2019 Minor Leagues/Prospect Discussion Thread

[bluerap23]

So Kloff is currently playing in this league? THat is pretty crazy. I wish MLB had put together a single minor league season of 60 games and invited every major league team to put together a 25-30 man roster of their most important prospects. They could have organized it so that each team gets approximately 5 players from each level in the organization. That would have been really interesting. I may have watched that more than MLB this year.

[polo007]

Every club's farm system, ranked - MLB.com

7. Toronto Blue Jays

2020 preseason rank: 16

2019 midseason rank: 10

2019 preseason rank: 5

Top 100 Prospects: Nate Pearson, RHP (No. 9), Austin Martin, SS/OF (No. 20), Jordan Groshans, SS (No. 79)

The Blue Jays continued to draft well this year, adding Austin Martin, the No. 2-ranked player in the class, as well as righty CJ Van Eyk to a system that was already teeming with projectable up-the-middle prospects and power arms.

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Some interesting insights here on the Rochester camp in particular

https://futurebluejays.com/2020/09/11/fbj-interview-joe-sclafani/

FBJ: Can you give us an update on some of the other top prospects at the alternate site? We understand that Jordan Groshans is healthy, and Alek Manoah arrived recently.

JS: First off, Groshans – he’s just a great kid – it’s unfortunate that he missed a lot of time last year, but he learned so much when he was rehabbing. He was picking people’s brains, trying to learn as much as he can, always had a good attitude, and then to get the opportunity to go up to summer camp, and be with some of the older guys…he’s continuing the same thing. He’s asking lots of questions, he’s being challenged – I can’t imagine being out for about nine months like he was, then being thrown into a big league environment. I know he was a little overmatched at first, but he’s starting to figure things out. He’s worked a lot with (minor league hitting coordinator) Hunter Mense on the offensive side, and I’ve seen video and live streams from the alt site that shows he’s made great strides defensively. His footwork looks great – it’s clear that’s been an are of focus for him – and he’s been working with (minor league coach) Danny Solano and (MiLB manager) Cesar Martin, and the improvement he’s shown is exciting.

(RHP) Joey Murray is another guy who has really stood out up there. One of his development goals was to increase his velocity….last I’d heard, he was working his butt off, and he’s touched 94 – the goal is to get him sitting there.

(First round pick) Austin Martin has mixed in really well with the guys at the alternate site. He’s learning, and always asking questions. He’s working a lot on the defensive part of his game right now……he really puts in good ABs night in and night out. That’s almost all I read in the reports I get, and anytime I talk to anyone (in Rochester) they say he doesn’t give in, never takes an AB off.

The position player our guys up there are most excited about is (OF) Josh Palacios. He’s made some great strides, and is just killing it up there. Every AB is good, he’s hitting the ball hard all over the place, and is turning into a tough out. Josh has been refining his approach at the plate…..and he’s been working hard on the defensive side as well. Palacios brings such a positive energy.

[Schad]

Joey Murphy sitting 92-94 could be a monster if he's still as difficult to pick up.

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[SharoneWright]

I don't believe for 1 second that Alejandro Kirk weighs 5 pounds more than Alek Manoah...

[bluerap23]

I don't believe for 1 second that Alejandro Kirk weighs 5 pounds more than Alek Manoah...

Looks like a right handed David Wells. I'm good with that.

[Metallikid]

I don't believe for 1 second that Alejandro Kirk weighs 5 pounds more than Alek Manoah...

Looks like a right handed David Wells. I'm good with that.

That camo isn't hiding anything.

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MLB Pipeline's wrap on the Rochester camp

By Mike Rosenbaum @GoldenSombrero
October 10, 2020


Top position prospect: Austin Martin, SS/OF (No. 2 on Blue Jays Top 30/MLB No. 16)
The Blue Jays landed the best pure hitter in this year’s Draft when they selected Martin with the fifth overall pick. The Vanderbilt product led all NCAA Division I in runs (87) and the Southeastern Conference in batting (.392) and on-base percentage (.486) as a sophomore in 2019, leading the Commodores to a College World Series title. Martin was off to another fantastic start in ’20, slashing .377/.507/.660 before the pandemic abruptly ended the season after just 16 games. Altogether, Martin produced a .368/.474/.532 slash line during his college career, tallying 57 extra-base hits (14 homers), 43 steals and more walks (85) than strikeouts (82) in 140 games.

“He’s a natural hitter,” Toronto director of player development Gil Kim said. “The swing gets into the hitting zone quickly and efficiently, and he shows elite plate discipline.”

