The Prospect/Minor Leagues Thread

[theblujay]

Where are Davis, Tirado and Labourt starting?

 

All 3 in Lansing.

Wow Lansing is stacked!!

[ace3113]

 

[GD]

fapfapfap

[Angrioter]

Andy Fermin is starting the year in New Hampshire, according to the rosters. How aggressive is that? This guy spent all of last season in Vancouver, and has yet to play above Lansing, and they pushed him all the way to AA.

 

Felix Fermin son. He's worst than Gustavo Pierre

[beachbum]

According to battersbox.ca he is injured. I would assume he is just placed on the roster. If he isn't injured he probably won't play much.

 

http://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20140331091544973#comments

[Atothe]

http://gifs.houseofthebluebird.com/wp-content/uploads/Sanchez-2.gif

 

I didn't watch that game but he looks filthy there

[mlbprospects]

he has big league stuff for sure. "king felix" of seattle was in the bigs in his teens! he has the skills so put him there to help us.

[SpeedyGose]

Cardona avoiding bust status would be huge. Seems like he has been around forever but he still on track age/level

[ace3113]

http://yourvancs.com/vancouver-canadians-a-full-season-of-prospects/

 

So what does 2014 hold on the prospect front in Vancouver?

 

The easiest call is shortstop Franklin Barreto since Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos essentially told me that we would see him. Part of the international free agent class of 2012, Barreto was advanced enough to skip the Dominican Summer League in 2013, tearing up the GCL before getting in 15 games with Bluefield when Dawel Lugo was promoted to Vancouver. Given the low game total and fact he struggled in the Appalachian League, I’d assumed that Franklin would begin 2014 in Bluefield.

 

That may not be the case though as the excellent Ben Badler over at Baseball America made an interesting point during his review of the Jays 2013 international signings. The Jays top signing was, like Barreto, a Venezualen shortstop who is considered advanced for his age and has had plenty of international tournament experience. In fact, Badler says that Yeltsin Gudino is “advanced enough that he’s expected to debut in the GCL, with the organization possibly pushing Urena up a level or two to give them both everyday reps at shortstop.” Given fact the Jays want all their young shortstops to see everyday reps then, if that situation were to play out, Barreto lands in Vancouver right from the get go. I’ll take that.

 

The next possible prospect we see on Opening Day is another big ticket ($2.8 million) international signee from Venezuela. Unfortunately, the progression for right-handed pitcher Adonys Cardona has not been as smooth as countryman Barreto. After skipping the DSL and starting in the GCL, Cardona put up reasonable numbers in his first season of pro ball, striking out 9.95 per nine while pitching to a 3.14 FIP. Taken on their own, you could also point to his 2011 BABIP of .326 and 66.4 LOB% and say that he may have been a bit unlucky that year, contributing to a not so great 1.358 WHIP.

 

Arm issues have limited Cardona’s innings the past two years, with the 6’1″ 170 pounder logging 15.2 while repeating the GCL in 2012 and 25.1 in Bluefield last season. That means we still don’t have a very large sample size but if you look at the numbers, the BABIP has risen both years to .342 and (an extremely high) .430 respectively while the LOB% dropped to 61 and 60.1%.

 

Even with the small sample size, you may be able to reasonably conclude that hitters aren’t getting fooled by Cardona, consistently making solid contact off of the Venezualen. The low LOB% could also indicate some struggles out of the stretch.

 

Add in some an ugly 2013 BB/9 of 4.6 and you get a 1.895 WHIP. Adonys still misses bats, putting up a 9.6 K/9 but it’s not hard to see why his prospect shine has lost some of its luster. Respected analyst Keith Law is still high on him though, ranking him 5th in the Jays system so he is definitely a player worth watching and one that needs to be pushed up a level to see what he can do. If Cardona were to start 2014 at the Nat, C’s fans will be treated to the best fastball since Roberto Osuna made his cameo in 2012.

 

Barreto and Cardona are the only two genuine prospects I see starting the year in Vancouver. That doesn’t mean we won’t get our fair share of futures though. As per usual, mid to late season call ups will have us dreaming.

 

There’s not much on the position side. Depending on how the season goes, the Jays may find a spot for Richard Urena at some point. Pitching is where we will be spoiled. I fully expect to see 2013 2nd rounder Clinton Hollon, 6’8″ 220 pound lefty Matt Smoral, hard throwing Jake Brentz, and projectable righty Miguel Castro.

[SpeedyGose]

I suppose that would be a decent rotation for Vancouver...

[Angrioter]

@MattEddyBA

#BlueJays release 2010 third-round LF Chris Hawkins & 2013 minor league Rule 5 pick RHP Scott Shuman.

