Blue Jays Are Trying and Failing to Sneak 19-Year-Old Elvis Luciano Through MLB Season

The Blue Jays took a major risk when they tried to sneak 19-year-old Elvis Luciano through the Rule 5 Draft. Now, they're paying for their actions.

The youngster is clearly not ready for the big leagues, as he has severely struggled thus far, and gets worse by the day. Yet, in order to avoid losing him entirely, the Blue Jays are continuing to send out Luciano to get crushed, impeding his development.

In his first major league season (which, if the world were just, would've come three years further down the line), Luciano has a 6.87 ERA through 18.1 innings pitched. He's allowed 14 runs to 15 strikeouts. It's safe to say the experiment was not a success.

If the Blue Jays are dead set on keeping the young prospect, they'd have to essentially operate with a 24-man roster. As a Rule 5 draft pick, Luciano has to remain on the 25-man roster all year long, or he must be returned to his previous team (Royals) or the minors, where the Blue Jays would lose his rights.

Toronto is currently sitting at 20-30 for the season, and cannot afford to waste a roster spot. For the betterment of the team and the development of Luciano, the team should just bite the bullet and fill their final roster spot with a competent player.

Luciano still could have a great career ahead of him, as he is not even 20 years old yet. However, he is clearly not ready right now, and continuously getting destroyed is not going to be good for his development. Hopefully for him, the Blue Jays will finally put an end to their experiment.