Jays Minor League Affiliate/Prospect Discussion Thread

[jalenrose#5]

Anyone have an update on the status of our signing our picks?

It's a couple days old....but this is probably the latest I could find....

First-round picks Kevin Ahrens and J.P. Arencibia were among 10 players selected in last week's draft to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.

Also signed were left-hander Brett Cecil (38th overall), second baseman John Tolisano (85th), outfielder Eric Eiland (88th), left-hander Bradley Mills (145th), lefty Marc Rzepczynski (175th), catcher Joel Collins (325th), second baseman Brad Emaus (355th) and shortstop Steven Condotta (385th).

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/teams/news_story/ ... -blue_jays

[jalenrose#5]

A little minor league update.

-I want Fasano back instead of Phillips. Fasano is batting .338 with 6 HR 11 RBI. 1 Error.

-Russ Adams batting a cool .270 with 8 HR and 41 RBI's

-John Ford Griffin, third in AAA HR's with 18, and 49 RBI's batting .262

In AA

- Aaron Matthews batting .350 with 5 HR's and 23 RBI's
- Robinzan Diaz batting .324 with 2 HR's and 23 RBI's
- Rob Cosby batting .304 with 6 HR's and 36 RBI's
- Sergio Santos with 14 HR's and 44 RBI's, batting .257
- David Purcey is coming into his own, reducing BB totals, nearly 1 K/IP

In A (Dunedin)

Some Great Numbers....have a look

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb ... e&sid=t424

In A (Lansing)

-Travis Snider batting .306, average is falling, just came back from injury.
- Zack Dials looks to be the best pitcher in A ball low.

In Rookie Ball

C Jonathan Arencibia is batting a cool .282 with 1 HR 4 RBI's in 12 games
P Brett Cecil started 2 games, 11.1 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 13 K's, 1 BB

[jalenrose#5]

Jays come to terms with 4 prospects!

The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to terms on contracts with shortstop Justin Jackson and pitchers Trystan Magnuson, Alan Farina and Robert Leffler

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=213035&hubname=

[r_gill]

Snider broke out of his slump today. He went 5-5 and hit for the cycle.

[OldNo7]

Snider broke out of his slump today. He went 5-5 and hit for the cycle.

I read that, awesome!!

[tsherkin]

Fasano was funny; I like how he interacted with our young pitchers and that bunt was classic.

[jalenrose#5]

Romero rolling: Ricky Romero -- selected fifth overall by Toronto in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft -- is riding a solid streak with Double-A New Hampshire. Romero, who returned from an extended stay on the DL on June 25, has lasted at least seven innings in each of his past three outings, posting a 2.53 ERA in those starts. On Thursday, the left-hander struck out eight and allowed just three hits over 7 1/3 shutout innings, marking his first victory since Aug. 3, 2006.

Just thought I'd pas this along..

[jalenrose#5]

Minor League Update.....for those who actually read this...

AAA

-2B Russ Adams went 3/7 against the OTT Lynx raising his average to .265. It was below the Mendoza line halfway thru the year. He's got 10 HR and 51 RBI's

-C Robinzan Diaz went 3/6 against the Lynz raising his average to .356. He's got a great eye at the plate, limited power, but supposedly his defence is sceond to none. Some call him Mini Pudge....without the power.

-SS Sergio Santos went 2/5 with a BB against the Lynx. He came up with the game winning single. Since being called up to AAA...he's went 5/17 with 3 K's and is batting .295...with 1 E....on a tough play.

-DH John Ford Griffin is top 5 in HR's in AAA. He's batting .256 with 23 HR and 64 RBI's....too many K's though....118 K's to 386 AB's.

-P Josh Banks leads the team with 10 W's, 131 IP only 18 BB and 78 K's, a 1.25 WHIP....very respectable.

-Newcomer P Jeremy Cummings has started 5 games has pitched 31 IP and has a 1.11 WHIP compiling a record of 2-1....he's got 27K's to 11 BB.

AA

-LHSP Ricky Romero has returned from the DL throwing smoke. He's posted a 2.53 ERA and has went at least 7 IP in each of his last 3 starts.....he's starting to finally produce.

-LHSP David Purcey is still on the DL, but he's been a victim of either poor play or balls finding holes (LOL)....in teh outfield. He's regained control and his K's are nearly 1 per inning. He has a 1.34 WHIP...McGowan is @ 1.29, Burnett and Halladay @ 1.27 and Towers @ 1.31....pretty decent.

