The Syracuse Skychiefs are the Blue Jays top farm team, the closest team to the big leagues and the source of many of the call-ups the Blue Jays needed in 2004. Not counting the September call-ups, there are nineteen players who played in both Syracuse and Toronto this season. The injury bug that hit the Jays put a strain on the Chiefs from which they could not recover.
Expectations were high coming into 2004, the New Haven team at AA had won their division in 2003 and many of those players would be moving up to AAA. Some of the players did move up, Alexis Rios, Russ Adams, Gabe Gross, Guillermo Quiroz, but the majority of the hitters were AAA veterans, Glenn Williams, Simon Pond, Shawn Fagan, Jorge Sequea, Jeff Guiel, Chad Hermansen. The starters were to be David Bush, Justin Miller, Chris Baker, Jason Arnold and Bruce Chen. Those five starters accounted for 43 starts in 2004.
The team got off to a slow start and by the end of April their record was 10-13. Then the injury shuttle was in full swing and as a result the Chiefs went 3-12 to start May and they were in the basement. The injury situation did not normalize until July and as a result Syracuse did not have a winning month until August.
Syracuse were middle of the pack in most offensive categories, except for stolen bases where they were last in the league, 8th in BA, 8th in runs scored, 10th in home runs, 3rd in walks, 7th in strikeouts.
Syracuse were 13th in ERA, ironically Buffalo, the best team in the International league, were 14th.
In addition to the on-field issues the Jays also have to be concerned about matters off the field. There are a number of uncertainties in the Jays relationship with the Skychiefs. The Skychiefs are unhappy with the recent lack of field success by Syracuse, and some of the Chief's fans are unhappy with the owners. No-one is happy. Syracuses'sattendance was third worst in the league.
Players on the Syracuse roster can be split into three groups, the up and comers, the former major leaguers and the not quite good enoughs. Examples of each of the groups are:
Up and comers: Russ Adams, Guillermo Quiroz, Gabe Gross, David Bush
Former major leaguers: Chad Hermansen, Marvin Benard, Sean Douglass, Ryan Glynn
Not quite good enough: Glenn Williams, Shawn Fagan, Talley Haines, Mike Smith
Other than the injury bug the Skychiefs struggled in 2004 as few of their players had outstanding years. Other than David Bush, none of the up and comers had great numbers at Syracuse, most of them were average. Adams, Gross and Rios hit in the .260 to .290 range. Some of the former major leaguers were injured themselves, Chad Hermansen and Marvin Benard missed a lot of time. Others showed they would have a hard time getting back to the major leagues. The not quite good enoughs were not quite good enough. Syracuse had two .300 hitters, Howie Clark and Anton French, both of whom played half seasons with the team. Syracuse had only one player who hit more than 11 home runs, Glenn Williams. Syracuse had seven pitchers who made more than ten starts, five of them had ERA's over 4.50, David Bush and Ryan Glynn were the exceptions.
Players in AAA have played in the big leagues, expect to play in the big leagues soon, or believe there is only one thing keeping them from playing in the big leagues. Every year some career minor leaguer gets his chance in the big leagues and grabs it. David Newhan is 31 years old and was drafted by the Oakland Athletics out of Pepperdine University in 1993. This year he hit .311 for the Orioles. David Newhan, and others like him, keep the dreams of hundreds of minor leaguers going. "Next year, if I get hot, and if someone in Toronto gets injured, I can get my chance, and if I get it I know I can show I belong." Players in AAA are making $4000 or $5000 per month dreaming of the chance to make $50000 per month in Toronto, most of them are so close and yet so far.
We have highlighted several prospects from each of the minor league teams as part of these reviews. You should be familiar with the top prospects on the Skychiefs, most of them played with the Jays in September. For a change I want to look at some of the other players who you might not know.
Howie Clark is 30 years old and has played in the Blue Jays system for two years having originally been part of the Baltimore Oriole system. Clark has proven to be a .300 hitter at AAA, he will take a walk, does not strike out much, and is a very pleasant guy to have in the clubhouse, but he cannot stick in the major leagues. Clark might be one of those AAAA players, too good for AAA but not quite good enough for the major leagues. If Clark was a wizard with the glove at second base he could have a job but he is not that good, and he does not have the power to compete for a left field job, so his only hope is as a pinch hitter and utility infielder.
