Spring Training: part 6 - Minor League Intra-squad

I ventured over to the minor league complex today with the major league boys having an off-day.  I got to see some of the youngins playing their first game action, even if it was against each other.  It's a little tough to cover with two games going on at once, but I think the only guy that I didn't really see that I had wanted to was Sean Nolin who was throwing just before I arrived.

Now before I go on and give you my thoughts, I want to preface this by saying that I'm not a professional scout.  I just write what I see and what I can tell.  It's also really hard to extrapolate what a player can do from one at bat or one inning of work, or even one BP session.  I'm only going to comment on things that really stood out for me and reserve thoughts -- especially on hitters -- for later when I can gather more data.  Guys have bad days.  Maybe their off-speed stuff isn't as sharp as it could be, or their location isn't great, or maybe they just had a bad day at the plate.  None of my thoughts here are conclusive.  Guys can look great today and go out and have a bad year, or month in their leagues. Or they can look horrible here but have a great season.  The tools can be hard to assess, but the things that are even tougher to scout, like makeup and baseball IQ, are the ones that only show themselves when you watch a player over an extended period of time.  It's why a guy who isn't "toolsy" like Kevin Pillar can go out and be the Midwest League MVP and hit well even at the next level.

 

For more on scouting, check out my upcoming interview with Baseball Prospectus writer Zach Mortimer that I'll be publishing shortly in 2 parts.  We could have talked much longer, but we got kicked out by the security at the Bobby Mattick Complex -- they had finished the work for the day and wanted to close up shop. 

On the mound, I saw a bunch of interesting young arms including Javier Avendano, Andrew Sikula, Clint Everts, Buddy Carlyle, Tim Brechbueller, Will Browning,Tucker Donahue, Scott Gracey, John Stilson, and Dustin Antolin.

Most impressive was Avendano.  I didn't get radar readings for him, but he had nice downward plane on his fastball and he mixed in his offspeed stuff well, getting a couple of strikeouts to Dwight Smith Jr. and Balbino Fuenmayor (who bit hard on a curveball) and getting a groundout to Kellen Sweeney.  The hitters who got hits against him seemed to be late on his fastball.  Always a good sign.  Avendano is also bigger than I thought he'd be, which is a good sign for a starting pitcher.

Carlyle has some major league experience and was throwing with good velocity (in the low 90s) but wasn't commanding it down in the zone.  

As you'll read in my interview with Zach Mortimer, he thinks that Will Browning, a side-armed righty, will have success until he hits AA.  He throws 88-90 with a decent slider but Zach thinks he relies on deception a bit too much.  

We were both a bit impressed by Tucker Donahue.  Tucker didn't have a great year with Vancouver and was one of the Jays 4-10 round draftees in 2012 -- the guys they drafted knowing that they'd take small signing bonuses to free up more money for guys like D.J. Davis, Matt Smoral and Anthony Alford.  Donahue struggled with control last year (14 walks in 25 2/3 innings), but looked in command today.  He threw 92-94 mph and Zach really thinks that the Jays got a bargain in him.  

By the time John Stilson took the mound, the other game had finished up, so there was a big group of Jays farmhands crowding around the home plate area to watch him throw.  Stilson started his inning in the 94-96 mph range with a decent slider and changeup combo.  From my eyes, his delivery looked high effort, which would mean that Stilson is probably more suited to being a reliever rather than a starter.  He seemed to tire quickly -- I was informed that his velocity dropped after about 15-20 pitches.  I'm hoping that he can work out those issues and post a strong year in AA or higher.

Again, I couldn't see much out of the hitters in one at bat.  D.J. Davis struck out looking at a fastball but hit a towering foul ball.  From a guy who's so small, he must have really strong wrists to generate that kind of power. Catcher Chris Schaeffer, a non-drafted free agent signed in 2011, showed some good bat speed by pulling a Buddy Carlyle pitch down the left field line for a double.  Jonathan Jones, a speedy CF, also had a double by hitting the ball over the left fielder.  OF Nico Taylor, who may be in Lansing, also had a couple of hits including a double down the left field line.  

Other than that, I'll reserve judgement on everyone else until either I can see more, or until they have some stats to look at.

Stay tuned, Blue Jay Fans!  Coming up later today will be the first part of my interview with Baseball Prospectus writer Zach Mortimer!

