The Prospect/Minor Leagues Thread

[Spanky99]

Great atmosphere and one of the nicest parks around. I got to play there as a 15 year old with Team Sask. Good memories there!

 

Wouldn't he just play Indy ball in the states?

[King]

Wouldn't he just play Indy ball in the states?

 

He could play anywhere, lots of indy ball teams.

[Spanky99]

He could play anywhere, lots of indy ball teams.

 

That's what I'm saying meat, S'up?

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

Going to " Winterpeg" Kal livin the Dream !

[flafson]

Is that the same Kalfus that had a huge thread? The switch hitter right fielder of the future? The guy that suppose to replace Bautista?

[flafson]

So was the old thread a complete joke or did so many people just missed on him?

[TheHurl]

So was the old thread a complete joke or did so many people just missed on him?

 

May have started as a joke for some. But there were plenty that saw "broke the college hit streak record", and thought we had a huge late draft winner like Pillar. However, when some rained some reality on their parade more and more wished him to be successful that they began to speak like it was fact.

[L54]

Wouldn't he just play Indy ball in the states?

 

Meh, sometimes guys don't have a choice. It's either play where you're wanted, or hang them up.

[flafson]

I always wonder why we don't give more of a chance, it's not like he did anything wrong, why not test him in a higher level?

Feels odd that players are sometimes being judged on things unrelated to baseball.

[TheHurl]

I always wonder why we don't give more of a chance, it's not like he did anything wrong, why not test him in a higher level?

Feels odd that players are sometimes being judged on things unrelated to baseball.

 

Sometimes we release players because it's best for them. Give them a chance to get somewhere where they can get full time AB's. Honestly I wouldn't have figured the Jays Minor League affiliates were so stacked with OF'ers that they couldn't get him AB's but I'm not 100% sure of their plans.

 

I'm going to get the Baycats manager to give Kalfus a call. Would be the closest he gets to playing baseball in Toronto

[L54]

Indy ball teams have contacted him, presumably with real interest. Seems like he'll definitely play somewhere this summer.

 

 

I'm sure he will. King just thought it would be cool if he ended up with the Goldeyes. I know guys who have bounced around Indy ball, playing wherever they can really, just because they don't want to hang them up yet. Canada or not.

[KingKat]

I'm sure he will. King just thought it would be cool if he ended up with the Goldeyes. I know guys who have bounced around Indy ball, playing wherever they can really, just because they don't want to hang them up yet. Canada or not.

 

He's still young. Might as well live the baseball life while he still can. It's not glamourous but if he gets along with his teammates then it's probably worth it for the memories and the friendships. I'm assuming he's not married and doesn't have any kids. He'll have to start thinking more long term when that happens but in the interim might as well do something cool. You only get to be young once.

[King]

Kyle Anderson, who used to be in the Jays org. almost strictly with Vancouver signed with the Goldeyes last offseason, so that was pretty cool. He only made about 4 or 5 starts and then got signed by the Diamondbacks. I saw one of them, dat 85 MPH fastball.

 

Looks like he signed here again after getting released by the Diamondbacks in September.

[L54]

He's still young. Might as well live the baseball life while he still can. It's not glamourous but if he gets along with his teammates then it's probably worth it for the memories and the friendships. I'm assuming he's not married and doesn't have any kids. He'll have to start thinking more long term when that happens but in the interim might as well do something cool. You only get to be young once.

 

Completely agree. I have a couple friends who are 25+ who are still playing Indy ball. Living the dream really, they're doing what many of us only dream of doing. If I was in the situation where I was single without any commitments I'd ride that bitch out as long as I could.

[L54]

Kyle Anderson, who used to be in the Jays org. almost strictly with Vancouver signed with the Goldeyes last offseason, so that was pretty cool. He only made about 4 or 5 starts and then got signed by the Diamondbacks. I saw one of them, dat 85 MPH fastball.

 

Looks like he signed here again after getting released by the Diamondbacks in September.

