Official MiLB/Prospects Thread

[Laika]

BA likes the Blue Jays a lot!

[KingKat]

BA likes the Blue Jays a lot!

 

That relatively close, decent floor, prospects like McGuire and Harold Ramirez don't make the cut for the top 10 is a good sign.

[jays4life19]

Not sure if this was posted but here is the BA top 10

 

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 3b

2. Anthony Alford, of

3. Sean Reid-Foley, rhp

4. Conner Greene, rhp

5. Richard Urena, ss

6. Rowdy Tellez, 1b

7. T.J. Zeuch, rhp

8. Bo Bichette, ss

9. Jon Harris, rhp

10. Justin Maese, rhp

 

Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-toronto-blue-jays-top-10-prospects/#rdUacSIe4TIcooJ8.99

 

Yeah I posted the full article a couple pages back if you're interested.

[Grant77]

(Detroit): A little surprised to not see Bichette higher after his debut. How close was he to passing Zeuch?

 

John Manuel: Very close, but the position questions, plus the fact that I think highly of Zeuch, made me switch those guys at the last minute. Let's face it; Bichette went 66th overall in the draft. If you re-drafted right now he'd probably go 20-30 spots higher, but still behind Zeuch. It's a great sign for the Jays that they have a very legit top 10; I think the system's top half is quite robust, and it's a top 10 farm system for me. The only top 10 guy who didn't have a strong performance year in 2016 is Conner Greene; Alford did well considering his injuries and is tearing up the AFL so far. But all 10 of these guys, for me, are typical top 10 type guys. None of these guys are forced in or require a ton of projection.

 

I'm curious to hear the responses of people (like hurl and most of the forum) who were skeptical when I said this throughout the season. I thought we were ranked too low last season and I liked the progress that a lot of our guys made.

[Mikeleelop]

more props for Alford playing in Arizona. from baseball America

 

 

Contributing: J.J. Cooper, Vince Lara-Cinisomo and Josh Norris.

 

 

1. Anthony Alford, of, Blue Jays

 

image: http://www.baseballamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/3ds_bluejays81.jpg

3ds_bluejays81

Team: Mesa

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .500/.538/1.000 (6-for-12), 4 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0-for-1 SB

 

The Scoop: One of the most tooled-up players in the AFL, Alford has shaken off the rust accumulated during a season marred by injuries. He broke out in 2015 and rocketed to No. 25 on the Top 100 Prospects before the season. He wrenched his knee early and was concussed at midseason, which limited him to just 91 games at high Class A Dunedin. Alford has popped a pair of home runs so far in the AFL and is sporting a .974 OPS at the season’s halfway mark. (JN)

 

Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/arizona-fall-league-hot-sheet-oct-28/#qryeijJO0JaYc2AP.99

[Krylian]

Goodness. Todd is going to take issue with the entire world it would seem.

[L54]

Todd can f*** off. Nice to see all the praise for the Jays system!

[Krylian]

The farm system is very good without Anthony Alford being in it.

I'm talking about in the top 10 maybe the 20th but lets about it.

And as for L54 you just proved my point you don't know s*** about

the blue jays. And my kids know more about the blue jays then

you will ever know. You douchebag. And find a real girlfriend

not your hands.

 

This deserves a ban.

[glory]

Damn is the farm really as good as Baseball America seems to think (or at least John Manuel)? It would be great if it is since this regime will actually hold onto them rather than trade them but top 10 seems pretty aggressive/bullish.

[Grant77]

Damn is the farm really as good as Baseball America seems to think (or at least John Manuel)? It would be great if it is since this regime will actually hold onto them rather than trade them but top 10 seems pretty aggressive/bullish.

 

Farm system rankings are an awfully fickle thing. One guy can see Tellez, Vlad Jr. and Bichette as future impact bats. Those opinions are perfectly reasonable and you'd rank the system accordingly (easily top 10). You could also see Tellez as a platoon bat and Bichette as a fluke, which is also reasonable and would put us in the 11-15 range. We have far too much depth to be ranked any lower than that.