Spring Training: part 5

Today's game against the "Yankees"* wasn't nearly as exciting as the WBC game between Canada and the US that followed.  More on that later, first I'll talk about the Blue Jays.

The "Yankees" won a fairly snooze-inducing game 3-0.  Most of the Jays starters (who weren't at the WBC) played today and didn't really do much.  The wind was blowing in all game and anything hit in the air was pretty much knocked down.

It was good to watch J.A. Happ in control for 3 innings.  He really started to struggle with his control in the 4th, necessitating a call to Brett Cecil.  I really want Cecil to do well.  Like Ricky Romero, I think he's a good guy and I like what I hear from him.  However, despite finding more velocity this off-season, he really hasn't pitched well.  From my seat, I really couldn't tell much of anything except for the fact that he walked 3 in only 1 1/3 inning.  He has been striking batters out in Spring Training, which is a positive sign, and he struggled mainly against right handed hitters today (walking Youkilis and giving up a double to Rivera) and he got victimized by yet another error on the infield (this one coming from SS Mike McCoy), so while the outing wasn't good, I'm going to take the positive that he faced mostly right-handed hitters and he did manage to strike out 2 of the 9 batters he faced.

The following pitchers, Alex Hinshaw (another lefty), Ramon Ortiz, and Tyson Brummett combined for 4 1/3 shutout innings.  While again, these were the "Yankees" they were pitching against, Hinshaw looked particularly effective and all three will make nice depth additions to the Buffalo Bisons, although if any of them are pitching in Toronto this year, something has gone horribly wrong.

On the offensive side, there wasn't much to write about.  Colby Rasmus (DHing today) had a base hit and flied out deep to center and was making better contact than yesterday.  Jose Bautista absolutely crushed a ball into the wind, where it died in left field.  Melky hit a double and Lind got a base hit.  Later in the game, Anthony Gose had a very nice hit, going the other way to left field off lefty pitcher Nuno (not sure if that's his name . . . he wasn't listed on the "Yankees" scorecard).  He also made the defensive play of the game, ranging to his left to make a diving catch in the right-center field gap.

Here are some more photos from Florida Auto Exchange Stadium:

Jose Bautista warming up next to Ryan Schimpf

Now.  On to the WBC (World Baseball Classic).  As I watched the game this afternoon I realized that Canada didn't lose the game because Ernie Whitt made questionable (meaning "bad") managerial decisions.  They lost because they just didn't have the depth of ML stars that the American team had.

Yes, in baseball, you can get lucky and ride a hot pitcher, but in this tournament format, that's just about impossible in the first round because pitchers are limited to 65 pitches.  So even when Canada got a way-above-average performance out of their starter, Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon, they would need way-above-average performances out of everyone else too.  With the collection of mostly-minor-league arms that Canada had, this wasn't going to happen.

Which brings me to my next point.  When only 3 batters in your line up seem to be able to hit major league pitching (although Adam Loewen didn't do badly today), and you have no one on the bench who can offer a lefty/righty matchup who has any real ML experience, you're going to lose to a team of Major League all-stars.

So, if Canada had Russell Martin and Brett Lawrie available, and if some of the starting pitchers who declined invitations to play had joined the team, they would have been in much better shape to take on a team like the US.  Let's hope for 2017.
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* - the quotes denote use of irony in calling the team that NY brought to Dunedin the "Yankees."

Spring Training: part 4

It was a gorgeous day for a ball game.  Sunny with a little bit of cloud cover at times at about 25 degrees celsius with a cool breeze.

My first impression entering Florida Auto Exchange Stadium (FAES) was a little bit of disappointment.  My first experience in a spring training ballpark was in Sarasota at the Baltimore Orioles' gorgeous, brand new Ed Smith Stadium.  But when I settled in to my seat at FAES, I enjoyed the charm of the ballpark.  It's not old or run down; it's perfectly functional and when filled with Blue Jay fans (aside from some Tiger fans), it has a lot of character.  

Tigers' BP

In the concourse

As far as the game went, it was a 4-2 victory for the Jays against the Tigers.  While most of the damage was done by the Major League squad, the Buffalo Bisons pitching staff held on to win it.

