RealGM

satyr9 wrote:I'm not sure I want to get the ball started on this thread with this kind of article (this thread should not become the nostalgia for our recently departed uber 'spects), but the Sickels piece on Syndergaard is a bit of a tough pill for me. He was easily the hardest prospect to go this offseason for me.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/2/2 ... -york-mets

I want to wish him the best, but it'll be tough to watch if he fully pans out, although Jays team success will (knock on wood) make it much easier to swallow.

Kinger95 wrote:Who's our best position player now? Dj Davis? And are we thinking that stroman will pitch on the big club this season at some point?

torontoaces04 wrote:Anthony Gose

-MetA4- wrote:

torontoaces04 wrote:Anthony Gose

No longer a prospect.

torontoaces04 wrote:Then it's Anthony Alford

MiLB.com: You're going to switch positions this year. Tell me about the move from shortstop to pitcher.

Jackson: My agent was having a conversation with one of the higher-ups in the Blue Jays organization and they were watching a guy that had converted from being a position player. They were talking and my agent just threw it out there. He said, 'Justin's athletic, he has a good arm -- do you think he would be a guy that could make that kind of change?' They were like, 'Yeah, we'd love to see that, but we can't ask him to do that -- it would have to come from him.' My agent talked to me about it, and I decided that it was something I could do and something that I could be successful at.


The Blue Jays are 100 percent on board, and now I'm pushing forward on the mound. At the end of the day when I'm 30 or 40 years old, I don't want to be looking back saying, 'Man, I should have tried out pitching.' The age I'm at right now, it's perfect timing for me to try to give it a shot and to have a legitimate shot to do it.

MiLB.com I read in old scouting reports that you hit 93 mph as a reliever. Do you think you can still hit the mid-90s?

Jackson: I believe so, especially with maturing. In high school, I really didn't know about mechanics and I didn't try to chance things because I was mainly a shortstop. But now this offseason, I'm working with my mechanics and trying to get a longer arm action and staying balanced -- the things that will help me grow. My arm strength has picked up since I was 18 years old, so we'll see how it goes this spring. I don't want to give away all of my pitches just yet, but I am working on some different things. But when it's time for me to get out and compete, I will definitely have an arsenal and I'll be ready.

zong wrote:That's some pretty neat news, if I recall correctly Kris Medlen was drafted as an athletic shortstop, and we obviously knew what he's capable of now, let's hope this kid can be a decent thrower.