Anton French is 29 years old and was selected in the 1993 draft out of high school in St Louis by the home town Cardinals. French bounced around rookie ball and A ball for six years in five organizations and looked to be out of pro ball at the end of 1998. French opted to play in the Northern League in 1999 and hit over .300 but stayed in independent leagues for 2000 and 2001. The Red Sox gave him a shot in 2002 and 2003 and at Pawtucket in 2003 French hit .293 in 98 games. When the Jays were hit by the injury bug early in the season they acquired French from Tampa Bay. French hit .282 with an OPS of .838 for New Hampshire and hit .349 with an OPS of .977 for Syracuse. French might never get a shot at the big leagues but for now he is playing winter ball and supporting his family back in St. Louis.
Shawn Fagan is 26 years old and was selected in the 13th round of the 2000 draft. Fagan was a .300 hitter through the lower levels of the minor leagues but he never displayed much power and major league first basemen need to either hit .330 or hit home runs. Fagan appears to have hit a wall at AAA. After hitting .314 at New Haven last year Fagan hit .207 in 17 games in 2003 and .237 this year at Syracuse. Now Eric Crozier has passed him on the depth chart, and Vito Chiaravalloti is coming to AA so Fagan might find himself out of a job, or in a backup role.
Jorge Sequea was a minor league rule 5 pick by the Blue Jays from Detroit back in 2003. Sequea started last year in New Haven and after hitting .342 in 33 games was promoted to Syracuse. Sequea is only 24 years old and initially the Jays looked like they had a steal from the Tigers. In 2003 and 2004 at Syracuse Sequea has hit .260 with an OPS of .712. Those numbers are OK but not major league ready. If he truly is 24 then he has a year or two to improve himself so he can get a shot.
Julius Matos is 29 years old and has just completed his eleventh minor league season. Matos was acquired by the Jays from the Montreal organization when injuries hit Syracuse. Matos has settled in as a .290 hitter at AAA with little power. Matos did play 76 games for San Diego in 2002, hitting .238, and 28 games for Kansas City last year, hitting .263. Matos is almost there, looking for that one good season, that one break, that will give him an extended look in the big leagues and a chance to make it. With Aaron Hill coming for 2005, Matos might be looking for another organization for next year.
Chris Baker was a 29th round selection in 1999 and had put up decent numbers through 2003, last year at New Haven Baker made 25 starts and had an ERA of 3.90. However his K/9 rate was under six - always a concern. Baker started 2004 with two strong starts in AAA but it was downhill from there, his ERA was 6.75 before he was sent down to New Hampshire. Baker got back on track in AA and was a starter in the playoffs. His WHIP was 1.62 at AAA and 0.99 in AA. One of two things happened, either Baker corrected something in AA or he was lucky/unlucky at one of his stops. Baker's reputation at AAA was that he would pitch well for a couple of innings but then start to leave his pitches up and AAA hitters were hitting him hard. Baker gave up 22 homeruns in 77 innings at AAA but only 7 in 70 innings at AA.
Cam Reimers was a 35th round pick back in 1998. Similar to Baker, Reimers put up excellent numbers in AA, a 2.78 ERA this year, but was hit harder at AAA, a 5.05 ERA. The Jays are working to teach Reimers a curve ball to change the hitters eye to see if that helps his numbers but any pitcher who tops out at 89-90 mph needs above average secondary pitches to get by. Reimers will spend another year in AAA trying to develop his repertoire.
Talley Haines was a rule 5 selection by the Jays in 2003 after he recorded a 2.53 ERA in AAA. After Haines was cut in spring training Tampa did not want him back and Haines put up a 3.87 ERA in Syracuse. Haines's junky offerings do not appear to have the ability to get major league hitters out so I would suggest Haines will not be a major leaguer.
Josue Matos is 26 years old and was previously a member of the Seattle organization. Matos reached AAA with Seattle in 2002 and had an ERA of 5.92 in 25 starts. In 2003 Seattle sent Matos back to the bullpen in AA where his ERA dropped to 2.24 and his K/9 rate jumped to over 10. Matos started 2004 in the bullpen for Syracuse but was switched to starting after injuries hit. His ERA jumped back up to 5.18 and his K/9 rate dropped to 7. Has Matos peaked at AAA, or does he need to go back to the bullpen? I do not have starting vs relieving splits for 2004 so I am not sure what the answer is. Matos is also somewhat homer prone having surrendered 25 in the each of the last two years, that would be 25 this year in 130 innings.
Mike Smith appeared in 14 games with the Blue Jays back in 2002. Smith is 27 years old and has spent the last three years in Syracuse. Smith's ERA has been over 5 for the past two seasons and his K/9 rate has been around 6. Smith did pitch much better in the second half of the season but with Chacin, Rosario, and Arnold ahead of him on the prospect list he might not get to start in 2005. In 2005 he will be looking to take his second half improvement and build on it.
This completes our end of season reviews for all the Blue Jays minor league teams. We hope you enjoyed them.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20041012103458999