Jays Prospects Mega-Thread

[Woodman19]

This thread is to keep track of all rookies in the Jays minor league system who are highly rated or doing well at all levels of play. This way we can consolodate all of our players into one thread.

Pulaski Marines: Rookie Ball

Auburn Doubledays: Single A

Lansign Lugnuts: Single A

Dunedin Blue Jays: Single A

New Hampshire: Double AA

Las Vegas 51's: Triple AAA

Blue Jays Top 15 Prospects:
1B/3B: Brett Wallace
SP: Kyle Drabek
C/ J.P. Arencibia
LHP: Brad Mills
LHP: Marc Rzepczynski
RHP: Zach Stewart
1B: David Cooper
LHP: Robert Ray
LF: Eric Thames
RHP: Andrew Liebel
2B: Brad Emaus
3B: Kevin Ahrens
SS: Justin Jackson
P: Chad Jenkins

Graduated:
LF/DH: Travis Snider
LHP: Ricky Romero
LHP: Brett Cecil

[Woodman19]

Brett Wallace


Assets: Great pure hitter, is patient at the plate and hits for average. Very adept student of the game, constantly studying pitchers and own swing for strengths and weakness'

Flaws: Despite being a pure hitter he still lacks that true power stroke which he will undoubtedly develop with time. Defense at 3B was subpar however a switch to 1B will make him a slightly above average 1st Baseman.

Comparisons: Todd Helton, Mark Tiexera

Rating: A

Career Upside: A move to Toronto as well as to 1B will allow Wallace to reach and stay on the major league roster in 2010. Should blossom into one of the games best sluggers. A top 5 hitting prospect in the league today.


Kyle Drabek


Assets: Has a live arm, throws 94-96mph. Has a great Curveball.

Flaws: Still working on a change-up to compliment his Curveball. Had Tommy John surgery early in his career.

Comparisons: Ben Sheets, Chad Billingsley

Rating: A-

Career Upside: Has the potential to be a 1-2 type Pitcher. Must work his change-up to an effective pitch to reach Ace status. Likely a perennial 15 game winner.

[Woodman19]

J.P. Arencibia


Assets: Good Hitter, He has the potential to drive in alot of runs due to his above average power.

Flaws: He is not a defensively sound Catcher, although he has a strong arm. Needs to rebound in 2010 to keep his status as top prospect.

Comparisons: A.J. Pierzynski, Brian McCann

Rating: C+

Career Upside: Has the potential to be a above average catcher with some power.



Brad Mills


Assets: Very smart, very deceptive lefty. He doesnt have overpowering velocity but he has a very good change up and a delivery that hides the ball. Has a degree in Civil Engineering.

Flaws: Control is still an issue, requires more time in the minors to polish his control.

Comparisons: Mike Hampton, Doug Davis

Rating: C

Career Upside: A strong mid to late rotation starter who can eat alot of Innings. Won't win any awards but will be a valuble player to have in the rotation.



Marc Rzepczynski


Assets: Throws strikes, has 4 good pitches and doesnt give up many long shots.

Flaws: Although his control is good, its not yet where it could be. Needs to improve his offspeed stuff.

Comparisons: Andy Pettitte, Joe Saunders

Rating: C+

Career Upside: Solid mid-rotation starter.

[Woodman19]

Zach Stewart


Assets: Has a good slider to go with his good fastball. Lots of sink on his fastball. Throws in the high 90's.

Flaws: Has not fully mastered command. Has a weak change-up.

Comparisons: Roy Halladay, Derek Lowe

Rating: B+

Career Upside: Has the ability to be a top of the rotation starter or a strong set-up/closer



David Cooper


Assets: Has alot of Raw power. Very patient for a young hitter.

Flaws: Strikes out more then you would like. Needs to rebound in 2010 to maintain his top prospect status.

Comparisons: Miguel Cabrera, Travis Hafner

Rating: C-

Career Upside: Strong DH at the heart of the order.



Robert Ray


Assets: Has a very good pitchers' frame, the ability to either start or relieve and a propensity to throw strikes.

Flaws: Is somewhat lacking in the stamina required to become a competent big-league starter. Also lacks a dominant pitch.

Comparisons: Manny Parra, Glen Perkins

Rating: C-

Career Upside: #5 starer or long reliever.

