Jays’ prospect pipeline about to get important influx of talent

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TORONTO — Thanks to a pair of savvy one-year deals and the career years that followed for Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray, the Toronto Blue Jays are in an enviable spot heading into the 2022 MLB Draft.

When Sunday’s first round starts, the Jays and third-year scouting director Shane Farrell will have pick Nos. 23, 60, 77 and 78 — the latter two being the compensation picks the club received for Semien and Ray walking — to play with, allowing them to start restocking a farm system that’s been thinned out by trades and graduations.

While normally the Major League Baseball draft is an exercise in projection and extreme patience, there’s also a now element for the Jays and GM Ross Atkins.

With the MLB trade deadline set for Aug. 2, this draft haul is going to give the Blue Jays more leeway when it comes to packaging up prospects currently in the system for immediate help.

“All indications from preliminary discussions are that we have the depth and talent to be in play throughout the potential trade market,” Atkins said of initial trade talks. “Of course, we need to remain disciplined as we weigh those trade opportunities against how strongly we feel about the players in our system.”

At the top of the prospect pipeline sit a potential cornerstone catcher in Gabriel Moreno, a left side infielder with plenty of power — and strikeouts — in Orelvis Martinez and an emerging left-hander in Ricky Tiedemann, who Farrell and the Jays stole at pick No. 91 in last year’s draft.

Some intriguing names beyond that top trio include 2018 first-round pick Jordan Groshans, breakout outfielder Gabriel Martinez and right-handers Yosver Zulueta, Nick Frasso, Irv Carter, Sem Robberse and Dahian Santos.

Depending on the magnitude of