That Martin was announced as a shortstop on Draft day was somewhat surprising after he had been moved from third base to center field -- a decision prompted by some throwing issues -- early in the 2020 season. But as a plus athlete with quick-twitch actions, Martin has long been viewed as someone who could succeed defensively at any number of positions, and he spent the summer getting reps at shortstop, second base and center field after getting some early work at the hot corner.

“It was great to have Austin with us for the summer,” added Kim. “He’s a great teammate, a hard worker and showed an advanced understanding of his preparation and work routines. This first summer was mainly about acclimating Austin to professional baseball and learning as much as we could about him while he learned and acclimated to the organization as well.”


Top pitching prospect: Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP (No. 4/MLB No. 93)
One of the youngest players in the 2018 Draft class, when the Mets took him in the second round, Woods Richardson joined the Blue Jays along with lefty Anthony Kay in the 2019 Deadline deal that sent Marcus Stroman to New York. Toronto pushed Woods Richardson, just 18 at the time, up to Class A Advanced Dunedin shortly after acquiring him, and the young right-hander responded to the challenge by pitching well over six starts in the Florida State League. Including his time with Class A Columbia, he compiled a 3.80 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and a 5.25 strikeout-to-walk rate during his first full season, logging 106 2/3 innings across 26 starts between the two organizations.

Beyond his impressive numbers, Woods Richardson proved to be an incredibly advanced prospect for his age, showing a blend of stuff, pitchability and aptitude that made him a must-have for the Blue Jays in Rochester.

“Simeon showed four plus pitches and really good feel,” said Kim. “He worked on executing his fastball up in the zone, continued to show a plus changeup, and features two distinct breaking balls. He made a lot of progress with the action and command of his curveball since Spring Training.”

In a normal 2020 season, Woods Richardson might have become the first high school pitcher from the 2018 Draft to reach the Double-A level. While that obviously didn’t happen, the 20-year-old still faced plenty of upper-level hitters over the summer at Toronto’s alternate training site, where he made strides in all aspects of the game.

“As the youngest pitcher there, we were encouraged to see his confidence, presence and competitiveness come out intensely this summer,” noted Kim.


Pleasant developments
The Blue Jays have always been high on shortstop Jordan Groshans’ (No. 3/MLB No. 70) offensive ceiling, viewing the former first-round pick (No. 12 overall in 2018) as someone who will hit for both average and power from the middle of a lineup. His performance since entering the professional ranks, though limited due to injuries, has only strengthened the club’s optimism in the 20-year-old shortstop’s bright future. In 2019, Groshans produced a .337/.427/.482 line at Class A Lansing over his first 23 games before succumbing to a season-ending foot injury.

“Having missed almost all of 2019, he got thrown right into a big league environment in Toronto (Summer Camp)," Kim said. "There were some struggles at first, but he really impressed by staying resilient and focused on development throughout the summer and made some big gains with the consistency of his mentality and focus.

“The ball jumps off his bat and he was able to show a good understanding of utilizing the whole field. There’s legit power in there, and he ended up leading the group with six home runs. He worked just as hard on his defense, as his footwork continued to improve at shortstop.”

The Blue Jays definitely have a type when it comes to the pitchers they like to draft in early rounds: big, physical arms who are a bit on the raw side, despite usually having plus velocity, nasty secondary stuff and at least average control. West Virginia standout Alek Manoah (No. 5), a 6-foot-6, 260-pound right-hander, fit that profile to a T before the club selected him 11th overall in the 2019 Draft. He excelled that summer in his pro debut, limiting Class A Short-Season Northwest League batters to a .213 average while racking up 27 strikeouts (against five walks) in 17 innings.

“Alek has an electric arm, and really made progress with the development of his changeup as a third pitch,” said Kim. “He added good depth to the pitch and was able to use it effectively to complement his plus fastball/slider mix. He’s an intense competitor, and we were excited to see him continue to progress against upper-level hitters.”

No. 8 prospect Gabriel Moreno (No. 8), who signed for $25,000 in 2016, is one of the better young catching prospects in baseball, projecting as a backstop who can impact games both with his bat and with his defense behind the plate. In his age-19 season last year in the Midwest League, Moreno batted .280/.337/.485 for Class A Lansing, adding 12 homers, 17 doubles, five triples and 52 RBIs.

“Gabby has quick hands, plus bat speed and is very accurate with his barrel,” noted Kim. “Despite not having played above Low-A, he showed some promise against pitchers with much more experience than him. He was able to turn around elite fastball velocity and also improved his swing decisions in leverage counts.”