For the pitchers, Ricky Romero started.  I had high hopes for Ricky after watching his really good outing on Sunday against the Phillies on TV.  In that start, he hit his spots and his curve ball was working really well.  From what we could see today he was having trouble locating his fastball, which (if the radar gun was right) was hovering in the 87-89 mph range.  He gave up a solo home run to Andy Dirks on a fastball that he left way up in the zone, and ended up walking 3 to go along with 3 hits.  He seemed to be unable to get the ball down and looked like a repeat of the 2012 Ricky Romero.

A who's who of the Buffalo Bisons pitching staff followed Romero out of the bullpen.  Mickey Storey threw a clean inning in the third while David Bush threw two scoreless (one hit, one strikeout).  Lefty Aaron Loup gave up a hit and struck out one in his inning, while righty Brad Lincoln did the same.  Loup and Lincoln looked pretty good while Tommy Hottovy (.2 innings - 1 walk, 1 reached on an error) was an unimpressive, soft-tossing lefty.  Fireballer Neil Wagner relieved Hottovy in the 8th and struck out his batter before getting into trouble in the top of the 9th (with 2 singles).  Wagner got lit up in the 9th against Baltimore on Thursday, which makes this his second consecutive appearance that he's had trouble in.  Chad Beck relieved him and was very solid, giving up a soft infield single (in no-mans-land between the pitchers's mound and first) before retiring the next three (1 K, 1 fly out, 1 grounder to first).

So basically, a rough Romero outing followed by generally solid pitching from the Buffalo bunch.

With the bats, the biggest standout was Jose Bautista.  Jose hit a home run and double but the home run was really impressive.  He reached out for a pitch on the outside part of the plate and, not even making the best contact, hit it out to left field.  More than anything else I've seen from him this spring, this shows that his power has definitely returned after his season ending wrist surgery.

Bonifacio had a bad game, striking out twice and walking (although he had a nice little delayed steal)

Rasmus had a rough day at the plate, but he's been out for a few games, so let's let him get his rhythm back.

Cabrera had a nice single and made a fantastic defensive play in left field going back to the warning track to grab an Andy Dirks fly ball.  Combined with the great play he made in center field against Baltimore, I've really liked what I've seen defensively from Melky.

Lind failed to get a hit, but walked twice, including once against a lefty.  

DeRosa did not look good at the plate (but fine in the field).  PLEASE be healthy, Brett!

Izturis struck out twice and got a base hit.

Henry Blanco continues to impress me.  He had a base hit and a long sac fly in addition to throwing out Brennan Bosch trying to steal.

Ryan Goins had a rough day.  He went 0 for 2 at the plate, striking out and hitting into a double play, while making an error at shortstop.

Of the subs, Sean Ochinko had a nice double, and so did Eugenio Velez (who made an error at 3B).  

Following the game, I made it to a bar to catch the last half of the WBC game between Canada and Mexico.    All I have to say about that is I'm upset that a few Canadians got suspended, and I hope that several suspensions are handed down to the Mexican squad (the 3B who told the pitcher to hit the Canadian batter and the pitcher who threw at our guy 3 times!).  

More photos:

Ricky Romero on the mound

I think it's Kobernus at the plate

Meeting of the minds:  Gibbons and Leyland

Clearest picture of Jose Bautista

Apparently, the guy selling beer (L) sings Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Tomorrow the Jays play against the Yankees in Dunedin, which I'll follow with a trip to the Dunedin Smokehouse on Main Street to watch the Canada/USA game.  Monday, I'll spend the day at the Jays minor league camp.  I've been informed that they'll play intra-squad games on Monday afternoon prior to minor league spring training games starting on Tuesday.  Tuesday, I'll go to Clearwater to check out the Phillies camp and Bright House Field (which looks beautiful from the highway), and Wednesday, I'll be back at the minor league complex for more minor league spring training action.  Thursday I wrap up my week+ at Spring Training watching the Blue Jays/Yankees rematch in Dunedin.  Stay with me, Jays fans!

Spring Training: part 3 - Minor League Complex

This morning I headed out for a nice 2 mile jog over to the Bobby Mattick Training Facility where the Blue Jays hold their minor league camp.  While it's open to spectators, there weren't too many of us around, maybe a dozen on and off, and you have to find your way in the back through one of the baseball diamonds run by the city of Dunedin.

I arrived around 9:30am, just in time for the pitchers to run through their fielding drills.  Each of 4 diamonds in the complex had a different drill.  One involved covering home on a wild pitch, one involved covering first on batted balls, one involved run-downs and another had position players doing baserunning drills.

