Keith Law's top 100 prospects

[OldNo7]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/ ... d=tab2pos1

7
Travis Snider
RF
Toronto Blue Jays
TOP '07 LEVEL: A (Lansing)
20
The word on Snider out of high school from his detractors was that he was stiff, slow, a little heavy, had bad knees and so on. The word on him now is that he can flat-out hit, and his detractors have shut their mouths for the time being. Snider sets himself up well to hit for average and power, with a low load, a simple swing and a very short path to the ball. He's got some loft to his swing to drive balls out, with plus power already, but will shorten up to go the other way on offspeed stuff. He's a solid-average runner and has at least a 60 arm in right field. He has a good idea at the plate, and his contact rate should improve as he develops. This was a steal of a pick at No. 14 in '06; among hitters, only Longoria (No. 3 selection) looks better right now.

Our only one in the top 100.

He also did a rundown with no comments of top 5 per organization:
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/in ... =law_keith

Toronto
1. Travis Snider, rf
2. Brett Cecil, lhp
3. Kevin Ahrens, 3b
4. Trystan Magnuson, rhp
5. J.P. Arencibia, c

[hugehoopsfan]

Cecil also made the top 100, in the 70s.
The Devil Rays have a staggering number of players in the top 100, and the Yankees and Red Sox are not far behind, so this division is not going to get any easier for the Jays.

[raps4life~]

yankees/redsox consistantly make the playoffs/win championships AND the consistantly have top 5 prospects. ugh.....


wow tb has a ton of great prospects..

[The_Hater]

JP finally starts looking at high-school prospects again and strikes gold.

That still doesn't excuse him for passing on Troy Tulowitzki 3 years ago but still.

[SmallTownJournalist303]

Snider is a legit prospect; I can't wait to see him in the big leagues. He should rise quickly, so I don't think it'll be too much longer before we get a good look at him.

[Michael Bradley]

Brett Cecil was (surprisingly) included in Law's list, at #63.

63
Brett Cecil
LHP
Toronto Blue Jays
TOP '07 LEVEL: A (Auburn)
21
Cecil is one of the best pure-closer prospects in the minors, although it's not out of the question that Toronto could try to convert him to the rotation. Cecil has two plus pitches already in a 91-94 mph fastball with good bore and a sharp, diving 83-86 mph slider, and his curveball has good depth and isn't far from average already. His arm action is a bit long, but it's fluid and he repeats his delivery well in relief. He made two starts for Maryland last spring, going over 140 pitches in his first one -- gotta love college coaches -- and he does have the size most teams want to see in a starter. If he stays in the pen, he should move quickly and could debut in the majors this year.

Cecil has already been converted to a starter, so he's still a few years away. Good to see him on the list though.

[Holmes]

Are there power hitters this day in age that are 5'11?

Momma didn't give him vitamins.

[joeyt618]

Cecil also made the top 100, in the 70s.
The Devil Rays have a staggering number of players in the top 100, and the Yankees and Red Sox are not far behind, so this division is not going to get any easier for the Jays.

I wouldn't worry too much about TB just yet. They've always had a strong farm system, brewing talents like Crawford, Baldelli, Upton, and Gomes. But for some reason, that team just doesn't seem to gel and struggle big time. For the past few years, I've always considered them a dark horse for the East division, but they always find a way to lose. Good thing for the Jays I guess.

P.S.
They are no longer the Devils Rays. They officially shortened its name to simply "Rays," along with a new logo, colours and uniforms that reflect the change. I'm just waiting for the day when we drop the "Blue" from our name - a process which I think has already been initiated.

[Banger_bro]

I also noticed that for all the praise that Billy Bean gets, he seemed to have less the 5 'pects in that list.

[OldNo7]

Brett Cecil was (surprisingly) included in Law's list, at #63.

63
Brett Cecil
LHP
Toronto Blue Jays
TOP '07 LEVEL: A (Auburn)
21
Cecil is one of the best pure-closer prospects in the minors, although it's not out of the question that Toronto could try to convert him to the rotation. Cecil has two plus pitches already in a 91-94 mph fastball with good bore and a sharp, diving 83-86 mph slider, and his curveball has good depth and isn't far from average already. His arm action is a bit long, but it's fluid and he repeats his delivery well in relief. He made two starts for Maryland last spring, going over 140 pitches in his first one -- gotta love college coaches -- and he does have the size most teams want to see in a starter. If he stays in the pen, he should move quickly and could debut in the majors this year.

Cecil has already been converted to a starter, so he's still a few years away. Good to see him on the list though.

Thanks. I did CTRL+F for Jays and nothing came up, weird.

[kavan]

Waow, not bad we could easily of had no players that could of bee in the top 100 but we had 2. Id look to get these guys up and swimming and pitching in spring ball for shore.

Hopefuly that Catcher can develop sooner then later.

[arrpy]

When do we ever get good prospects...

[risktaker91]

When do we ever get good prospects...

When we fire JP.

[arrpy]

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When we fire JP.

Good point. But I don't think that will be any time soon so...No prospects for us.

[Duffman100]

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When we fire JP.

Ferguson is gone, Colangelo is in place, all we need is Riccardi/Gibbons to go.

[The_Hater]

Babcock/Ferguson/Riccardi.

That really is an incredibly inept GM trio the city had in place 2-3 years bac. Not a single guy that held the title of GM anywhere before he arrived and none of them will get the chance to ruin another franchise wearing that title after they leave.

[raps4life~]

Babcock/Ferguson/Riccardi.

it makes me cry....

[Holmes]

Brett Cecil seems to be on everybody and their mother's number 2 on a top 10 Blue Jays prospect list.

But I'm confused. Law says Cecil throws 91-94, his draft profile says he throws 89-92 and the guy on rotoworld today says he throws 88-91. Somebody needs to know how to use a radar gun.

[The_Hater]

Brett Cecil seems to be on everybody and their mother's number 2 on a top 10 Blue Jays prospect list.

But I'm confused. Law says Cecil throws 91-94, his draft profile says he throws 89-92 and the guy on rotoworld today says he throws 88-91. Somebody needs to know how to use a radar gun.

Perhaps the lower numbers were from last season and the higher numbers are more up-to-date?

[Holmes]

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Perhaps the lower numbers were from last season and the higher numbers are more up-to-date?

Perhaps. But then I find it hard to believe, although not entirely out of the question, he'd consistently throw a few miles faster after converting to a fulltime starter from being a closer in college.