 

The old regime was a drafting powerhouse and had no trouble getting highly rated prospects even after gutting the system, but didn't hold on to some of the better ones and sometimes the position players seemed unprepared.

 

Hopefully the new regime can keep those strengths and address some of the weaknesses. Their first draft looks reasonably good so far.

[John_Havok]

Farm system rankings are an awfully fickle thing. One guy can see Tellez, Vlad Jr. and Bichette as future impact bats. Those opinions are perfectly reasonable and you'd rank the system accordingly (easily top 10). You could also see Tellez as a platoon bat and Bichette as a fluke, which is also reasonable and would put us in the 11-15 range. We have far too much depth to be ranked any lower than that.

 

The old regime was a drafting powerhouse and had no trouble getting highly rated prospects even after gutting the system, but didn't hold on to some of the better ones and sometimes the position players seemed unprepared.

 

Hopefully the new regime can keep those strengths and address some of the weaknesses. Their first draft looks reasonably good so far.

 

Not sure I can remember the last time that the majority of their top-end propects were bats either

[Grant77]

Not sure I can remember the last time that the majority of their top-end propects were bats either

 

That's a big plus considering our biggest strength at the major league level is pitching.

[Spanky__99]

From... 2080

 

http://2080baseball.com/2016/10/what-does-it-take-to-be-a-scout-in-todays-game/

 

 

Scouting amateur and professional baseball players can be defined in many ways. As the game at the major league level revolutionizes into an analytically driven evaluation process, the core of scouting remains mostly the same.

 

There are six principles that can be identified when we describe what scouting is and what it takes to be a scout. They are as follows.

 

Judgment, or evaluation, is easily the main adjective we all associate with scouting. It is the crux from which all decisions about players are made but the other elements of how we arrive at our final judgment are equally as important.

 

The best scouts, or those who separate themselves, are the ones who make the most consistently correct judgments or evaluations. Most all seasoned scouts know what to look for but yet, two scouts can watch the same player at the same time and have decidedly different evaluations.

 

Judgment is in your gut. You must have a feel for what a player is. Scouting is information. You must have all the necessary and proper information to have a chance at the right evaluation. How you arrive at and use the information at your disposable is usually the difference between getting it right or missing on a player.

 

Scouting is a significantly complex, sometimes unquantifiable business. The industry has made every attempt to drive scouting decisions based on data and analytics, but in its purest form, scouting still comes down to what the eyes tell the brain.

 

As a scout, it is your job to find players, evaluate them and ultimately make recommendations for procurement. You are the decision maker. You are your own boss in a sense and your job is to find future major leaguers.

 

To be a scout, one has to understand what that means and represents. You are a role model and ambassador for the game. As a professional baseball scout, you are the most visible member of the professional baseball family for your organization. Amateur players and their families many times will only ever meet you during the draft and signing process. And, most likely you are the only connection they will have to your club. Your professionalism should take the form of: a) being a role model, setting a good example by following a proper dress code, and d) being a goodwill ambassador for professional baseball.

 

Represent yourself and your organization to the highest of standards. Believe it or not, when a high school prospect is choosing between signing or going to college, the smallest of encounters can sway his decision one way or another. Remember, a Mom is sending her 17-to-18 year old son out to the real world for the first time. She usually has the greatest say in his decision. Make her feel like her son will be in great hands and that she can feel safe as he embarks on his professional career.

 

When you’re at the yard watching and scouting a game, you are very visible. Those around you know who you are and what you represent. Be a goodwill ambassador for the game. Exude a respect for the game for others to see. Represent yourself and the game. This can be simply in how you dress and present yourself. Your attire says a lot about how people will perceive you. For most, you are the only representative of MLB that they will ever meet or be in close vicinity to.

