Rain interfered with the schedule on Friday. The Bisons were rained out while the Lugnuts game was suspended in the 12th inning. New Hampshire had 18 hits and lost. Dunedin played the best game and continued their winning ways. Kenny Wilson, John Tolisano and Kevin Pillar continued their hit hitting for New Hampshire. Andy Burns did the same for Dunedin while Efrain Nieves locked things down on the mound.

On an afternoon in which Blue Jays’ pitching was anything but Major League, Jays’ fans can take solace in the efforts of two pitching prospects. Aaron Sanchez no-hit an impressive Tampa Yankees line-up through five innings down in Dunedin, while Deck McGuire turned in a two hit (one earned run) effort further north in Binghamton.

Kevin Pillar and John Tolisano at the top of the order led New Hampshire to victory.  Marcus Walden and Matt Wright supported on the mound.  Dunedin stole a win with an eighth inning rally.  Lansing were soundly beaten.  Buffalo were rained out.

Read if you dare.

The three affiliates in action Monday all have records of 3-2. That was only good news for one of them.

Minor leaguers often try and one-up the major leaguers. Dickey gives up five runs in the first? The Bisons gave up five in the first AND five in the second. They lost 14-5. Give them credit for scoring at least.

Roberto Osuna was the story for the Lugnuts, Efrain Nieves was almost as good for Dunedin. The Fisher Cats had a great come from behind win thanks to John Tolisano.

Buffalo and Lansing were the winners on Saturday. Buffalo were led by Andy LaRoche who had 4 hits and a home run. Kevin Pillar also had four hits but in a losing cause for New Hampshire. Deck McGuire was either bad or showed promise depending on your perspective. Alonzo Gonzalez pitched six shutout innings for Lansing whose offense was spread around. Aaron Sanchez pitched mostly well for Dunedin, four three up, three down innings and one three run inning.

The bats were hot on Thursday but were a lot cooler on Friday. The Lugnuts won with strong performances by Taylor Cole, Christian Lopes and Emilio Guerrero. Dunedin had to go to extra innings to win. The Bisons got an eighth inning home run from Luis Jimenez to break the tie. Anthony Gose scored two runs thanks to two hits.

Usually the season starts with the pitchers ahead of the hitters. The baby Jays had their hitting shoes on on Thursday with Anthony Gose, Kenny Wilson and Marcus Knecht leading the way.

Here are the opening day rosters for the minor league teams.  The big story could be the DL, AJ Jimenez, Sean Nolin, Danny Barnes, Chad Jenkins, John Stilson, Tyler Ybarra and Evan Crawford all start the season on the DL.

My first quick look also notes that:

Marcus walden makes the jump to AA after a half season ion Dunedin.  I liked Walden last year but AA is a big test for his style of pitching.

Alonzo Gonzalez makes the jump to lansing after a brief debut last season.  Gonzalez was a JC selection as was further advanced than the high school pitchers.

Daniel Norris and Roberto Osuna are also starting in Lansing.

Emilio Guerrero beat out a lot of competition to be the shortstop in Lansing.

Chris Hawkins returns to Lansing for a repeat.

 

I have added more comments at the bottom.

My copy of the bible arrived in the mailbox — the Baseball America 2013 Prospect Handbook! Texas prospect Jurickson Profar is on the cover.

2012 first round pick D.J. Davis is the highest rated position player in the Jays farm system according to Baseball America.

The Toronto Blue Jays and the Vancouver Canadians have agreed to a two-year extension of their Player Development Contract. The original agreement was in effect until 2014 but the two sides agreed to continue their partnership through the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
The Vancouver Canadians have won two Northwest League championships since becoming a Blue Jays affiliate in 2011.

The Jays have a full staff in the minors again with a few names we have heard of before.  From Tim Raines to Stubby Clapp.

So, we now have Baseball Prospectus' top 10 to go with Baseball America's, FanGraphs, John Sickles, and our own.  How do they compare? 
Note: MLB.com just added in to expand the diversity of the lists.

The Buffalo Bisons have introduced a new logo for 2013 to mark its brand new affiliation with the Blue Jays.

The Bisons have ditched its New York Mets-inspired colors and logo for a red and blue look.