barger, Davis Schneider, Joey Loperfido, Myles Straw, Steward Berroa, Jonatan Clase, and Nathan Lukes, all of whom are on the 40-man roster and all of whom already spent time in the major leagues It’s going to be hard for any of them to get regular at-bats, and it can be hard for a prospect like Roden to fully develop if he’s only playing two or three times a week. The Jays may want him to get regular at-bats in Buffalo.

3) The Jays might not be willing to lock up the DH Spot.
This goes hand in hand with my second point, but barring an injury, the only way Roden can see a full-time spot in the majors is if the Blue Jays are open to putting Santander or Springer in the DH spot fairly regularly. Over the past few seasons, the Blue Jays ohave liked using the DH spot to give their players a half-day off or to play platoon matchups with players like Will Wagner and Orelvis Martinez.

All things considered, whether he starts the season in Toronto or down in Buffalo, it's not going to be long before Roden gets the call to the big leagues. But in a season when each win will matter so much for the Blue Jays, going north with the best 26 guys might be the move, and there isn't much doubt that Roden is one of those best 26 players.