You must have discipline to be a good scout. Most of the time, you will spend a full day’s work of scouting only to see what you are looking for once or twice. For example, if you are sitting on a hitting prospect at a high school baseball game, you may only see that hitter take one or two swings. This is where your discipline and patience is extremely important. Not all scouts can stay focused 100% of the time when faced with multiple distractions surrounding themselves at a ballpark. You don’t get to hit the rewind button and you never know what you’re going to see or when you’re going to see it. This is why you must maintain discipline and always be watching.

 

At a typical nine inning game, you are generally only going to see about 20 minutes of live action. In other words, how much time the ball is actually in play. A game will usually take two to three hours, which means almost 90% of your day is spent waiting. A good scout is always scouting though. He/she is constantly watching even when the ball is not in play. The good scouts will tell you that many times, they identify what they really want to see when others think there is nothing going on.

 

The game of baseball is obviously very cerebral and takes on many cognitive forms throughout. When the ball is dead, if we train ourselves to be disciplined and hunt for clues we will find that our evaluations will begin to shape separators.

 

Most players you will see are all the same. Their tool chest and skill set are all very similar. There are only a very small percentage of players who have all “five tools” and have the gifted abilities and upside to out perform others on tools alone. So, if most all players are the same, then that means we have to find separators in order to determine who projects as a future big league player.

 

This is where the discipline of a scout becomes vastly important. He/she must be perpetually looking for signs that one player can outperform another.

 

What is the player’s character and makeup? Is he motivated? Does he look like he is prepared? Does the player demonstrate superior aptitude? Does the player make in-game adjustments? These are all important factors that will usually help you separate one player from the next.

 

Scouting is information. And, in this game information is currency. Scouting can be confused with sticking a radar gun on a pitcher or clocking a run time to first base. Those are the easy parts to scouting, if there is such a thing. A good scout is in constant recon mode and searching for and gathering as much information as possible on a player.

 

It’s true that we want to try and quantify as much as possible to help us make a decision. Today’s game has pivoted more towards analytics and we are able to decipher a lot about a player before even going to the yard to see him or by just letting the technical data from a workout or game inform us of what he is.

 

Yet, the game is still, and always will be human. We can never forget that. The constant ebb and flow of a player’s growth and maturation coupled with his environment and circumstances are all factors that can’t be quantified and probably never will be. Or, never should be. We must not lose sight of the circumstances or the elements for which are presented to us during an evaluation.

 

What this means is that in the world of scouting, no two days are alike. We must recognize our setting and allow for that to influence our judgments. Don’t get robotic in your interpretations of what you see. A player’s execution or performance, or lack thereof, always carries a story with it. Don’t lose sight of the story that the player is telling you while you are watching him. His exit velocity, spin rate, pop time or launch angle are all chapters for which to study. Ask the why, hypothesize and conduct the experiment to find the right conclusions on a player.

 

Ultimately, with a postseason matchup like Madison Bumgarner vs. Noah Syndergaard, if we remove their names and throw their data analytics and technical tools into a box and open it, we would find that Syndergaard should be the better performer. This is what scouting is. Being able to know, or reach as close as you are able to knowing as to why Bumgarner will be who he is. It’s not just experience in the postseason either. Bumgarner was once a 20-year old dominant postseason force, so his “experience” doesn’t explain why he won and Syndergaard lost. It goes much deeper than that and that is what your job is as a scout. Find the unexplainable. Find the unknowns.

 

Communication and conviction can sometimes go hand in hand. Communication is also part of information and recon. How you gather your intel is sometimes a direct result of your ability to communicate. A scout who doesn’t ask questions or seek out help or information from others is doomed to fail.

 

It has been said before that you can’t be wrong in your evaluation of a player. What you see is what you see. If you do everything right and do your proper diligence, you can only grade and judge a player based on what you know and saw. Thus, have conviction in your assessment. Don’t let someone talk you out of what you saw. A good scout will challenge you and test you to change your mind or back off of a player. A smart scouting director won’t draft a player if his scouts don’t have conviction in their players.