[Woodman19]

Eric Thames


Assets: Has a powerfull swing, Should draw alot of power numbers in his career.

Flaws: Has a weak arm in LF, never going to win a gold glove. Also not ever going to lead a team in steals. A slow Player.

Comparisons: Garry Sheffield.

Rating: C-

Career Upside: Has alot of work to do, but he could be a part of the middle of the lineup when all is said and done. He has the body of a slugger and has the swing of one.


Andrew Liebel


Assets: Has 4 good pitches. Doesnt excell in anything in particular but has no glaring weaknesses either.

Flaws: Has a smaller frame at 5'10''. Also doesnt have overpowering stuff.

Comparisons: Jesse Litsch

Rating: D+

Career Upside: End of the rotation starter or reliever.



Brad Emaus


Assets: Has average power, contact and defense.

Flaws: Only has average power, contact and defense. Still needs alot of work.

Comparisons: Howie Kendrick

Rating: D+

Career Upside: average infielder. Possible bench player.

[Woodman19]

Kevin Ahrens


Assets: Defense is his top priority. an anchor at the hot corner. A patient switch hitter.

Flaws: Probably will never hit .300, tends to swing at alot of pitches. Needs to rebound in 2010 to maintain top prospect status.

Comparisons: Pedro Feliz

Rating: D

Career Upside: Dependable everyday 3B.



Justin Jackson


Assets: Defensive Wizard, has a very strong and accurate arm.

Flaws: Swings far to much. Needs to improve his discipline. Needs to rebound in 2010 to maintain top prospect status.

Comparisons: Elvis Andrus

Rating: D+

Career Upside: Slick fielding SS who could challenge for gold gloves.



Chad Jenkins


Assets: Has a strong body built to log many innings. Uses his legs in his delivery to get his power. Has a fastball that reaches in the mid to upper 90's. Has strong sink on his fastball.

Flaws: Needs to fill out his body properly. Also needs to work on his control.

Comparisons: Derek Lowe

Rating: B+

Career Upside: A top end rotation or staff ace who will log 220 innings+ a year.

[Greg Maddux's Biggest Fan]

Woodman, impressive little list you've got there. Are those prospects listed your Top 15 or the Top 15 as judged by Baseball America?

From the little I've seen of some of these pitchers at the Major League level, I'm hardly wowed by the potential. Hopefully the system will get better after you-know-who is outta here.

[Woodman19]

Woodman, impressive little list you've got there. Are those prospects listed your Top 15 or the Top 15 as judged by Baseball America?

From the little I've seen of some of these pitchers at the Major League level, I'm hardly wowed by the potential. Hopefully the system will get better after you-know-who is outta here.

It's a List I have compiled to personal preference based off of many different scouting services

Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
mlb.com
Sporting News
ESPN

as well as individual scouting reports.


I will try to finish up the player bio's for all 15 I have listed.

If anyone wishes to discuss where they are rated or anything like that, I can definately move players around based on where they are and rise/fall of status. Infact I plan to modify the order as I just listed them off the top of my head

[Greg Maddux's Biggest Fan]

It's a List I have compiled to personal preference based off of many different scouting services

Baseball America
Baseball Prospectus
mlb.com
Sporting News
ESPN

as well as individual scouting reports.


I will try to finish up the player bio's for all 15 I have listed.

If anyone wishes to discuss where they are rated or anything like that, I can definately move players around based on where they are and rise/fall of status. Infact I plan to modify the order as I just listed them off the top of my head

I would weigh-in, but I don't really know about the prospects other from what I've seen. I do frequent BA website often, but ususally non-Jay players are profiled. I've already stated my opinion on Rzepcynski and Mills - not favorable so far (of course this could change with increase in velocity or pitch repetoire etc).

As for Romero, I'm not really sold on him yet, despite the promising rookie year. As you've indicated, he doesn't miss many bats and I don't find his curveball that exciting. Changeup looks about average. If Romero is not on and hitting his spots, he's going to get hit hard. Cecil looks like the best potential out of the pitchers besides Litsch I would say. He's too much of a thrower right now though. To me it looks like he humps on the fastball too much; trying to overthrow too much past hitters. It doesn't look like he trusts his stuff as of yet. Looks like he will develop a plus cutter and changeup. Reminds me of young Andy Pettite.