A (advanced)

-1B Josh Kreuzer is batting .317 with 18 HR's and 64 RBI's and looks to be a very solid prospect in the Lyle Overbay mold.

-OF Jake Butler is batting .270 and has 18 HR's and 65 RBI's....another good looking prospect.

-RHSP AJ Wideman is 9-4 with 103 IP, 104 H, 18 BB's and 65 K's....a 1.19 WHIP....remiunds me of Marcum a little bit....he's a Canadian BTW from Mississauga.

Low A

-OF/DH Travis Snider is batting .304 with 8 HR's and 68 RBI's....that many RBI's while only having 8 dingers is a feat....similar to Mike Young's 4 HR's and 58 RBI's. He also has 25 doubles (tops on team), 6 triples and a coll .370 OBP.

-2B/SS Scott Campbell is having a great year. Batting .290 with 7HR's and 40 RBI's, he's been very productive at the plate. He has 56 BB to 45 K's and has a sweet .400 OBP. Look for this kid through the farm system....just a hunch .

-1B Sean Shoffit leads the team in triples with 10 and SB's with 18...from a 1B. He has a .271 AVG...but 102 K's.....but...again his OBP is .385.....very respectable indeed.

-SP's Nate Starner and Kyle Ginley both conerted starters have K'ed batters at a high rate. If the team hit better, they'd have better record. Starner is 9-9 and Ginley is 5-5. Starner has pitched 111 IP with 120 K to 30 BB and a WHIP of 1.43 while Ginley has pitched 102 IP with 109 K's to 34 BB and a 1.50 WHIP.

Rookie Ball

-2B Manny Rodrieguez has 7 HR's and 35 RBI's batting .303
-OF Ben Zeskind has 6HR's and 21 RBI's, batting .320 with a .408 OBP.
-C J.P. Arencibia is struggling batting .238 with 2 Hr's and 14 RBI's.
-SP Brett Cecil is on fire starting 8 games, going 33 IP with 34 K's to 7 BB and a sweet 1.03 WHIP.....this kid has electric stuff I'm told.


There you go....hope you enjoyed that

JR

[fliszt25]

Hey jalenrose#5, yes there are people who read this. Thanks for the update.

I was wondering how much you know about the reasons why certain prospects are where they are. For example, I look at the stats of a guy like Josh Kreuzer who has amazing numbers this year in Dunedin. He's already 25 years old and is yet to be promoted. Instead, there's a guy with a .249 average, albeit with some power, in triple A playing first base. It all seems very weird but since I don't know so much about what constitutes a promotion, maybe you can enlighten me if you know, especially as it relates to a case such as Josh Kreuzer.

Another example is with 3B Rob Cosby in double A. He's having a great year and may benefit from being in triple A, in order to become, for example, a backup to Troy Glaus. The bad news is that he is 26 years old and three third baseman are already on Syracuse's roster.

Plus, I've looked at the Jays triple A team and I know that the league is laiden with veterans, but why we have so many relatively older guys with subpar averages on that team makes no sense. Like, what on earth does Chad Mottola bring to the table when his place could be taken by a younger outfielder?

The reason I ask these questions is because I read a recent article that rated the Jays farm system dead last in terms of prospects under 25. Well, if prospects take so long to be moved and our triple A team is full of relatively older vets, no wonder the Jays rank where they rank.

[jalenrose#5]

Thanks for the reply....I'm not too familiar with the farm system, but I have a fairly god handle on things.

- The 25-year-old Kreuzer was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 16th Round of the 2002 draft. In four minor league seasons, the first baseman has a .261 career average with 28 home runs and 207 RBI. Kreuzer spent the 2005 season with Bakersfield (A) and batted .260 with 11 home runs and 74 RBI.

He was acquired by the Blue Jays, and just now he might be showing some promise. He looks pretty average before that and doesn't play 1B all that well.

- Rob Cosby is much the same....he has a career batting average of .275 and seems to be having a career year. Some say he could play in the majors.....but I don't think it will be with the Blue Jays....Ahrens will be there before he ever will be IMO.

[jalenrose#5]

Ricky Romero Update....

Having been given a 6-0 lead thru two innings, Romero stuggled terribly with his control giving up 6 runs, 4 earned in the third inning. He only lasted 2 1/3 IP giving up 4 hits, 6 R, 4 ER, 6 BB and 1 K. Hopefully he isn't injured.

