2025 Minor League/Prospects Discussion Thread

[JTT]

Anthony Castro, Kevin Smith, Logan Warmouth and Jackson Reese are among the BlueJay prospects on the roster of the Scottsdale Scorpions (fantastic name) of the Arizona Fall League. I like following the results because the league is often full of veteran prospects who teams are sending to play for very specific purposes. The manager will be Cesar Martin who managed in New Hampshire for the Jays this year.

[dagger]

Looks like Gabby Moreno is joining Buffalo for the AAA playoffs.

[dagger]

Buffalo disposed of Lehigh Valley and moves on to the next stage of its post-season tournament - a set in Syracuse with the Chiefs. Of note from a prospect standpoint, Otto Lopez is hitting .292 since his promotion from AA, and Kyle Johnson continues to show promise as a one-inning guy. Yesterday, he struck out the side in a clean inning.

[Balki-B]

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Any good?

[Schad]

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Any good?

Who knows. Scouting for international teenagers is notoriously difficult, doubly still for guys like Cano that weren't signed July 2nd (which usually means that they were locked in when they were, like, 14 years old). There's almost no publicly available information on him, but given how incredibly variable IFAs can be (given that you're targeting someone who is still growing), that doesn't mean much one way or another. Cleveland originally signed Jose Ramirez for $50,000 as a non-J2 prospect and he has done okay.

[dagger]

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[The_Hater]

If Moreno is the star Catcher of the future, we now have a very valuable Kirk and a tradeable Jansen on the roster to help upgrade other spots. Or just keep Jansen around as the b/u. Nice problem to have whichever direction it goes.

[dagger]

If Moreno is the star Catcher of the future, we now have a very valuable Kirk and a tradeable Jansen on the roster to help upgrade other spots. Or just keep Jansen around as the b/u. Nice problem to have whichever direction it goes.

Absolutely. An offseason issue to watch.

[JaysRule15]

Jansen's overall numbers aren't good, but he really started to hit in the second half of the season. And Kirk's bat is legit, he just needs playing time to polish his defense and gamecalling (not to mention, I hope he improves his conditioning this offseason). I wouldn't want to sell low on either of these guys.

Moreno also came up as a shortstop. If his bat is as good as advertised, I won't be surprised to see him get reps at 3B (a big hole in the lineup still).

[Schad]

Jansen's overall numbers aren't good, but he really started to hit in the second half of the season. And Kirk's bat is legit, he just needs playing time to polish his defense and gamecalling (not to mention, I hope he improves his conditioning this offseason). I wouldn't want to sell low on either of these guys.

Moreno also came up as a shortstop. If his bat is as good as advertised, I won't be surprised to see him get reps at 3B (a big hole in the lineup still).

I wouldn't overcomplicate things. Moreno's future is at catcher, and he still needs consistent reps there given that he has only been a C since signing with the Jays. The trade value of Kirk considerably exceeds his value as a part-time catcher/occasional DH, too.

I'd keep Jansen (both as a good backup C/useful bench bat and as insurance if Moreno struggles), use Kirk to acquire pitching, and make sure Montoyo can't hurt us by giving McGuire 200+ PAs. McGuire's probably movable for a depth arm.

[JaysRule15]

Jansen's overall numbers aren't good, but he really started to hit in the second half of the season. And Kirk's bat is legit, he just needs playing time to polish his defense and gamecalling (not to mention, I hope he improves his conditioning this offseason). I wouldn't want to sell low on either of these guys.

Moreno also came up as a shortstop. If his bat is as good as advertised, I won't be surprised to see him get reps at 3B (a big hole in the lineup still).

I wouldn't overcomplicate things. Moreno's future is at catcher, and he still needs consistent reps there given that he has only been a C since signing with the Jays. The trade value of Kirk considerably exceeds his value as a part-time catcher/occasional DH, too.

I'd keep Jansen (both as a good backup C/useful bench bat and as insurance if Moreno struggles), use Kirk to acquire pitching, and make sure Montoyo can't hurt us by giving McGuire 200+ PAs. McGuire's probably movable for a depth arm.

If we get something of value for Kirk, then for sure. I don't think we'll see Kirk moved this offseason though. It's not like his trade value is crazy right now. Plus, with Moreno likely not coming to the majors until the first couple months because of service time, I think we still start the season with Jansen and Kirk.

Agreed about McGuire though. Need to get off the roster asap or Charlie will simply play him just because he's lefty bat lol.

[Michael Bradley]

It wouldn't surprise me if they traded Kirk. Montoyo was playing McGuire over him, and he's probably not going to age well given his body type. He's also a terrible base runner with no positional versatility. The team will have to keep DH open for Springer and to periodically rest players so using him at DH exclusively (while he'd probably do well there) will also have some limitations. I think the Jays may move him because as mentioned his value in a trade might exceed his value to the team. Defensive metrics for catchers can be tricky, and framing probably isn't as valuable as it used to be, but there has to be a reason beyond "Charlie being Charlie" why the team didn't play Kirk more down the stretch. They may not like something about his defense.

