Baseball season approaches, and none too soon.  As we wait for spring training to begin it is a good time to carefully look at the Blue Jays minor league teams and try to understand how the players will fit into those teams.  In this first part we will look at the catchers, then follow with corner infielders, middle infielders, outfielders and starting pitchers.

And away we go......

With two weeks to go to pitchers and catchers reporting we need some baseball to satisfy our needs until the 2011 season gets underway.  So in that light I have some video, some pictures and some notes to divert your attention until things really get going.

First the notes.  I touched base with a few of my Blue Jay front office connections this week and here are a few of the things I heard:

The most surprising move in the Jays minor league managerial shuffle involved the recently retired Mike Redmond being named the new manager of the Lansing Lugnuts.  The 13-year major league veteran replaces fellow former major league backstop Sal Fasano, who moves up to Double-A with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.



Mike Redmond in the Indians bullpen prior to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Progressive Energy Field May 5th.

Toronto's AFL affiliate, the Peoria Javelinas, played in the championship game on Saturday and lost 3-2 to Scottsdale. Let's finish up our AFL coverage by looking at how the Jays representatives performed over the month-and-a-half-long season.

It's been three weeks since the last update. What have the guys been up to? Playing baseball, probably.

Baseball America released their Blue Jays top ten prospect list today.  There is no surprise at number one but there are some surprises further down the list.

Been wondering how the Jays' AFL players have been doing?

The Top 30 prospects series demonstrated the strength of the Blue Jays minor league system compared to the past couple of seasons. Several prospects were left off the Top 30 list who would have been comfortable inclusions a year or two ago. Given the depth of the system, the Minor League Crew decided to profile some additional prospects worth keeping an eye during the offseason and coming year. This list is in alphabetical order and shouldn't necessarily be considered the next 9 best prospects in the system. Rather, these are names that we highlighted, some familiar and some not so familiar, who are some of the players who could move onto the Top 30 list at the end of the 2011 season.

Today we wrap up our 2010 Blue Jays Top Prospects 30 with numbers 10-1. For 30-21 click here. For 20-11 click here.

Today we look at the prospects rated at 20 though 11. For prospects 30-21 click here.

Welcome once again to the annual installment of Batter's Box's Top 30 Blue Jays prospects. This list is never an easy one to assemble but it was even tougher this year as the organization has infused a great deal of talent this season through a strong draft, various trades, and a growing international presence. The Top 30 list was compiled and written by eight Batter's Box contributors.

The regular season has ended and that means it is time for the annual Blue Jays top 30 prospects list.  But that's not all.  Over the next ten days we will also have interviews with minor league field coordinator Doug Davis and roving pitching instructor Dane Johnson.

Today, the Blue Jays announced the 2010 R. Howard Webster Award winners today, honouring the Most Valuable Player at each of the team’s minor league affiliates.

The Houston Astros have reached a player development deal with the Oklahoma City RedHawks of the Pacific Coast League and that means the Blue Jays and the Las Vegas 51's will still be together for at least the next two seasons according to the National Post.

UPDATE 09/21 @ 6:30 p.m. - The Jays have officially announced a two-year PDC with the 51's.

Baseball America will begin publishing their league top twenty lists this week.  I thought I would take a shot at guessing which Jays might make the lists.

This is a tricky objective because I don't know all the prospects from other organizations nor will I be examining the non-Blue Jay rosters of all the minor league teams to see who should make the list.  I will approach this purely from a Blue Jay perspective.