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Notes from Nowhere Another Prospects List
ESPN's Keith Law has released his Top 10 Prospects list for each American League East club. His top five Blue Jays prospects are pitchers and has seven hurlers rated among his top 10. The Jays did not fare very well in his farm system ranking.


No. 2 and trying harder: Roberto Osuna was Keith Law's number two Blue Jays prospect. The Mexican righty just turned 18 today.


In the ESPN Insider article, Law ranked the Jays 24th overall and last in the AL East. Tampa Bay was rated third, the New York Yankees were 10th, Baltimore was 13th and Boston placed 17th.

Law's Top 10 Jays prospects list...
  1. Aaron Sanchez, RHP
  2. Roberto Osuna, RHP
  3. Marcus Stroman, RHP
  4. Sean Nolin, LHP
  5. Matt Smoral, LHP
  6. Anthony Alford, OF
  7. D.J. Davis, OF
  8. Adonys Cardona, RHP
  9. Chase DeJong, RHP
  10. Santiago Nessy, C
Other players noted by Law were RHP John Stilson, OF Kevin Pillar and LHP Daniel Norris. In Law's Top 100 prospects list — another ESPN Insider piece — Sanchez was rated 19th while Osuna ranked 87th. Law also has a video feature of the American League prospects he feels will break out in 2013.
Continuing with all things Keith Law, he is to appear with Eric Karabell for the final podcast of ESPN Baseball Today. It was announced on last week's podcast that Baseball Today will be replaced by another podcast — ESPN Baseball Tonight — hosted by Buster Olney. Though I felt the podcast was not the same after the ouster of Peter Pascarelli — who joked about commissioner Bud Selig's statue in Milwaukee being a good target for bird crap — it was something I faithfully listened to all year round, especially during the off-season. Does anyone else tune in to this podcast? What other baseball-related podcasts do you listen to? The floor is yours.
Posted by #2JBrumfield on Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 02:42 AM EST.
Another Prospects List | 22 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Lylemcr - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 11:51 AM EST (#268593) #

A couple years ago, the Jays seemed to have a glut of shortstop prospects.  What happened to this glut? (other than Hech being traded). 

In fact, are there any infielders that are decent prospects in the system.

For analysis someday, I would love to see how the Jays system does in each position.

 

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Mike Green - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 11:56 AM EST (#268595) #
Christian Lopes was BB's #10 prospect.  It is true that the club is thin in the middle infield. 
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Ryan Day - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 12:00 PM EST (#268596) #
Did they ever have a glut? Hechavarria is the only significant shortstop prospect I can recall; Justin Jackson had some promise a few years ago, but he never figured out what to do with a bat. Ryan Goins is probably at about the same status he's always been - maybe a useful part at some point, but no one's idea of a top prospect.
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Mike Green - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 12:13 PM EST (#268597) #
You'd have to go back to Hill, Hudson and Adams for a glut of young middle infield talent.  The club solved it by trading Hudson.
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92-93 - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 12:46 PM EST (#268599) #
Pastornicky, Pierre, and Jackson were well thought of in 2009 and Hechavarria & Thon were added to the mix in 2010 when the Jays locked down the position by acquiring Escobar for Pastornicky. It's always fun to look back at previous Box Top 30s and get a feel for the consensus.
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hypobole - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 12:58 PM EST (#268601) #
Ryan "Game" Goins is MLB's #18 Jays Prospect. Anyone who hasn't read their scouting report is in for a treat (although it may taste a bit gamey). Not only is he a "gamer", he also "knows how to play the game". But what really sets him apart from others is the fact he "plays the game the right way"! Game on, Goins!

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2013/index.jsp?c_id=tor#list=tor
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Ryan Day - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 02:23 PM EST (#268602) #
I completely forgot about those guys. Most of them never even made it past A-ball (Thon & Pierre still haven't), so there's a reminder here about getting excited about 18-year-olds in rookie ball.
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whiterasta80 - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 02:50 PM EST (#268603) #
18 year old pitchers in High A however...
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Chuck - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 03:01 PM EST (#268605) #

Anyone who hasn't read their scouting report is in for a treat (although it may taste a bit gamey). Not only is he a "gamer", he also "knows how to play the game". But what really sets him apart from others is the fact he "plays the game the right way"!

That language is fine when it is applied post hoc to a major leaguer (almost always white) who is an overachiever succeeding against the odds.

For that language to be applied any time sooner should be seen as cautionary. It would much preferable to hear about raw physical talent. Hearing that someone gets an A for effort is akin to hearing about a blind date's great personality.