The pitchers were grouped into the minor league level that they were expected to play with to start the year (I assume) with a AA group featuring Sean Nolin, John Stilson, and Deck McGuire, an A+ group featuring Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman, another group of guys seemingly tagged for Lansing, and a last group of some of the very young Jays pitching prospects like Roberto Osuna, Chase DeJong, Tyler Gonzales, Adonys Cardona, Alberto Tirado, and Matt Smoral.

It was fun to watch these guys be put through their paces and joke around with each other.  The coaches seemed to be very supportive and have a good rapport with the players, which, if you've read Dirk Hayhurst's first book "The Bullpen Gospels," you'll know isn't always the case.  I also noticed injured major leaguers Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison taking infield practice with the AA squad.  Both looked good, although it's still a long way back from Tommy John surgery before they can throw off the mound.

Sean Nolin throwing live BP

Sean Nolin throwing live BP

Following the pitching drills (and catchers coming out and warming up in the far corner of a diamond that we couldn't really get to), they set up the diamonds for Live BP.  Live BP is where the pitchers throw to hitters and they take a few swings.  Among the group of pitchers who threw today were some of the Jays top prospects, Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman.

Aaron Sanchez throwing live BP

Marcus Stroman throwing live BP

They both threw hard, although you could see that the hitters in their group would rarely pull Sanchez's fastball.  Sanchez showed a nice curve but wasn't really commanding it yet, but Stroman's slider was really impressive.  Both were able to really keep the ball down and I can only imagine how tough these guys would be to hit.

After the Live BP was regular BP (with coaches pitching).  Watching this, you could see that some guys like Kenny Wilson and Kevin Pillar (both played in the major league game yesterday) had real compact smooth swings and could drive the ball really well, while a guy like Matt Newman (a late 2011 draftee) made great contact, but it was all low line drives.

A guy who looked pretty impressive and hit balls way farther than his small size would suggest was Jorge Flores, 19th round pick of 2012.  Flores stands only 5'5" but still had a good offensive year in Vancouver, hitting .265/.355/.381 with 3 home runs and 14 doubles.  He'll definitely be a guy I'm keeping an eye on this season.

Following my morning at the minor league complex, I went to the Smokehouse Grill on Main St. to watch the Canada/Italy debacle WBC game.  It was definitely a tough game to watch as the Canadians were mercied in 8 innings 14-4.  The Canadians were really hurt by a lack of pitching and particularly a lefty-heavy lineup.  The Italians used the same strategy they did in 2009 (a game at Rogers Centre that I was at) - riding the left-handed pitcher as the Canadians swing futilely.

All around though, it was a really good day of baseball.  Tomorrow will be another good day.  I'll be heading to Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in beautiful downtown Dunedin to see the Jays take on the Tigers.

Spring Training: part 2

Today, as promised, I ventured to Sarasota, FL and took in the Blue Jays playing the Baltimore Orioles in spring action.

A few comments first, the drive down to Sarasota was scenically lovely, but annoying.  It's about 55 miles, but much it was spent winding through either construction or endless series of traffic lights.  There's a spectacular bridge (the Skyway) over the bay that affords great views on either side.  If I hadn't been driving, I would have taken a picture or two.

Ed Smith Stadium, Sarasota FL

There isn't much in the part of Sarasota that houses Ed Smith Stadium (spring home of the O's), but the stadium itself is beautiful.  It seats about 7500 and I was able to get a seat down the right field line in the 4th row in a section of mostly Canadians.  It was actually quite amazing how many Canucks had ventured down to Florida.  The family to my left were from Nova Scotia, the couple in front of me were from Alberta and some people behind me were from B.C.

Cal Ripken Jr. on the right.  No he doesn't seem impressed, but that's the best  photo I  got.  The rest were blurry.

Another AWESOME thing that happened (besides baseball), is that Cal Ripken Jr. threw out the first pitch.  He was spotted in our area and signed some autographs before heading out to toss the first pitch and then head into the concourse to sign his new children's book.

Ok, on to the ball game.  All in all, it was a pretty sloppily played game that the Orioles won 11-10 in walk off fashion on a 9th inning HR by 3B Ryan Flaherty off Jays pitcher Neil Wagner.  The game was back and forth after the Jays came back from being down 6-1 by scoring 2 in the 6th, 3 in the 7th, 1 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th.  The O's countered with a couple in the 7th and then the knockout blow, the 3 run HR in the 9th.