 

Goodbye Darin Erstad

[GD]

Shame. Hawkins could have been something had they not destroyed his mechanics.

[Angrioter]

Law

• Aaron Sanchez started for New Hampshire and his raw stuff was the best I've seen from him. His fastball was an easy 94-96 mph with explosive late life, with hitters flinching twice, once at how quickly it got in on them (especially right-handers) and again when it seemed to find another gear over the plate (an illusion, but an effective one). Sanchez paired it with a plus curveball, mostly 80-81, very sharp with late bite, breaking down hard, with curveball rotation but the timing of a slider's break. His changeup was between average and fringe-average, 88-91, a little too firm with some arm-side run but not enough action to make it truly effective. I'd worry about a pitch like that playing more like a BP fastball in the majors.

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/post?id=2243

[Atothe]

Law

• Aaron Sanchez started for New Hampshire and his raw stuff was the best I've seen from him. His fastball was an easy 94-96 mph with explosive late life, with hitters flinching twice, once at how quickly it got in on them (especially right-handers) and again when it seemed to find another gear over the plate (an illusion, but an effective one). Sanchez paired it with a plus curveball, mostly 80-81, very sharp with late bite, breaking down hard, with curveball rotation but the timing of a slider's break. His changeup was between average and fringe-average, 88-91, a little too firm with some arm-side run but not enough action to make it truly effective. I'd worry about a pitch like that playing more like a BP fastball in the majors.

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/post?id=2243

 

Is that all he wrote ang? Nothing about his control?

[G-Snarls]

Drabek listed today for the Bisons and it's on milb.tv

[mlbprospects]

Are you referring to Cardona or Sanchez? Both are filthy

i was referring to sanchez. and yes, both have really good stuff. i just looked at the lugnuts outfielders to see how well they are doing early on. the cf 1st rounder davis is hitting .231 (he hit .240 in all of 2013 and .167 in vancouver in 2012 and has a yearly history of striking out far more than he hits). the right fielder, carlos ramirez drafted in 2009, is hitting .154 (career ave around .220). the left fielder, d.loveless, is hitting .111 (hit .226 in 2013 and .165 in 2012 and .059 in 2011). does any blue jay fan believe that any of these players could win a batting title in a highly scouted division 1 college program like kalfus did? i doubt it! kal and other players who have a history of performing (see college stats and vancouver stats) are better players and should have been promoted. this is why the jays are the jays. and this is why we haven't been in the playoffs for over 20 years! wake up blue jays!

[Angrioter]

@CharlieCaskey now

Notes from #BlueJays extended: A few days ago, during intra-squad game, Franklin Barreto went 4 for 4 w/ a HR, 2 triples, and a single #stud

[Atothe]

@CharlieCaskey now

Notes from #BlueJays extended: A few days ago, during intra-squad game, Franklin Barreto went 4 for 4 w/ a HR, 2 triples, and a single #stud

 

Free Barreto!

[jerb]

 

Ben Wagner

‏@benwag247

Tough news from Double-A, after a 5-8 start to the year, catcher AJ Jimenez lands on the disabled list. #BlueJays

[jerb]

 

John Lott Verified account

‏@LottOnBaseball

AJ Jimenez started season at New Hampshire 5-for-8. Placed on DL today (hamstring). #BlueJays

[ElNik2013]

s***, that's bad news on Jimenez, at least it's not the elbow.

[theblujay]

Barreto is awesome. It appears we finally have someone who best tool is his bat

[theblujay]

Nay DSJ Burns Pillar etc

 

Only real possible plus bat is Nay

[bluejaysfan]

Well you were saying "best tool' . Pillars best tool is his bat for sure (he's no burner on the base paths)

 

But point taken, really excited for Barreto this season and all of our other SS prospects. Gudino, Urena, Lugo, Barreto

 

Has anyone seen Kevin Pillar play this season to see it he changed his swing? He looks like he is struggling at the plate but the season is still young.

[mlbprospects]

hi "king" i think pillar is 1 for 21 but like "bluejaysfan" said, it is still early and he was just in the majors last year so we will see how long it takes him to get out of this slump.

[Angrioter]

Pillar = Ricky Romero

[Sammy225]

Pillar = Ricky Romero

 

False.....Pillar could likely throw a strike.

[NacBomb]

I apologize as im a little out of the loop, but whats Osuna up to? Did he have Tommy John or something? Is he coming back this year?

[G-Snarls]

Its fine.

 

He had TJS last June and seems to be healing fast. I think he'll be back for August and then sent to the AFL to get him some.more innings at the end of the year

 

Would be great to see him in Arizona

 

That's a perfect venue for guys 1+ year post TJS

[theblujay]

Kalfus thread was closed? Noooo