 

Is there still the huge beer bottle in right field? Maybe my memory is faded, but I remember something beer related behind right field that a bunch of us 18 year olds thought was the coolest thing haha.

[King]

Is there still the huge beer bottle in right field? Maybe my memory is faded, but I remember something beer related behind right field that a bunch of us 18 year olds thought was the coolest thing haha.

 

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/62063556.jpg

[Sammy225]

Is there still the huge beer bottle in right field? Maybe my memory is faded, but I remember something beer related behind right field that a bunch of us 18 year olds thought was the coolest thing haha.

 

I remember a beer bottle and i think now you can see the big money sink hole museum this city built lol.

[Sammy225]

That whole right field corner is dedicated to the alcoholics of winnipeg.

[King]

Don't remember a beer bottle but i think now you can see the big money sink hole museum this city built lol.

 

http://i.imgur.com/oQrZMIZ.jpg

[Sammy225]

http://i.imgur.com/oQrZMIZ.jpg

 

Thought i fixed it before you noticed lol meant to say i remember the beer bottle sorry.

[L54]

Definitely not what I remember. Must've been Coors Light night or something.

[King]

Goldeyes traded Reggie Abercrombie (OF) today... Maybe clearing a spot for King Kal?

 

http://goldeyes.com/abercrombie-dealt-to-sussex-county/

 

lol

[TwistedLogic]

[Angrioter]

No need to scout Vladdy. The Jays have him locked up already.

 

Some Dominican called Angrioter first to reported.

[TwistedLogic]

[King]

 

PG Game Report too

 

http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=10880

[King]

Jays signed a random dude (literally) from BC named John Stephens

 

Toronto Blue Jays

Signed: RHP Tiago Da Silva (Carmen (Mexican)), LHP Luis Perez, SS Ramon Santiago, OF John Stephens (NDFA—Marriott HS, Surrey, B.C.)

Traded: LHP Tyler Ybarra to Rockies for LHP Jayson Aquino

A 29-year-old native of Brazil, Tiago Da Silva played in the Italian Baseball League from 2008 through 2013, only latching on in the Mexican League last year. He had a huge year with Carmen, though, winning ML reliever of the year honors after ranking second with 29 saves and finishing among the league’s elite bullpen arms with 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings, 1.2 walks per nine and a .197 opponent average. Da Silva doubled up on that dominating performance by leading the Venezuelan League in both strikeout (11.1) and walk (0.9) rates with Caracas. A 37-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio will get you noticed.

Strictly speaking, 21-year-old British Columbia outfielder John Stephens isn’t a nondrafted free agent out of high school. We just don’t know exactly what he’s been up to since then, but he apparently has “very little baseball experience.” At some point, Stephens appeared on a roster in the B.C. Premier Baseball League.

 

Alexis Brudnicki

‏

@

baseballexis

#BlueJays add another Canuck to list of off-season acquisitions, signing 21-year-old John Stephens from Surrey, BC to minor-league contract.

 

Alexis Brudnicki ‏@baseballexis Feb 6

John Stephens is a 6'1", 195 outfielder with very little baseball experience, called a "diamond in the rough" by signing scout Mel Didier.

 

Alexis Brudnicki ‏@baseballexis Feb 6

@Minor_Leaguer Same guy, still an outfielder. Hasn't played much, however. Story coming to @CDNbaseball!

[King]

http://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/articles/didier-signs-bcs-stephens-jays-contract/

 

John Stephens is a diamond in the rough.

That was the description longtime scouting legend and Toronto Blue Jays senior advisor and pro scout Mel Didier got from his son Bob Didier about the 21-year-old outfielder. Stephens didn’t come with much baseball experience, but he had a quick bat with some pop and Bob felt he was worth taking a look at.

After taking in a few of his workouts, and bringing Toronto scout Bob Fontaine in for a second opinion, the elder Didier and the Blue Jays signed the native of Surrey, BC to a minor-league contract, making it official on Sunday.

