RealGM

I'm not an expert or anything on these prospects but here's my opinion based on scouting reports and stats.

1. RHP Kyle Drabek
2. C J.P. Arencibia
3. 1B Brett Wallace
4. SS Adeiny Hechavarria
5. C Travis D'Arnaud
6. RHP Henderson Alvarez
7. C Carlos Perez
8. RHP Zach Stewart
9. RHP Chad Jenkins
10. RF Adam Loewen (some Canadian flavour)

I also like what I've heard about Brad Emaus and Darin Mastroianni. Not so sure about any guys below A ball (with Carlos Perez the exception), can't really be sure about those guys until they prove themselves in higher levels. Just looking at the top prospects it seems like we're strong in the catcher position where we hopefully can find our future long-term catcher and in pitching (but not left handed pitching).

I'm not an expert either. There's many people on this board that know so much though. I would put Wallace at the top though and Drabek right below him. Is Arencibia really doing that well this year?

Relentless88 wrote:I'm not an expert either. There's many people on this board that know so much though. I would put Wallace at the top though and Drabek right below him. Is Arencibia really doing that well this year?

All I know is he has 27 home runs. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think a catcher has displayed this much power in the minors post steroid era. And by all accounts these home runs have mostly been in the no doubt about it category and not of the wall scratcher category. Drabek Wallace is debatable but in the end I think Drabek projects to be an ace if he develops a changeup while Wallace projects to be a fringe all-star type first baseman.

The only guy who clearly doesn't belong there is Loewen. I mean, Thames is a better prospect and he plays on the same team.

I'd have d'Arnaud over Hechavarria. Depending on which scouting "side" you take, d'Arnaud could still be over Arencibia.

Marisnick should be on the Top 10.

Are we counting unsigned draft picks? McGuire would be over Jenkins.

10. RHP Asher Wojciechowski
9. RHP Henderson Alvarez
8. SS Adeiny Hechavarria
7. CF Jake Marisnick
6. C Carlos Perez
5. RHP Zach Stewart
4. C Travis d'Arnaud
3. RHP Kyle Drabek
2. C JP Arencibia
1. 1B/3B Brett Wallace

Man, this is far more difficult than I thought...the top 12 is pretty bloody crowded.

the TOP 7 were very hard and pretty interchangeable in my eyes.

1) Drabek
2) Wallace
3) Arencibia
4) Carlos Perez(one of the rare superstar talents in our system, has a chance to be that franchise corner stone everyone else seems to have, problem is he's only 19 and playing in short season ball so he's pretty risky. Controls the strikezone, guns down runners, plays good defence, could develop into 15-20 HR guy with good gap power and on top of that seems to have good speed(4SB and 6 triples)
5)Henderson Alvarez
6)Travis D'Arnaud(hampered by injuries all season, hard to get a good reading on his offensive potential)
7) Adeiny Hech(fringe bat but spectacular glove type player, Alexei Ramirez 2.0?)
<big drop off>
8)A.J Jimenez(looks like a mediocre bat but the other tools are outstanding, probably the best defender of the bunch)
9) Jake Marisnick(5 tooler, nothing not to like from his numbers in the GCL)
10) Zach Stewart(power arm, he's the favourite to be the closer of the future imo)

the system looks very much improved, most people saw Zach Stewart as #1(i thought 3-4) before the Halladay trade and i can barely fit him into my top 10.

silverhill27 wrote:

Relentless88 wrote:I'm not an expert either. There's many people on this board that know so much though. I would put Wallace at the top though and Drabek right below him. Is Arencibia really doing that well this year?

All I know is he has 27 home runs. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think a catcher has displayed this much power in the minors post steroid era. And by all accounts these home runs have mostly been in the no doubt about it category and not of the wall scratcher category. Drabek Wallace is debatable but in the end I think Drabek projects to be an ace if he develops a changeup while Wallace projects to be a fringe all-star type first baseman.

Josh phelps was a monster in triple A...

1. Kyle Drabek
2. Brett Wallace
3. J.P. Arencibia
4. Carlos Perez
5. Jake Marisnick
6. Henderson Alvarez
7. Adeiny Hechavarria
8. Travis D'Arnaud
9. Deck McGuire
10. Zach Stewart

On the bubble: Chad Jenkins, Eric Thames, Asher Wojciechowski, A.J. Jimenez
Personal Favourites: Ryan Goins, Andrew Hutchinson

I've never seen him play but I've seen many writers (notably Baseball Prospectus) claim that Arencibia's ceiling is a Raul Chavez type player. Average defense, average hitter with a little power.

And some people say he didn't have the right prescription for his glasses last season, and that he projects to be a much better hitter than the Chavez type.

a) you'd think the Jays would be giving these guys eye exams every year and b) it's crazy how opinion seems to vary from potential all-star to potential fringe player.

WTF. Since when is Raul Chavez an average player? And I don't think anyone has every said Chavez is Arencibia's ceiling.

I think Victor might be confusing Barajas and Chavez. I've heard the Barajas comparison with Arencibia many times. Considering JPA is a power hitting catcher, and Chavez has 60 home runs in two decades of pro baseball, I don't think that comparison really works.

Michael Bradley wrote:I think Victor might be confusing Barajas and Chavez. I've heard the Barajas comparison with Arencibia many times. Considering JPA is a power hitting catcher, and Chavez has 60 home runs in two decades of pro baseball, I don't think that comparison really works.

And it definitely isn't his ceiling. I still question whether he can make contact consistently in the bigs, but he sure as hell has a chance to put up better than a .282 career OBP.

SargentBargs101 wrote:

silverhill27 wrote:

Relentless88 wrote:I'm not an expert either. There's many people on this board that know so much though. I would put Wallace at the top though and Drabek right below him. Is Arencibia really doing that well this year?

All I know is he has 27 home runs. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think a catcher has displayed this much power in the minors post steroid era. And by all accounts these home runs have mostly been in the no doubt about it category and not of the wall scratcher category. Drabek Wallace is debatable but in the end I think Drabek projects to be an ace if he develops a changeup while Wallace projects to be a fringe all-star type first baseman.

Josh phelps was a monster in triple A...

Checking the stats, Josh Phelps was actually pretty good with a career OPS of 0.815. He just didn't have a position defensively. Arencibia is at least an average fielder.

If there's a ceiling for JP Arencibia, I'd say it's exactly how John Buck is playing right now. Power hitting, hits for decent average, an o.k. OBP and low walk totals. That's the closest comparison I could have.

If he could ever amount to anything like a Mike Piazza or Carlton Fisk, the Jays will be laughing.