There were a lot of errors in this game.  3 by the Blue Jays (although I would have scored another play an error too), and 1 by the Orioles.  The Jays' middle infield of Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis did not look good, although Izturis went 2-4 with a single and double and Bonifacio had a single in 4 at bats.

Melky Cabrera also looked good, making good contact all game, but with only an single and 2 RBI to show for it.  He played a very nice center field today, making a couple of good catches and showing decent range.  Henry Blanco was probably the most impressive hitter, going 2 for 3 with a single and the Jays' only home run.  Non-roster IF Eugenio Velez had a very interesting day.  Because MLB.com lists him as an infielder, I won't rag on him too much for making an error while playing left field.  At the plate, he went 3 for 3 with 2 singles and a double.  He's a 30 year old speedster with extensive AAA experience and a little flavour of the majors with San Francisco and the Dodgers. He's definitely a nice guy to have down in Buffalo who can come up to the bigs if they need someone.  Jose Bautista didn't give us much to watch, as he hit into a fielder's choice, walked twice and flied out to right. Adam Lind didn't look too great as he struck out, hit a hard fly to right that was caught at the warning track (off former Blue Jay lefty Mark Hendrickson), hit a single, and popped out to the shortstop.  1B Lars Anderson started out with a rough day, striking out and grounding to second twice, but he ended up with 2 hits as he hit a single then a double (he was the only Jay to play the whole game).

Of the subs, Kenny Wilson (who had a good year split between Lansing and Dunedin last year) got on base twice and scored both times. IF Jim Negrych continues to look good, hitting a double to bring his spring training batting average to .417, and Ryan Goins went 1 for 1 and looked solid on the infield.  Kevin Pillar also had a hit while we got to see Catcher Mike Nickeas's speed (or lack thereof) in all it's glory as he huffed and puffed around the bases to score (barely) from first on Lars Anderson's double.

On the mound, Mark Buehrle looked good, throwing 2 strong innings giving up a solo HR, walking 2 and giving up a single (all stranded) in the first, while getting 3 groundball outs around a walk in the second. Justin Germano came in with 2 of his own, but got victimized by 5 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits and no walks.

Alex Hinshaw and Claudio Vargas each posted a clean inning while Evan Crawford gave up two runs but only got one out in the 7th before getting lifted for Mickey Storey who pitched a shutout inning.  Juan Perez, a non-roster invitee who signed this off-season looked pretty impressive in his inning of relief.  He came in and lit up the radar gun as a lefty throwing 93-94.  He's not the biggest guy and gets his velocity like Casey Janssen -- dropping and driving.  He struck out 2 and got a groundball out and worked the bottom of the strike zone really well.  He's another guy who will be nice to have in AAA as insurance.  Finally, Neil Wagner worked the 9th and hit a batter and gave up a single before getting lit up by Flaherty for the game winner.

That's about it.  I'll leave you with a couple more pictures.  I won't get to another game until Saturday when the Jays play Detroit in Dunedin.  Tomorrow, I'll get to the minor league complex, so hopefully I'll have some more Blue Jay related photos!

Spring Training: part 1

I arrived in Dunedin yesterday afternoon following an extremely early morning and most of the day in airports or on airplanes.  While I wasn't changing time zones, the super early wake up call (4:30am) made me feel as if I'm suffering a little bit from jet lag.  That said, I did sleep about 12 hours last night and feel ready and raring to go.

I decided today to head down to Sarasota, FL for today's Spring Training game versus the Baltimore Orioles.  It's about an hour and a half drive from Dunedin to Sarasota, one that I hear will be a beautiful drive in beautiful weather.  I also hear that Sarasota is pretty cool, so I'll get there a bit early, and stick around a bit after the game.

I chose this away game to head to primarily because of the four away games that the Jays will play while I'm in Florida, it was the closest and easiest to get a ticket for -- the Jays/Red Sox game next week is completely sold out already.

I'll start checking out the minor league complex tomorrow morning and I have tickets to 3 more Jays games at home in Dunedin.  I'll definitely post photos and I'll also try to take video when I'm at a good vantage point (not today).  I'll summarize the games that I attend, particularly focusing in on the players and how they perform and how they actually look.

