The Toronto Blue Jays like their top prospects and want to keep them, but recent history suggests they’re prepared to trade from their farm system when it means acquiring controllable big leaguers with impact talent.

Deals for the likes of Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki cost the Blue Jays significant prospects within the last 12 months. At the same time, those trades allowed the Blue Jays to bolster their big league roster while avoiding uncomfortably high free agent prices.

“In a perfect world you keep all of your young players, but we all know the free agent market’s not necessarily the most desirable place to be,” GM Alex Anthopoulos said Monday. “We’re going to be open-minded to anything.”

The Blue Jays traded 11 pitching prospects, including Daniel Norris and Jeff Hoffman, to acquire Tulowitzki and David Price before the July 31 trade deadline. Even after such a busy summer, Anthopoulos points to an array of remaining high-end prospects, particularly at the lower levels, and says the Blue Jays have “one of the stronger” systems in baseball.

By way of evidence, the GM pointed to the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Anthony Alford and Conner Greene.

Guerrero, a top international prospect who signed with Toronto in July, hit some “balls that are probably still going” in Instructional League, according to Anthopoulos. The 16-year-old prospect impressed with power to all fields while adapting well to the challenge of playing third base. The Blue Jays like his arm strength and fielding ability, and while his range remains below average there’s some hope that will change as his conditioning improves.

Beyond Guerrero, Anthopoulos highlighted a trio of players who spent the season between Class A Lansing and Class A Dunedin.

Alford, a 21-year-old former quarterback, made “tremendous strides,” batting .298/.398/.421 with 25 doubles and 27 stolen bases. His teammate, 20-year-old first baseman Rowdy Tellez, batted .289/.347/.454 with 14 home runs and 24 doubles, impressing with his ability to draw walks and hit for power. “We think he projects as a middle-of-the-order bat,” Anthopoulos said.

Shortstop Richard Urena also exceeded expectations, batting .266/.289/.438 with 15 home runs for Lansing before struggling with Dunedin. Still, a learning curve is expected for a player promoted to High A at the age of 19.

“It’s a (Robinson) Cano-type swing. He’s got a lot of power,” Anthopoulos said of the switch-hitting Urena. “We were pretty aggressive with him, getting him to the Florida State League … he’s an exciting player.”

On the pitching side Greene and 2014 second-round pick Sean Reid-Foley both rank among the organization’s most intriguing prospects.

“Two really exciting arms,” Anthopoulos said. “Greene really opened some eyes, throwing in the high nineties, a strike thrower, he attacks.”

The 20-year-old posted a 3.54 ERA with 115 strikeouts and 39 walks in 132.1 innings across three levels in 2015. Greene, a seventh-round pick in 2013, advanced all the way to double-A New Hampshire, where he struggled in five starts after excellent showings with Lansing and Dunedin.

Reid-Foley struck out a remarkable 125 batters in 96 innings, but the 20-year-old walked 67, an indication that he’s still raw.

“(He) needs to work on his command, but strikeout totals were tremendous,” Anthopoulos said.

Like many of the Blue Jays’ most intriguing prospects, Reid-Foley possesses upside, but lacks refinement.

“We still think we have a very strong farm and I think we have a chance to have that continue to get better,” Anthopoulos said.

To some extent it may be GM-speak from an executive who benefits if his prospects are well regarded within the industry. But even after a busy summer, the farm system still includes plenty of intriguing players, especially at the lower levels of the minors.

Maybe they become trade bait when Anthopoulos pushes for the next big acquisition. Or perhaps they’re simply the next wave of Blue Jays talent, due to arrive in Toronto once potential becomes proficiency.