As for Snider, like the swing & power. He lacked plate discipline earlier this year but if that develops, could be a 30 HR guy. Judging by Arencibia stats in Triple AAA, he's way too much of a free swinger. He needs better pitch selection to be a ML hitter. The rest I don't know about really.

[Woodman19]

And thus concludes my review of the top 15 players


I now open this up for discussing possible changing of the order the addition/subtraction of the system.

[babaganoosh]

I have to say, I'm surprised Ray is so high. I haven't heard anything about him before he was brought up and he did do a decent job, but I didn't think that he'd shoot up the prospect rankings so fast.

1 player I'd like to mention is Brian Jeroloman. He's pretty much never going to make an MLB team as a starter because his bat is pretty bad, but his defence is MLB ready from what I've heard and I think he'd be a great role player coming off the bench for us in the future. Maybe an offense (Arencibia)/defense (Jeroloman) combo?

[Woodman19]

Anybody have any honourable mentions of players we can add to this list?

[Greg Maddux's Biggest Fan]

Anybody have any honourable mentions of players we can add to this list?

I think you pretty much covered it. Ahrens is having a terrible year though

[Woodman19]

I think you pretty much covered it. Ahrens is having a terrible year though

So is Justin Jackson. However Rios struggled at a similar age, so I wont count them out until back to back horrid years. They can still rebound.

[Woodman19]

Arencibia might be turning it around

He has had a few good games at the plate recently

He went 3-4 with a HR the other night and has pushed his average up from .210 to .231

Defensively he has improved even further this year and is described as a "Excellent" defensive catcher.

[Richmond Hill Phoenix]

Woodman, I'd be careful referencing using Alex Rios as that type of a reference haha. Not really a great endorsement for any youngster.

[Woodman19]

Woodman, I'd be careful referencing using Alex Rios as that type of a reference haha. Not really a great endorsement for any youngster.

True, I meant it in that. He still became an "everyday" player in the majors despite a weak year in the minors. I certainly didnt want to imply that he will be as good (or Bad)

[Woodman19]

Just a note.

Arencibia had another great game last night hitting 2 Home Runs and driving in 6 RBI's! For the past week he has been on a tear hitting .379 with 6 Home Runs and 14 RBI's!

It looks to me like he has finally is seeing the ball and is staying back on the bad pitches. He has been looking really good lately people!

[babaganoosh]

Just a note.

Arencibia had another great game last night hitting 2 Home Runs and driving in 6 RBI's! For the past week he has been on a tear hitting .379 with 6 Home Runs and 14 RBI's!

It looks to me like he has finally is seeing the ball and is staying back on the bad pitches. He has been looking really good lately people!

I guess he'll be a September call-up when the AAA season ends along with guys like Accardo.

[Woodman19]

Reporting another great night by JP Arencibia,

3-5 with an RBI.

His average is now at .235

[Greg Maddux's Biggest Fan]

Reporting another great night by JP Arencibia,

3-5 with an RBI.

His average is now at .235

Arencibia needs to hard work on plate discipline to be a successful major league player. He definitely needs more seasoning in the minors.

[Woodman19]

Arencibia needs to hard work on plate discipline to be a successful major league player. He definitely needs more seasoning in the minors.

no argument here. I do notice though over the past month his Strikeouts have drastically reduced, thats a step in the right direction, but likely he will need at least 1 more full season in the minors to improve both his defense and offensive discipline.

[Chris from NY]

Woodman, I'd be careful referencing using Alex Rios as that type of a reference haha. Not really a great endorsement for any youngster.

If only I'd been around to read this thread two weeks sooner. You took the words right outta my mouth. Or the keys right off my er... um.. keyboard.

Nice thread though. Gives us all something to be optimistic about I suppose.

[Big_Mac]

Just read this, great work Woodman. I am not totally up on my Toronto prospects so I was wondering whatever happened to David Purcey? Where does he project in the Jays future, if he does anymore?

[Woodman19]

Just read this, great work Woodman. I am not totally up on my Toronto prospects so I was wondering whatever happened to David Purcey? Where does he project in the Jays future, if he does anymore?

I plan to rework my top 10 in the near future after the influx of top prospects in the past week.