[OldNo7]

thanks for the updates jalen those were great

[fliszt25]

Thanks jalenrose#5 for shedding a bit more light on those two prospects.

[jalenrose#5]

A couple of quick rookie updates.

-Brett Cecil is really looking dominant right now in rookie ball. He currently 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA, 35 IP, 28 H, 22 ER, 1 HR..., 7 BB, 37 K's.

-JP Arencibia is getting back into the swing of things, bringing his average back above .250. He's struggling defensively, but the bat has come around.

-A Pitcher to keep your eyes/ears on is LHSP Marc Rzepczynski. He's been outstanding for the Doubledays. The last start he had, he got a no decision, but he went 6 IP, with 3 Hits, 2 ER, 0 BB and 10 K's. He's a 6'3 205 lbs 22 years old. Best of all, he's left handed.

[Illuminati]

Is there a website listing where every prospect is?

[whiterasta80]

Is there a website listing where every prospect is?

Bluejays.ca has their stats for whichever teams they've played for. But if they're shuttling up and down it can get a little confusing as to where they are right now.

[-MetA4-]

C Robinzan Diaz went 3/6 against the Lynz raising his average to .356. He's got a great eye at the plate, limited power, but supposedly his defence is sceond to none. Some call him Mini Pudge....without the power.

Thats definitely way off. Diaz is average at best defensively and has had complaints regarding his game-calling ability. His bat is the only thing keeping him behind the plate, and theres still talk about him being a utility type player in the majors.

[jalenrose#5]

Sorry, I went off there....I'm just so frustrated with Zaun right now it's clouding my judgement.

GCL Blue Jays update (this isn't pretty )

- SS/3B Kevin Ahrens is batting .234 with 3 HR and 20 RBI's. A slow start, but he's starting to pick it up. Only has 5 errors in 50 games.

- OF Yoherman Chavez is batting .301 with 6 HR and 20 RBI's. He's been hitting consistantly most of the year. Has an OBP around .390.

- C Joel Collins is batting .260 leading the GCL Blue Jays Catchers in HR's with 7 and 16 RBI's.

- OF Eric Eiland is hitting .215 with 1 HR and 13 RBI's in 50 games. He does have 15 SB's though. I've heard he's got Carl Crawford like Speed. Just needs to find the bat

- SS Justin Jackson started out very slowly but has raised his average to .200. He has 2 HR and 13 RBI's and 8 Errors.

- 2B John Tolisano leads the Jays with 9 HR and 31 RBI's, but also in errors with 15.

The Pitchers are a different story....

- Their 5 starting pitchers all have ERA's under 3.70, two of which are under 2.00 and two have WHIP's under 1.00. All of them are pretty well averaging a K and IP and with more run support all would have a winning record.

- RHP Jason Monti is 5-0 with 36 IP, 35 K's and 5 BB's.

- A pitcher to watch IMO is LHP Brian Letko. He has a 2-4 record with a 1.50 ERA, 48 IP with 47 K's and 6 BB's and 0.98 WHIP. He's 6'5 195 lbs and he's 22.

[-MetA4-]

The low minors really feature the majority of our best prospects. Lots of talent down there. Look out for Yohermyn Chavez, I hyped him up last year after he had a very respectable year as a 17 year old (playing with Travis Snider). This year he's upped it up another level and is really showing that he's not a fluke. He's an '89 kid so in reality he's in the same age-group as Ahrens and the majority of the HS kids taken in this past draft. I'm not too worried about Ahrens, he's been heating up lately but more importantly, he's a switch hitter who doesn't have a lot of experience switch hitting. If you look at his splits you'll see that he's actually hitting .293 against LHP's (albeit it is in only 40-something at bats) and only .208 against RHP's. He's a natural right handed hitter which explains the problems hitting left handed. Tolisano has been a big surprise, especially his power. He might have some problems finding a home defensively (could end up being an OF) but he can definitely hit. Tolisano at one point was actually ranked by BA as the best player in his age group, which was a few years ago. Eiland is super raw with super upside, he was labeled as being the best athlete to come out of Texas since Carl Crawford, and he plays pretty similarly.

[Holmes]

David Purcey numbers through 6 starts at the AFL

1-2 1.23 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 22 IP, 13 H, 3 ER, 9 BB, 25 K

Dude turns 26 next April.