Every year, the Toronto Blue Jays, like all major league teams, sign dozens of young, mostly teenage prospects from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, among other countries. All of these young players enter pro baseball with big dreams and hopes to better their lives using their baseball talents.
Sadly, most of them never see those hopes and dreams fulfilled. On Friday, the Blue Jays had to give a Venezuelan pitcher they had signed just last year at age 19 the bad news.
The Blue Jays released right-hander Freigher Barco on Friday, parting ways with the 20-year-old Venezuelan reliever who never pitched above Rookie ball.
Barco came off the Florida Complex League roster, which makes him a minor league free agent eligible to sign with any MLB club. The cut arrived during a wider offseason cleanup of Toronto’s farm system, and it followed a season in which his walks and home runs allowed both climbed sharply.
Freigher Barco’s Career Numbers and Signing Bonus
Born Jan. 13, 2006, in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Freigher Ali Barco stands 6 feet tall and weighs 190 pounds, and he bats and throws right-handed. He made 26 relief appearances across two seasons without a start, split between the Dominican Summer League in 2025 and the Florida Complex League in 2026, posting a combined 8.04 ERA with 38 strikeouts and 29 walks over 43 2/3 innings. Across those seasons he went 2-1 without a save, giving up 55 hits and 47 runs, 39 of them earned, including six home runs.
Toronto signed Barco as an international free agent on March 13, 2025, when he was 19. That timing came two months into the 2025 international signing period rather than during the Jan. 15 window that produces the headline signings. Barco joined the Dominican Summer League roster as a depth arm, and his bonus was never publicly disclosed in MLB or MiLB transaction logs or prospect databases. But the Blue Jays apparently thought well enough of him to bring him stateside to the FCL, a move many young international players never get to make.
Toronto Blue Jays Pitching Plans After Barco Release
Unfortunately for Barco, his promotion was short-lived.
Barco’s results declined in his second pro season. In 2025, he went 2-1 with a 6.49 ERA and 1.78 WHIP in 13 relief appearances for the Dominican Summer League’s Blue Jays Blue club, striking out 21 and walking 11 in 26 1/3 innings. He then moved to the FCL in 2026 and, in 13 more appearances, finished with a 10.38 ERA and 2.13 WHIP, striking out 17 while walking 18 over 17 1/3 innings. His walks per nine innings rose from 3.8 to 9.3, and his home runs allowed went from one to five.
Toronto released 11 minor leaguers across two days, Nov. 12 and 13, to open domestic Rookie-league roster spots ahead of 2027 spring training and the incoming international and draft classes. Four others were complex-level pitchers. They were Ramon Suarez, Luis Torres, Michael De La Cruz and Emminem Flores, all of whom also left the organization.
Because Barco never advanced beyond Rookie ball, his departure has no direct impact on Toronto’s pitching outlook at the major league or upper-minors levels.
Cutting older, underperforming complex-level arms frees up Florida Complex League innings and development time for newer additions, including 2026 draftees such as first-round pitcher Cole Carlon and international signing Woo-jin Cho, a right-hander assigned to the Dominican Summer League’s Blue Jays Blue roster on Nov. 11.
At the major league level, general manager Ross Atkins and the front office are working to reinforce starting rotation depth for 2027, with Cody Ponce, Bowden Francis and José Berríos all rehabbing. The club is exploring top free-agent starters including Tarik Skubal, Freddy Peralta, Michael King and even a reunion with Kevin Gausman, along with left-handed bullpen additions, ahead of a potential Dec. 1 lockout.
Barco turns 21 on Jan. 13, and as a minor league free agent he can sign with any organization before the 2027 season begins.
Blue Jays Quietly Release 20-Year-Old Venezuelan Pitcher After Just 2 Seasons