Josh Palacios, a fourth-round pick in 2014, is the best defensive outfielder in Toronto’s system and showed more impact at the plate during the 2018-19 seasons, slugging exactly .416 in back-to-back years while improving his OPS from .770 to .787.

“He was one of the biggest standouts from camp,” said Kim about the 25-year-old center fielder. “He was a tireless worker and constantly challenged himself to get better in practice and games. He was willing to fail in his work in order to get better and ended up seeing positive results with his contact rate and plate discipline. He incorporated a toe tap and was able to fire his hands a bit higher and more behind the ball.”

Mike Rosenbaum is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GoldenSombrero.

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Keith Law on Nate Pearson, Austin Martin, and more – The Athletic

5. I know you’re a fan of Austin Martin. Ahead of the draft, you had him as the best all-around prospect. At No. 5, the Blue Jays were certainly in the right spot at the right time to pick him. A question I get from fans all the time is: What position will Martin play? The Blue Jays have thin centre field depth, so there’s intrigue around whether he can fill that hole. But I know during summer camp and at the alternate site, he was working at third base. So, where do you think the Blue Jays should play him?

He should play third base. I saw him there as a sophomore and he was ridiculous. He had issues throwing this spring before the college season ended, so Vandy tried him out in the outfield, but as long as that’s behind him (and I’ve heard he’s been fine) he has a chance to be a plus-plus defender at third.

6. Toronto is definitely a team that has to draft and develop starting pitchers since free agency isn’t the primary way they build a rotation. Understanding it’s hard to say anything with certainty when it comes to young arms, of some of the Blue Jays top-end pitching prospects, who do you like the best to remain a starter long-term?

Pearson’s a starter. (Alek) Manoah’s a starter. (Anthony) Kay is too, albeit more of a back-end one. (Eric) Pardinho could be if he comes back from TJ. I actually think Patrick Murphy has the elements to start but he might be the first cousin of Those Unlucky Andersons for all his injuries.

(Simeon) Woods Richardson is the one major pitching prospect they have who, in my opinion, has significant reliever risk. His arm is really late, and he doesn’t have a consistent breaking ball. That’s not to say he won’t be a starter, just that I think he has a lot more reliever risk than the Jays believe he does. I think the jury’s still out on what (Adam) Kloffenstein could be since he wasn’t great in 2019 and we didn’t see him this year. I do wonder if guys like that, who throw hard and were maybe used heavily in high school, will be better off for the year away from full-bore pitching.

7. With the offseason, there always comes trade rumours. I think the Blue Jays are a team that has a young (read: cheap) enough roster that they actually have the room to spend money in free agency to supplement their core. And we know MLB clubs clasp their prospects tighter than ever before. But in your opinion, if the Blue Jays wanted to sell high on a prospect, who would it be?

Could be Woods Richardson. Although if they really wanted to sell high on a prospect, Kirk’s stock would have to be as high as ever right now. (I’m not advocating they do so.)

8. Over the last two seasons, the Blue Jays have graduated a lot of their high-end prospects to the majors. But, your last organizational ranking had their farm system at No. 7 and that was before Martin. Where do you view them now and does their system have an obvious strength/weakness?

Strength is infielders, to some extent right-handed starters, and I think potential stars, with Martin, Pearson, Orelvis (Martinez), and then to a lesser extent Kirk or Groshans. Weakness is outfield and left-handed pitching. I don’t think my organization rankings will change very much this winter except for teams that graduated several prospects or teams that had exceptionally good drafts.

[polo007]

Toronto Blue Jays: Interview with prospect Joey Murray - Jays Journal

Reuben: What’s the difference between playing college ball and minor league ball?

Joey: College ball is different in a lot of ways. The structure of practice is more team development and pro ball is geared more around personal development and focusing on what each individual player needs to get better at. Obviously, the competition is way different when it comes to the transition into pro ball no matter where you played in college.

In pro ball you have much more consistent approaches from hitters, hitters, and pitchers knowing where their pitches play best in and out of the strike zone. So the biggest change is the mental side of it. Your pitches will likely get better in pro ball but the biggest jumps will be in your mental performance and consistency.

Reuben: You were invited to training camp at the Rogers Centre this season. Were you expecting to be invited? What was the experience like?

Joey: I knew that I had a chance to be invited but I felt like I was on the outside looking in. The whole experience in Toronto was amazing. I didn’t go to big league spring training this year so it was my first time in that type of environment. It was my first time ever seeing the stadium so that was also really cool. Moving forward I think it’ll also benefit me to have that experience.