[The_Hater]

Jansen's overall numbers aren't good, but he really started to hit in the second half of the season. And Kirk's bat is legit, he just needs playing time to polish his defense and gamecalling (not to mention, I hope he improves his conditioning this offseason). I wouldn't want to sell low on either of these guys.

Moreno also came up as a shortstop. If his bat is as good as advertised, I won't be surprised to see him get reps at 3B (a big hole in the lineup still).

Jansen is a plus defender who hit in the minors. Throw out his horrific April this season and he was one of the best hitting catchers in the league. Even better than Kirk. Jays fans have been very impatient with him but don’t think that scouts didn’t notice that he turned the corner this season, Atkins phone will be ringing off the hook regarding both his solid catchers this winter.

[Mats_Sundin]

Actually, looking at Jansen's numbers, even with his extremely poor first month, they are quite good. His OPS+ was 106. Compare that to JT Realmuto who had 110 or Kirk with 107.

[The_Hater]

It wouldn't surprise me if they traded Kirk. Montoyo was playing McGuire over him, and he's probably not going to age well given his body type. He's also a terrible base runner with no positional versatility. The team will have to keep DH open for Springer and to periodically rest players so using him at DH exclusively (while he'd probably do well there) will also have some limitations. I think the Jays may move him because as mentioned his value in a trade might exceed his value to the team. Defensive metrics for catchers can be tricky, and framing probably isn't as valuable as it used to be, but there has to be a reason beyond "Charlie being Charlie" why the team didn't play Kirk more down the stretch. They may not like something about his defense.

He wasn’t playing McGuire over Kirk specifically, Montoyo just decided to use McGuire as Matz’ personal catcher every 5th day. I guess Matz pitched great the final 2 months but i often thought the personal catcher thing was overblown. And McGuire suffered a huge slump simultaneously.

[polo007]

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[polo007]

Orelvis Martinez: Blue Jays 2021 Minor League Player Of The Year - Baseball America

Shortstop Orelvis Martinez was more than holding his own a couple of months into 2021, batting .256/.337/.450 through 44 games with Low-A Dunedin.

Yet the 19-year-old wasn't really having it.

“Some of his early season struggles weren’t really him struggling, but more him not meeting his own lofty expectations,” Blue Jays farm director Gil Kim said.

“The Dunedin staff (led by manager Luis Hurtado) actually sat down with him and reinforced how well he was actually doing, and pretty soon thereafter was that few weeks stretch where he was the hottest hitter on the planet.”

That stretch was basically July, when Martinez hit .320 with 13 home runs and nine doubles in 27 games. After a 2-for-4 day on Aug. 1, he was promoted to High-A Vancouver. He struggled there but hit 28 homers on the season while batting .261/.345/.549 in 98 games.

“Orelvis learning how to navigate a little bit of struggle was really important this year,” Kim said. “Early on in Dunedin, and then a little bit late in Vancouver, are probably the first few times that he wasn’t the best hitter on the field."

"And the way he was able to focus on what he needed to do to get better—and to work his tail off to do that—was awesome. That’s probably the most important thing.”

The 6-foot-1, 188-pound Dominican shortstop may eventually outgrow the position—he worked on his footwork and direction of his throwing this year—but his bat will play at third base. It is that offensive upside that made him a popular target for other clubs at the trade deadline.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

Orelvis Martinez: Blue Jays 2021 Minor League Player Of The Year - Baseball America

Shortstop Orelvis Martinez was more than holding his own a couple of months into 2021, batting .256/.337/.450 through 44 games with Low-A Dunedin.

Yet the 19-year-old wasn't really having it.

“Some of his early season struggles weren’t really him struggling, but more him not meeting his own lofty expectations,” Blue Jays farm director Gil Kim said.

“The Dunedin staff (led by manager Luis Hurtado) actually sat down with him and reinforced how well he was actually doing, and pretty soon thereafter was that few weeks stretch where he was the hottest hitter on the planet.”

That stretch was basically July, when Martinez hit .320 with 13 home runs and nine doubles in 27 games. After a 2-for-4 day on Aug. 1, he was promoted to High-A Vancouver. He struggled there but hit 28 homers on the season while batting .261/.345/.549 in 98 games.

“Orelvis learning how to navigate a little bit of struggle was really important this year,” Kim said. “Early on in Dunedin, and then a little bit late in Vancouver, are probably the first few times that he wasn’t the best hitter on the field."

"And the way he was able to focus on what he needed to do to get better—and to work his tail off to do that—was awesome. That’s probably the most important thing.”

The 6-foot-1, 188-pound Dominican shortstop may eventually outgrow the position—he worked on his footwork and direction of his throwing this year—but his bat will play at third base. It is that offensive upside that made him a popular target for other clubs at the trade deadline.

you think he was a target by the Indians for Jose Ramirez?

[polo007]

you think he was a target by the Indians for Jose Ramirez?

Most definitely!

[dagger]

The Jays need some cheap future options to keep paying all of their veterans. So keep an eye on Adrian Hernandez, a 21 year old LHP I've mentioned before. He has a mid-90s fastball and a killer changeup, played at three levels this past season. He could be another Mayza in the bullpen before too long. He's the Jays #23 prospect on MLBpipeline. Here's a writeup.

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