The Toronto Blue Jays officially locked up outfielder Joey Urban this week, adding the Southern Miss product as an undrafted free agent.
Urban was actually part of the group of five recent signings Baseball America confirmed alongside Nolan Higgins, Gable Mitchell, Jake Bennett and Bryce Chance.
That group combined to save Toronto $1,351,600 in underslot money, savings the front office can now redirect elsewhere in the draft class.
Urban played his college ball with the Golden Eagles, another program the Blue Jays have shown a willingness to scout for undrafted talent this summer.
Outfield depth has become a real theme for this organization lately, with names like Blaine Bullard already breaking out down on the farm this season.
Adding another outfielder through undrafted free agency costs Toronto almost nothing financially, the kind of low-risk swing every team takes multiple times a summer.
Most of these signings never turn into big league contributors, but the ones that do usually justify the entire approach on their own.
Why outfield depth keeps expanding across the system
Toronto's farm system has stayed active in every direction this summer, from the draft class itself to a run of trades and now this wave of undrafted free agent signings.
Urban enters a crowded pipeline, but crowded pipelines are usually a good problem for an organization trying to build sustainable depth.
It's a bit like adding another player to a deep bench, unsure yet who ends up starting but glad to have the extra name available regardless.
Does an undrafted outfield signing like this one actually have a path through a system already stacked with young talent, or is it more about adding bodies than adding real prospects?
For now, Urban gets his shot in an organization clearly betting there's value hiding in players other teams passed on entirely.
Whether he ever climbs high enough to matter will take real development time to answer, the same question facing every name in this year's undrafted class.
Do you think Joey Urban can carve out a real path through the Blue Jays' crowded outfield pipeline?
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