The Blue Jays signed 18-year-old right-hander Windel Encarnacion to a minor-league deal on Wednesday, adding another young arm while the playoffs roll on without them.

The move showed up on MiLB.com's transaction log. Encarnacion throws and bats right-handed.

He was born Aug. 4, 2008, in San Juan De La Maguana, Dominican Republic. He only turned 18 in August.

The frame is the story. He's listed at six feet and 149 pounds, which gives the development staff plenty to work with.

Signing a pitcher that lean is like buying a house before the foundation is poured. You're paying for the blueprint.

A minor-league deal carries little risk. Nobody is projecting a timeline for an arm at this stage, and nobody should.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s slump is the bigger problem in Toronto

It's also part of a busy fall. Toronto recently added Venezuelan outfielder Orangel Guanaguaney, Dutch shortstop Cayro Hazel and Taiwanese pitcher Cai-Chen Long.

The pipeline is getting deeper, but the big-league fix lives somewhere else entirely. The Jays finished 79-83 and missed the postseason a year after reaching Game 7 of the World Series.

That Game 7 still lingers. Toronto was two outs from a title before Miguel Rojas tied it with a ninth-inning home run for the Dodgers.

The 2026 drop starts at first base. Guerrero posted a sub-.600 OPS while in the middle of a $500 million contract.

The front office sold at the deadline, moving Kevin Gausman and Daulton Varsho once the club appeared out of the race in early August.

Then the Jays fought back and stayed in the race until the final week. Was that a sign of what this group still has, or just a late mirage?

Signing teenagers is smart business. But no international flier fixes the problem at first base, and pretending otherwise would be the real mistake.

Encarnacion gets years to grow into his frame. Guerrero doesn't have that luxury, and the best version of him decides whether Toronto plays October baseball next fall.