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Lylemcr - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 03:57 PM EST (#268607) #
Aparantly, Thon hits like his dad.... 
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hypobole - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 04:28 PM EST (#268609) #
When short white MI's who play the game the right way graduate to the bigs, the honourary title bestowed on them is "scrappy"
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ISLAND BOY - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 05:29 PM EST (#268610) #
Not that I care a whole lot what Curt Schilling says, but there is a story on Sportsnet that quotes him as saying a member of the Red Sox staff suggested he use PEDs after he suffered an injury near the end of his career in 2008. This is the first time I heard of team personnel encouraging a player to do PEDs but you have to think that it was not always the players who came up with the idea.. Schilling also had the opinion that Alex Rodriguez will never play again, not only because of his health, but Schilling implied that the Yankees aren't eager to shell out big bucks for diminishing returns and would rather he didn't come back.
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jerjapan - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 09:00 PM EST (#268613) #
Unrelated, but Fangraphs has a story on the top ten transactions of the off season, and three AA moves make the list.  Definitely worth a read.  Best off season in Jays history? 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-10-best-transactions-of-the-off-season/



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Steve02 - Thursday, February 07 2013 @ 09:43 PM EST (#268614) #
What other baseball-related podcasts do you listen to? The floor is yours.

I have a long commute to work so I can most often keep up to:
#1 Boxcast (when it's an mp3)
#2 DJF
#3 Getting Blanked
#4 Fangraphs with Cistulli/Cameron
#5 ESPN Baseball Today
#6 Effectively Wild
#7 anything else Jays (Around the Nest, BlueBirdBanter if they have one, DNJT)

then if I can:
#8 Beyond the Boxscore
#9 Baseball America
#10 Productive Outs

I didn't realize I listen to this many...
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Chuck - Friday, February 08 2013 @ 12:03 PM EST (#268619) #
Aaron Hill just signed a 3/35 extension. Good for him for his career resurrection. I would not have considered that terribly likely.
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John Northey - Friday, February 08 2013 @ 12:32 PM EST (#268620) #
Very odd and a deal that could blow up easily.  Hill has torn it up in Arizona, 304/364/517 after hitting 265/318/413 here.  But the deal is for ages 31-33, when players start to slow down normally.  It feels a lot like the deal he signed after his solid 07 season - the Jays got one good year and 2 mediocre to poor ones and a horrid half year.  I would expect a lot of regression in 2013 for Hill, shifting closer to the Toronto numbers as that was a giant leap forward and seems too much like a career year and a bit.
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Chuck - Friday, February 08 2013 @ 01:04 PM EST (#268622) #

But the deal is for ages 31-33

If I am reading things correctly, it will actually be for ages 32-34 as he is already under contract for 2013.

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John Northey - Friday, February 08 2013 @ 01:21 PM EST (#268623) #
Ick.  Signing a guy like Hill, who just had a horrid year in 2011 (at least the Toronto part), for age 32-34 seasons at over $10 mil per seems a poor decision on Arizona's part.  Still, it is their money not mine.

Seems Brandon Lyon signed in NY with the Mets for under $1 mil guaranteed up to $2.4 with incentives.  Much less than I expected as I figured a $3 mil+ would be what he'd get.  At under $2.5 he would've been useful here.

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Richard S.S. - Friday, February 08 2013 @ 01:38 PM EST (#268624) #

If you remember, early in the off season, A.A. signed Maicer Izturis as the best available 2nd Baseman on the Free Agent market.   People on this site had been advocating acquiring him.   In trades, prices were extremely high, so no movement was expected.   In the Minors, Christian Lopes in A- is our best 2nd Base Prospect.   Acquiring just good, not the very good 2nd Baseman is expensive.

That being the case, that's a huge overpay for Aaron Hill, even if he's found a Home there.   Chances are he doesn't live up to the big contract again.

20 July 2012: Day of the (10 player) Trade with Houston: acquiring J.A. Happ (LHP) - that was a big acqusition; Brandon Lyon (RHP) - unfortunately just a rental; and, David Carpenter (RHP) involved in the 21 October 2012 John Farrell trade that eventually became, on 03 November 2012, Esmil Rogers (RHP) - another significant acquisition.

13 November 2012, Day of the (12 player) Trade with Miami came a hard-to-acquire acquisition that flew under the radar, Emilio Bonifacion - two best positions: CF and 2B.   And look what he cost!

 

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Ryan Day - Friday, February 08 2013 @ 01:42 PM EST (#268625) #
It's not just a career year - he's been hitting ever since he got to Arizona in 2011, so he's got 189 games there with a 132 OPS+.

He may still decline, but if he really has established a new level of ability, he can decline a fair bit and still be valuable.
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adrianveidt - Friday, February 08 2013 @ 04:00 PM EST (#268632) #
Prospects are always overrated, and nobody really knows how strong or weak a farm system is until 10 years after it doesn't matter anymore.
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Mike Green - Friday, February 08 2013 @ 04:34 PM EST (#268633) #
I don't agree with that.  People often overestimate the chance of a prospect reaching his potential, but often underestimate the value of a prospect reaching his potential (i.e. being a league average or better player during his pre-arb and early arb years). 
[ Reply to This ]
Another Prospects List | 22 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.