“He can swing the bat,” Didier said. “He’s got great bat speed and the ball jumps off his bat real good; better than most kids. Having not played a lot, we took one of our ex-professional pitchers and we threw him against [stephens] and he held his own.”

Stephens played during his high school days at Earl Marriott High School in Surrey, but he left early to help take care of his mother who

http://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/stephens-pic.jpg

 

had fallen ill. When he did complete his secondary schooling, he moved on to a community college before once again leaving to assist his mother, who has since recovered.

Between then and now, his baseball resume appears to draw a blank, searches only resulting in his British Columbia Premier Baseball League player page with statistics from 11 games with the Vancouver Cannons almost four years ago.

But Stephens is playing now, and he first met Bob Didier when the former big-league catcher made a trip up north last summer to work with a group of local players in Vancouver. Bob is currently running baseball schools and passing on his knowledge of the game to the next generation, and his trip up north was to do just that.

A group of those same players ventured out to Phoenix, Az., for continued instruction in the fall, just before American Thanksgiving in November. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound righty was one of them, and he made enough of an impression on the former backstop that Bob made his first call to his father.

“He worked out with Bob and about the third day he had worked outside Bob calls me and he said, ‘You ought to come by and see this guy,’” Didier said. “’He can really swing the bat.’ He said, ‘He hasn’t played much baseball. He’s sort of a diamond in the rough.’ That’s what he called him…

“He had not played baseball because his mother was very ill and he left high school before his senior year, when he was about 17 years of age. He took care of her, quit school and all of that…He hasn’t played a lot of baseball. He’s very inexperienced but he does have an outstanding bat.”

In Mel Didier’s initial look, he was impressed. It wasn’t enough to keep him from walking away that afternoon in the fall, but it was enough to make him think twice about Stephens.

“I went out and I looked at him playing and I watched him, and then the Canadian kids went home,” Didier said. “And I got to thinking about it. I’ve signed a thousand [plus] guys…and I was walking away from a guy who can really swing the bat. The most difficult thing to do in the game is to find good hitters. I thought this guy has a chance.”

Bob informed his father that Stephens was going to be back in the Grand Canyon State after Christmas for five or six days, so if he wanted to take another look, he could. Mel did just that, and brought local scout Fontaine with him this time.

“Lo and behold, he was exactly what I thought of him,” Didier said. “He can really swing the bat. Now, this was batting practice…[but] he has a really quick bat. He’s like a young boy coming out of high school because of his lack of playing experience; playing time. So I looked at him again and I got one of our other scouts, Bob Fontaine, who lives here, to come over and watch him.

“He said, ‘We ought to sign him.’ We have nothing to lose – he’s a Canadian kid, he looks like he’s got a good attitude, he’s got good size, he swings the bat really well – so we’ll bring him to spring training, let him stay with the young kids and just play games every day…and then we’ll decide where he goes and what he’ll do. But we’re going to try to let him get game experience and that’s the biggest thing.”

Stephens will get an early start at spring training, reporting to Toronto’s mini-camp beginning on Feb. 26. Usually reserved for more high-level prospects, the outfielder’s appearance at the camp is just to get him more time on the diamond heading into spring training and then extended spring training.

“He’s going to the mini-camp as a favour to me because I want to try to give him as much experience [as possible],” Didier said. “I want to give him the experience of being there with the guys we have, learning something about the game, what it’s all about, the meetings you hold, the talk about the game itself, the actual coaching and techniques; all of that.”

The veteran scout is looking forward to seeing what his latest sign will be able to do, and how much progression he can make over a full season of baseball. And then, who knows?

“I like his attitude; I like his hitting ability,” Didier said. “But of course, a lot will depend on how much he can absorb from spring training through next August, and that’s why we signed him…

“We hope that John makes it. It’d be a storybook kind of thing.”

 

 

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lol

[GD]

next Jose Bautista

[jays4life19]

He looks like he's 12 years old. He's kinda like what i picture GD looks like in real life but without thick glasses.