The things that I'm actually looking forward to today are: a) with some of the biggest stars away at the World Baseball Classic, I'll be able to get a look at some of the lesser known guys; b) today's a road game, which means that the major league starters don't always go, so I'll be able to get a look at some of the lesser known guys; and c) It's BASEBALL!

BJfA Top 20 Prospects

Without further ado, here's my list of Top 20 Blue Jays Prospects for the 2013 Season.

A few notes:

Below, you'll see my list and an explanation of why I've put them there.

You'll notice that the list (as are most Jays prospect lists) is very heavy on pitchers.  The Jays' system really doesn't have a lot of elite position players, and just about all of them have question marks beside their names. 

I tend to favour prospects that are closer to the majors.  The Jays have a lot of potential (especially in position players) in the lower levels, but some (like Jacob Anderson) haven't put together enough quality performances in pro-ball to warrant inclusion or a higher position on the list.   Players who have shown improvement (K.C. Hobson) have definitely gotten more consideration than those who either haven't shown much at the levels of the minors or haven't done well despite what scouts say about their tools. 

Another thing that I consider is age/level relationship.  A younger player who does well at a higher level will get more consideration than an older one who dominates a lower level.  This why a guy like Taylor Cole isn't on the list.

I'll probably revise the list after I come back from spring training.  I plan to catch as many minor league workouts and games as I can while I'm down in Dunedin. 

1. Aaron Sanchez: Age* 20, Highest Level: A Lansing.  Sanchez is the consensus number 1 guy for everyone.  A guy who showed dominance in full season ball who projects to be a top 2 starter if he reaches his potential.  Anticipated 2013 Level: A+ Dunedin

2. Roberto Osuna: Age 18, Highest Level: S A Vancouver. Osuna is also universally ranked highly in the Jays' depleted minor league system.  His youth and ability to dominate against older players combined with the maturity of his stuff and his pitching approach makes him a guy who could move through the system fairly quickly.  Anticipated 2013 Level: A Lansing - Piggybacked to begin the season.

3. Marcus Stroman: Age 21, Highest Level: AA New Hampshire.  Stroman ranks high on this list for two reasons.  One is that most scouts agree that his stuff is almost major league ready, and two, the Blue Jays have expressed their desire to stretch him out to start.  With an infectious, positive attitude and a tireless work ethic, I have a feeling that Stroman will make the majors by mid-way through 2014.  Anticipated 2013 Level: A+ Dunedin/AA New Hampshire.

4. Sean Nolin: Age 23, Highest Level: AA New Hampshire.  With a strong showing in Spring Training, he could be jumping up the depth charts and be seen as a guy who can contribute to the ML club this year or next (at least out of the bullpen).  He was wildly successful last year as a starter and, from what I've seen from his scouting reports, has a fairly solid floor of a bullpen guy in the majors with a ceiling as a Ricky Romero-type starter.  Anticipated 2013 Level: AA New Hampshire.

5. D.J. Davis: Age 18, Highest Level: S A Vancouver.  Davis's strong stats through the 2 lowest levels of the Jays organization (GCL and Bluefield) combined with his outstanding tools puts him here.  He's shown great speed, good defense, and even a bit of power in his brief minor league career.  Anticipated 2013 Level: S A Vancouver.

6. Daniel Norris: Age 19, Highest Level: S A Vancouver.  I'm ranking Norrish this high due to the consensus that his stuff is far beyond what he actually did last year.  As mentioned in my discussion of him, his peripherals were far better than the ugly numbers of his ERA, but I'd like to see Norris translate his stuff into better results on the field before I put him into the top 5.  With a strong year in 2013, he could very well jump up much higher next year.  Anticipated 2013 Level: S A Vancouver or piggybacking at Lansing.

7. A.J. Jimenez: Age 22, Highest Level: AA New Hampshire.  I like catchers.  It's the hardest defensive position to play and if you can have a guy with outstanding defense, he'll get consideration from me every day.  Jimenez had a great season in 2011 in Dunedin and had a slow (but not bad) start before needing Tommy John surgery.  If he can show that he can hit again, he's fairly close to the majors (and now on the 40-man roster), which means he could end up backing up (or even usurping) J.P. Arencibia within 2-3 years.

