The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent righty James Kaprielian, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Buffalo.
Once one of the top pitching prospects in the Yankees organization, Kaprielian was traded from New York to Oakland in the 2017 deadline deal that shipped Sonny Gray to the Bronx. The former No. 16 overall draft pick spent the next six and a half years in the A’s organization, making his big league debut in the shortened 2020 season. He’d appear in four straight seasons with the A’s but do so intermittently while battling a slate of shoulder injuries that necessitated a pair of surgeries.
For Kaprielian, injuries have been all too common. The former UCLA standout required Tommy John surgery early in the 2017 season and wound up missing the entire 2018 campaign as well. During his time with the A’s, he underwent surgery in Dec. 2022 to repair the AC joint in his right shoulder and again to repair damage to his right shoulder’s labrum in Aug. 2023. Kaprielian missed time in each of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons due to shoulder troubles.
In 2021, Kaprielian offered a glimpse of what he could provide in a healthy season. He appeared in 24 games for Oakland (21 of them starts) and pitched to a 4.07 earned run average over the life of 119 1/3 innings. He fanned a strong 24.5% of his opponents against a similarly encouraging 8.2% walk rate. Home runs were an issue for the 6’3″, 225-pound righty (1.43 HR/9), but he offered an intriguing strikeout-to-walk profile, sat 93.3 mph with his heater and recorded a promising 10.9% swinging-strike rate.
The 2022 season was a bit of a step back in terms of results but a step forward in terms of both workload and velocity. Kaprielian tossed 134 innings — his career-high in a big league season — and turned in a 4.23 ERA while seeing his average fastball tick up to 94 mph. His 17% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate both represented steps in the wrong direction, but Kaprielian also trimmed that HR/9 mark to 1.07. Overall, he looked like a solid fourth starter from 2021-22 with the A’s: 253 1/3 innings, 4.16 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate, 36.5% grounder rate, 1.24 HR/9.
Kaprielian, however, never seemed to bounce back from that surgery to tend to his AC joint in the 2022-23 offseason. He was shelled for 45 runs in 61 innings (6.34 ERA) that season. His fastball dropped to a 92.5 mph average. He walked a career-worst 11.1% of hitters. The A’s passed him through outright waivers in October, and he qualified for minor league free agency following the season.
Now nearly 11 months removed from last August’s shoulder surgery, Kaprielian will head to the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate and provide some needed rotation depth. The Jays recently lost Alek Manoah to season-ending UCL surgery, and their rotation depth was already thin in the first place. They’re lacking an established option behind the quartet of Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi, with rookie Yariel Rodriguez likely to step into the fray once he’s cleared to return from a back injury (likely later this week). Twenty-eight-year-old Bowden Francis has been hit hard in eight appearances (three starts). Top prospect Ricky Tiedemann has spent most of the season on the injured list and only just went on a Rookie-level rehab assignment.
If Kaprielian can prove healthy and look anything like his 2021-22 form, he’ll emerge as a legitimate option for the Jays in the season’s second half. And given that he entered the season with just 2.167 years of big league service time, there’s potential for him to be controlled for three more years beyond the current season. Obviously there’s a long way to go before that’s even an option worth pondering, but the generally thin nature of Toronto’s rotation depth makes it a more distinct possibility than if he’d signed with a more pitching-rich organization.
Long article to say they signed James Kaprielian as a minor league comeback candidate.
if the news is about the Blue Jays, it’s the most important news in the world, according to this website; Toronto still sucks
Well when you get the guy that will negate a rebuild it makes sense for such a long article. Just look at all those years of control left
I remember he was viewed as polished and almost MLB-ready when the Yankees signed him, but he was viewed more as a back-end-of-the-rotation starter. A spike in velocity led him to be re-evaluated and viewed as a potential front-end starter. Unfortunately, as frequently happens with pitchers getting a spike in velocity, arm injuries have followed. Glad to see he’s still out there giving it a try. A lot of injuries on that arm and shoulder though.
Considering he was always injured and hadn’t pitched above high A, I can’t believe the A’s took him and the injured Dustin Fowler for Sonny Gray.
He had a dramatic spike in muscle mass as well. Seems like his ligaments and tendons couldn’t support the increased bulk. I think he’d have had a fine career as a #3 if he stayed away from the Flintstones (allegedly).
You left out that he was considered an innings eater too lol!! The Yankees wrecked him. When he was drafted he was seen as exactly what you wrote and he threw a 92mph fastball. Solid back of the rotation starter with #3 being his ceiling. The next year the Yankees had him throwing 96-97mph and all of a sudden he was going to be a TOR starter future ace. I think pretty much every Yankee fan looked at his increase in speed and knew his arm was gonna fall off. The A’s were all over him though. They made him and a speedy CF with a blown out knee (I can’t remember his name) the centerpieces of the trade for Gray. The Yankees definitely deserve the criticism for overhyping their top picks and prospects from rival fans. Joba, Phil Hughes, the Killer B’s, Montero, Lindgren and Bird all come to mind quickly. Who has actually succeeded from their future all star hype? Betances is the only one I can think of. Judge wasn’t hyped. He was seen as a future solid albeit unspectacular player. I can’t think of any Yankees draft pick they hyped to the moon and wasn’t more than a flash in the pan for a season or 2. Most become solid AAAA players.