Reuben: What was the non-roster camp like? What kind of things were done to stay ready and in-game shape?

Joey: Our schedule was based around a typical in-season schedule. So we’d show up, lift, prep for throwing, then get our throwing in for the day depending on the rotation, take some ground balls, batting practice, and then get ready for the game. Depending on the day we could play anywhere from 4 innings to 9 innings. The coaching staff did a great job keeping our schedule like a typical season

Reuben: Do you ever pay attention to like prospect rankings or what like scouts say about you?

Joey: Nope. The blue jays determine who gets called up, not prospect rankings. You see guys all the time who weren’t a “prospect” and turn out great and vice versa. They may see a guy play once, write him off, but he’s actually a great player and just saw him on a bad day.

Reuben: What are you going to do during the offseason to stay ready and what are your goals for the 2021 season?

Joey: The big thing is to get my strength back. During the shutdown I lost all the strength I built up over the offseason and while in Rochester I was still able to hit 95mph so I look forward to seeing what I can do once I’m at full strength as well as using what I learned this year. My goal is just to try to keep getting closer to being the pitcher I know I’m capable of being.

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For Blue Jays prospect Mack Mueller, home is wherever the diamond is | The Star

After moving to Texas with his family to start high school, Mack went on to attend Rice, Cisco Junior College and Baylor in search of the best post-secondary fit. He also transitioned as a ballplayer in that stretch, from a pitcher to an outfielder.

At Cisco he thrashed junior college pitching and flashed raw power (15 home runs in 51 games). It attracted eyes. Max Semler, the Blue Jays’ Dallas-based area scout, looked at Mack’s six-foot-three frame and saw big-league potential.

“He was obviously big, but you could project that he’d be awfully strong, which he has (become),” Semler says. “It was all about the size and strength that you could see this young man was going to have.”

The scout was indeed proved correct. By his senior year at Baylor, Mack had filled out to 225 pounds and posted a .561 slugging percentage.

“I think that if he achieves what I believe he can we’re looking at possibly Bubba Trammell-type player and production,” Semler says, referencing the former outfielder who played in the 2000 World Series with the New York Mets and hit 25 homers and 92 RBIs the following year for the Padres, his best statistical season. “With (Mack’s) work habits, approach and strength … (we could see) possibly better production.”

When Toronto called two days after the June draft to sign him, Mack took all of 30 seconds to make his decision.

“Not a lot of thought needed,” he says.

So a new venture begins in the Blue Jays organization. If everything goes well, Mack will have many more stops to make on his way to Toronto, with minor-league teams dotting the map in places like Dunedin, Fla., and Manchester, N.H.

That pesky “where are you from?” question will keep popping up. The answer won’t matter. What matters is where he’s been.

“Once (you’re) on the field,” Mack says, “you speak the same language.”

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Here's the state of Toronto's farm system - MLB.com

While the graduations of former top prospects Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette have negatively affected Toronto’s farm system -- ranked by MLB Pipeline as the fifth-best in baseball going into 2019 -- back-to-back strong Drafts by the organization, along with the rise of some recent Blue Jays international signees, still has the system in good shape overall.

Flame-thrower Nate Pearson and catcher Alejandro Kirk are poised to make an even more significant impact next season after their strong finishes to the season as members of the postseason roster. What’s more, they soon could be joined in the Major Leagues by other top Blue Jays prospects such as first-rounders Austin Martin and Alek Manoah and trade acquisition Simeon Woods Richardson.

After making a top 12 pick in three straight Drafts, the Blue Jays will try to find value in the second half of the first round next year with the No. 19 overall pick. They’ve had mixed results with their later first-round picks in the past half-decade, with Pearson (No. 28 overall in 2017) the most encouraging example.

FARM SYSTEM RANKINGS

2020 Midseason: 7 | Preseason: 16
2019 Midseason: 10 | Preseason: 5
2018 Midseason: 5 | Preseason: 9
2017 Midseason: NR | Preseason: NR
2016 Midseason: NR | Preseason: NR
2015 Midseason: NR | Preseason: 10

Only the top 10 systems were ranked from 2015 to 2019 preseason; the top 15 systems were ranked 2019 midseason.

TOP 5 PROSPECTS

1) Nate Pearson, RHP (No. 6 on Top 100)
2) Austin Martin, SS/OF (No. 16)
3) Jordan Groshans, SS (No. 70)
4) Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP (No. 93)
5) Alek Manoah, RHP