8. John Stilson: Age 22, Highest Level: AA New Hampshire.  Stilson had far better stats at Dunedin than New Hampshire and projects to be a bullpen arm, hurting his ranking on this list. Anticipated 2013 Level: AA New Hampshire.

9. Matthew Smoral: Age 19, Highest Level: Did not play.  Guys rave about him.  They say he could be a starter.  Many scouts have him ranked much higher than 9th.  I'll wait until I see some more out of him.  Anticipated 2013 Level: R+ Bluefield.

10. Santiago Nessy: Age 20, Highest Level: S A Vancouver.  Nessy has continually improved with the bat, showing more power in Bluefield in 2012.  Scouts think that he's got more in the tank to go along with solid defensive skills.  Anticipated 2013 Level: S A Vancouver.

11. Christian Lopes: Age 20, Highest Level: S A Vancouver.  Lopes has been getting a lot of love this off-season and his strong 2012 mostly at Bluefield is responsible for that.  Some say that if he keeps it up, he could be the Jays answer to a lack of 2B in the system.  Anticipated 2013 Level: A Lansing.

12. Adonys Cardona: Age, 19, Highest Level: R GCL Dunedin.  Cardona gets a higher place mainly because scouts love his stuff.  He numbers weren’t all bad, but he really needs to show more in 2013.  Anticipated 2013 Level: R+ Bluefield.

13. Alberto Tirado: Age: 18, Highest Level: R+ Bluefield.  Tirado had a very strong year and has risen up the rankings by many scouts and pundits.  He even held his own in his first appearances in higher level ball in Bluefield.  Anticipated 2013 Level: R+ Bluefield or S A Vancouver.

14. Chase DeJong: Age 19, Highest Level: R GCL Dunedin.  DeJong is this low, mainly because he’s still working through the lowest minor league levels.  If he has the same success this year as he had in his first exposure to pro ball in 2012, he’ll be jumping up the list.  Anticipated 2013 Level: R+ Bluefield or S A Vancouver (I have my money on Vancouver).

15. Deck McGuire: Age 23, Highest Level: AA New Hampshire.  Deck gets credit for his very strong 2011 while losing credit for his crappy 2012.  I’m not quite ready to write him off just yet, and his proximity to the majors helps him get on this list. Anticipated 2013 Level: AA New Hampshire.

16. Daniel (Danny) Barnes: Age 23, Highest level: A+ Dunedin.  Barnes was a dominant closer coming out of the bullpen in Dunedin.  He’ll probably never be higher than 16 on any of my lists because he is already a bullpen arm, meaning if he fails to make the bigs as a reliever, he has nowhere to go.  He makes the list because fellow bullpen arm Griffin Murphy is much lower in the system.  Anticipated 2013 Level: AA New Hampshire.

17. Kevin Pillar: Age 24, Highest Level: A+ Dunedin.  Pillar is a feel good story and deserves to be on this list mainly because he has show the ability to hit at some of the higher minor league levels.  His skills translate well to that of a 4^th outfielder, and if he can make a Major League career as a 4^th outfielder, that’s a pretty good job by the Jays’ player development staff (as well as Pillar).  Anticipated 2013 Level: AA New Hampshire.

18. K.C. Hobson: Age 22, Highest Level: A Lansing.  Hobson’s inclusion in this list comes entirely from his huge year over year improvement between 2011 and 2012.  He almost doubled his extra-base hit totals from the year before (also at Lansing, and with almost exactly the same number of at bats).  To stay on the list, Hobson is going to have to show that he can turn some of the doubles into HRs (tough to do in Dunedin) while continuing his upward trajectory at a higher level.  Anticipated 2013 Level: A+ Dunedin.

19. Javier Avendano: Age 22, Highest Level: A Lansing.  Avendano was dominant last year, whether it was coming out of the bullpen in Lansing, or starting in Vancouver.  He’s a little older and needs to start for the full year this year for the Jays to see what they’re going to have with him.  Anticipated 2013 Level: A Lansing.

20. Anthony Alford: Age 19, Highest Level: R GCL Dunedin.  Alford is ranked this low because of the doubts of whether he’ll even stay with baseball.  If he continues to pursue his football dreams, this crazy athlete with great upside won’t even come close to reaching his potential.  If he makes baseball his primary sport, he could jump up this list quickly.  Anticipated 2013 level: R+ Bluefield. 

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*Age is the player's age on Opening Day.