Baseball America's Top 30 Blue Jays Prospects For 2015

Monday, March 02 2015 @ 09:02 PM EST

Contributed by: #2JBrumfield

A quick trip over the border this past weekend led to the acquisition of the Baseball America 2015 Prospect Handbook. There are over 900 prospect files inside, including 30 of your Toronto Blue Jays hopefuls, which can be found after the jump.

Catcher Max Pentecost — the 11th pick of the 2014 draft — is rated the Jays' 5th best prospect according to Baseball America. That places the Kennesaw State alumni second among position players in the farm system.

6-foot-5 righthander Miguel Castro is one of six pitchers among Baseball America's top 10 prospects in the Jays system. The Dominican righty jumped 17 spots up from last year to place ninth on this year's prospect list.

Baseball America grades each player on the traditional 20-80 scouting scale:

75-80 Franchise players/number one starters.
65-70 Perennial All-Stars/number two starters.
55-60 First division regular/number three starters/closers.
45-50 Second division regulars/number four starters/eighth inning relievers.
35-40 Number five starters/utility players/backup catchers/relievers.

BA also has a risk factor grade for each player:

Safe - player is ready to contribute in the majors and has shown a realistic ceiling.
Low - player is likely to reach his ceiling and become a big leaguer.
Medium - player still has some tools to sharpen.
High - player is a first year draft pick.
Extreme - teenager in rookie ball or a player with significant history of injuries.

No.#	Player	Position	Grade	Risk	2014 Rank
1	Daniel Norris	LHP	60	Medium	6
2	Aaron Sanchez	RHP	60	High	1
3	Jeff Hoffman	RHP	65	Extreme	NR
4	Dalton Pompey	OF	55	Medium	17
5	Max Pentecost	C	55	High	NR
6	Devon Travis	2B/OF	50	Medium	NR*
7	Roberto Osuna	RHP	55	High	7
8	Richard Urena	SS	55	High	24
9	Miguel Castro	RHP	55	High	26
10	Sean Reid-Foley	RHP	50	High	NR
11	Matt Smoral	LHP	55	Extreme	13
12	Ryan Borucki	LHP	50	High	NR
13	Jairo Labourt	LHP	50	High	12
14	Dwight Smith Jr.	OF	45	Medium	27
15	Dawel Lugo	SS	50	High	9
16	Mitch Nay	3B	50	High	4
17	Chase DeJong	RHP	50	High	11
18	Anthony Alford	OF	55	Extreme	NR
19	Lane Thomas	3B/OF	50	High	NR
20	Dan Jansen	C	50	High	NR
21	D.J. Davis	OF	50	Extreme	3
22	Alberto Tirado	RHP	50	Extreme	8
23	A.J. Jimenez	C	45	High	14
24	Andy Burns	2B	45	High	19
25	Tom Robson	RHP	50	Extreme	16
26	Jesus Tinoco	RHP	50	Extreme	NR
27	Juan Meza	RHP	50	Extreme	NR
28	Nick Wells	LHP	50	Extreme	NR
29	Matt Boyd	LHP	45	High	NR
30	Rowdy Tellez	1B	45	High	18

Lefthander Ryan Borucki made the biggest leap on this year's Top 30 list, going from unranked to #12. Baseball America is also predicting Borucki to be the system's breakthrough prospect.

The biggest riser in the system was southpaw Ryan Borucki, who went to number 12 with a bullet after not being ranked last year. The 2012 draft pick missed all of 2013 after Tommy John elbow surgery. Righty Miguel Castro and shortstop Richard Urena shot up 17 and 16 spots respectively to place ninth and eighth in this year's rankings. Outfielders Dalton Pompey and Dwight Smith Jr. leaped 13 spots each to rank fourth and 14th. Lefty Daniel Norris jumped five spots to earn the number one ranking this year.

The biggest fall from grace was suffered by outfielder D.J. Davis, who dropped from three to 20. Third baseman Mitch Nay and righthander Alberto Tirado both fell out of the Top 10 with Nay sliding from four to 16 and Tirado plummeting from eight to 22. Other drops of note saw catcher A.J. Jimenez and Ladner, B.C. hurler Tom Robson fall nine spots each to 23 and 25 respectively. Robson underwent Tommy John surgery last summer after a rough stint in Lansing. First baseman Rowdy Tellez barely hung to his top 30 ranking, going from 18 to 30.

Prospects who fell out of the Top 30 this year were righthanders Clinton Hollon and John Stilson, who were 15th and 21st in 2014 as well as first baseman Matt Dean (25th), lefthander Jake Brentz (28th) and shortstop Yeltsin Gudino (30th). Also gone from last year's Top 30 is shortstop Franklin Barreto and lefty Sean Nolin as the fifth- and ninth-rated prospects were sent to Oakland in the Josh Donaldson deal. The 22nd- and 23rd-rated prospects, outfielder Kenny Wilson and catcher Santiago Nessy, are now property of the Miami Marlins and Kansas City Royals respectively. Righty Marcus Stroman (2nd), outfielder Kevin Pillar (20th) and second baseman Ryan Goins (29th) graduated to the bigs.

A dozen new players managed to earn Top 30 spots on the Blue Jays list this year. Outfielder Anthony Alford, who was ranked 10th by BA in 2013, is back in at #18. The two 2014 first round picks — righty Jeff Hoffman and catcher Max Pentecost — are in the top five at spots three and five respectively. Second baseman Devon Travis — formerly Detroit's #1 prospect — comes in at #6 after being acquired from the Tigers for center fielder Anthony Gose. 2014 second-round hurler Sean Reid-Foley is also a new addition as he came in at #10. Other newcomers were third baseman/outfielder Lane Thomas (19), catcher and 2013 draftee Dan Jansen (20) along with righties Jesus Tinoco (26) and Venezuelan signing Juan Meza (27) and lefties Nick Wells (28) and Matt Boyd (29).

Baseball America believes Devon Travis — manning second base here with Detroit's AA affiliate, the Erie SeaWolves — will be the Blue Jays top rookie performer this upcoming season. (Image from GettyImages.com)

Baseball America is projecting Devon Travis as the team's top rookie and lefty Ryan Borucki to be this year's breakthrough prospect. Fellow southpaw Conner Greene, the Jays' 7th round pick in 2013, is tabbed as this year's sleeper prospect.

As far as tools go, BA says Dwight Smith Jr. is the system's best hitter for average and strike zone discipline while Rowdy Tellez is the top power hitter on the farm. D.J. Davis is rated the fastest runner and Anthony Alford is the top athlete. With the glove, A.J. Jimenez is rated as the best defensive catcher, second baseman Jon Berti is the top defensive infielder and Dalton Pompey is the best defensive outfielder. The best infield arm belongs to shortstop Dawel Lugo and the best outfield cannon is said to be the property of Jesus Gonzalez. On the pitching side, Aaron Sanchez possesses the best fastball and curveball while Sean Reid-Foley has the system's best slider. Jeff Hoffman has the best changeup and Jeremy Gabryszwski is the system's best control pitcher.

Looking ahead to 2018, Baseball America believes the projected lineup will include Max Pentecost as catcher, Mitch Nay at first base, Devon Travis at second base, Josh Donaldson at third base and Richard Urena at shortstop. The outfield is projected to be Dwight Smith Jr., Dalton Pompey and Jose Bautista from left to right while Edwin Encarnacion handles DH duties. The projected starting rotation is Marcus Stroman, Daniel Norris, Jeff Hoffman, Aaron Sanchez and Drew Hutchison and the projected closer is Miguel Castro.

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