Once one of the top pitching prospects in the Yankees organization.
Never read those words before. Yeesh.
Shapiro last years end of season presser ” Ross should do better ” !
Hey shapiro, Carryon baggage atkins has failed along with you ,miserably. !
Let’s go dumpster diving…..
What?
For the past eight years, there is an annual draft. If the Jays FO had their ship together, there would be a lineup of fresh pitchers ready to step in. Why work with a restoration project?
It really is pathetic how poorly Atkins has drafted over this tenure, particularly in the first round. Even the guys he traded have been underwhelming in their new organizations.
“Trust the process”.
It seems like the longer Shatkins is in charge, the fans are questioning their ability to run a franchise at all levels. Perennial bottom feeding teams (we know who they are) exhibit tendencies that can be traced back to poor management. The Jays are quickly joining the bottom feeders with moves like this. Why give money to some dude to “try” to pitch? As someone who would make a great manager (but not for this FO) once said…”this is not a “try” league.”
@bestone
I’m certainly not a fan of the current FO but this is a minor league signing. 29 other teams do this. It’s a complete nothing burger.
Agreed it’s a nothing….just sayin’ that the minors are supposed to be for teaching and developing. Instead of trying to rebuild someone that other teams rejected in AAA, that spot should be for a AA player to graduate to. There’s a new batch of players graduating high school, college, and international kids every year. This FO should be restocking annually. Seems like wasted money that’s all I meant…
Agreed. But it’s also an avenue for resurrecting MLB careers. It’s also a place where GM’s are required to stock with players. Sometimes it includes players like this or worse, Aaron Sanchez:o)
They have a good history when it comes to signings and trades and have given up alot less value then they have given up but the draft history is atrocious. On the position player side they have Horowitz, Barger, Roden and Palmegiani as guys who have a chance to impact a 26 man roster. Pitchers they have Francis whom was mostly developed elsewhere, Pearson who went from 1-2 starter to 7/8 guy in the pen, Manoah and Tiedamen. In the international side there is kirk and Martienez. Now im not saying all of these guys are MLB regulars but when these are all you have over 8 years when it comes to guys who have a chance to impact a team you are doing something very wrong. They had a 5, 11 and 12th 1st round choice and the other where between 19-22. I mean really? Bo was drafted there first year but you could argue it was AAs leg work/ draft team that helped with that so he is a toss up
@Murphy NFLD
There is no argument. It was AA’s people that laid the going work for drafting Bo.
It must be tough for Shapiro and Atkins. They have no quality pitching depth in the minors and they know it. I guess they have to take what is available off the scrap heap.
FYI during the last 8 years[since 2015] the Jays have drafted and developed only 5 pitchers that have made the big leagues. None of these are longterm successful starters. Nate Pearson, Alex Manoah, Joe Biagini[Rule 5], TJ Zeuch, Simeon Woods Richardson.
A major league team cannot be long-term successful with this pitching draft and development record.
Where are the Jimmy Keys, Dave Stiebs, Todd Stottlemyres?
Todd and Mel Stottlemyre used to ride their bikes through my neighborhood, back in the day.
As mediocre as Sonny Gray was for the Yankees, New York seemingly still won that deal by a lot. None of the prospects did much for the A’s. Kaprielian was OK, but nothing special. The other two were basically non-existent.
Mateo eventually became somewhat serviceable but that was after leaving Oakland.
Of course if you counted Mateo’s time after Oakland, you would also have to factor in Sonny Gray’s time after New York. It would be even more lopsided in that case.
Hilfew: Jorge Mateo begs to differ. He’s no star but he’s playing in the show and has for years now.
But not for Oakland,
Well…couldn’t hurt
Yankee prospects are always overrated… it’s not there fault it’s there market…. MLB brags up certain markets… I hate it when my team makes a trade with the Yankees it never works out… again I don’t blame the Yankees at all I’m just stating the obvious… every small market team knows it
Every team’s prospects are overrated by their fanbase, some worse than others for sure, but they are all guilty.
I don’t agree with their choices and character but if you need a starter, Trevor Bauer is available and Julio Urías might be had cheaply after the suspension is over.
That abusive pos is done in the league, only mysogonostic idiots keep bringing up his name. Only way this org turns it around is under new management, fire Atkins and shapiro, as wel as cistulli, and Schneider. New owners would be nice too but that’s not happening.
Bauer is not “abusive” and no one knows what “mysogonostic” means.
ignorance is not cute
All Kap
Can never have enough minor league fodder. If they pan out, you can bring them up and flip them for more minor league fodder.
Once a top prospects of the Yankees. LoL. My team needs to do a better job at player development. To all Yankees fan. Help me. Can anyone name a starting pitcher the Yankees developed after Pettitte that made a All Star Team.
Sevy?
Thanks Joe. Sevy only one but proves Yankees need to do better at player development
Since they hired Matt Blake they have gotten much better. Look at Gil, Cortez and Schmidt as starters and many others, most notably Holmes, in the pen. I have zero complaints in the pitching development department.
@Joe. I don’t think Holmes is a WS closer. Gil could be great when he reaches his innings limit.