 

Properly identify a baseball prospect through the process of articulating the proper words and descriptive information that best describes all aspects of a player’s strength and weaknesses. A good report is one that makes the reader feel like he was at the game and can compare him to someone currently in the big leagues. If you’ve done all of that, you’ve done your job. Now, the rest is up to the player.

[TheHurl]

I'm curious to hear the responses of people (like hurl and most of the forum) who were skeptical when I said this throughout the season. I thought we were ranked too low last season and I liked the progress that a lot of our guys made.

 

I still think it's a bottom half farm (probably really close to 15 though). My record > John Manual. BA has to rank to support their Draft rankings still, dropping guys would be admitting defeat (I understand this as I struggle to let go too). This system is still as good as Vlad and if they can get any relievers out of the pitchers. Alford is the player that I loved for years...and always failed me ( Mason Williams, Marisnick, Gary Brown, Brian Goodwin, Billy Hamilton, Albert Almora) the athletic freaks that have so much promise if they can just have a healthy season, or just make an adjustment. At this point I'm not full Todd on Alford but I certainly hope that he's got some massive defensive value.

[Grant77]

Looks like I might be getting some back up on

Anthony Alford. Slowly but surely people are

starting to see my side on this guy

 

I respected your opinion until you put Alford back in your top 100.

[jays4life19]

Our very own Alford tops BA's AFL hot sheet: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/arizona-fall-league-hot-sheet-oct-28/#jtjr7WDMfeTfU7fX.97

 

 

1. Anthony Alford, of, Blue Jays

 

image: http://www.baseballamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/3ds_bluejays81.jpg

3ds_bluejays81

Team: Mesa

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .500/.538/1.000 (6-for-12), 4 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBIs, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0-for-1 SB

 

The Scoop: One of the most tooled-up players in the AFL, Alford has shaken off the rust accumulated during a season marred by injuries. He broke out in 2015 and rocketed to No. 25 on the Top 100 Prospects before the season. He wrenched his knee early and was concussed at midseason, which limited him to just 91 games at high Class A Dunedin. Alford has popped a pair of home runs so far in the AFL and is sporting a .974 OPS at the season’s halfway mark. (JN)

[jays4life19]

Agree.

[mikebel111]

I really hope we get more Alford types of prospect. Good players who have star potential. Put up good numbers and have a major tools factor. Star written all over them

Management needs to try and find another prospect like that. They are tough to find but if they do, its an amazing feeling. Another player would help and would be a #1 prospect. Looks like the baseball experts and scouts agree Alford is a great prospect!

[King]

I really hope we get more Alford types of prospect. Good players who have star potential. Put up good numbers and have a major tools factor. Star written all over them

Management needs to try and find another prospect like that. They are tough to find but if they do, its an amazing feeling. Another player would help and would be a #1 prospect. Looks like the baseball experts and scouts agree Alford is a great prospect!

 

The Anti Todd? Mike?

[mikebel111]

The Anti Todd? Mike?

 

My post was a bit homerism. However I am just trying to even up the Todd bashing of Alford!

[John_Havok]

Actually I put him they to make people happy.

This will be his year number 5 for this guy. He should be

producing alot better then what he is.

He's a major bust. He's Dalton Pompey all over again.

Which in my eyes and others is terrible.

You all can say what you want but this team needs

more prospects and lots of them. Better then what he is

and more minor league teams. Some mlb team have 9 to 12 minor

league teams to produce more top end players.

Having 30 to 40 players on a team is not a way to development

more players

For and example the blue jays signed 35 international free agents

even with a cap on a player. So one of the teams the jays should

bring back is dsl blue jays number 2. And add a second gcl team.

Divide them up better more playing time for each player.

Agree or Disagree

 

At the risk of sounding Grant-esque, you're ignoring the context of Alford's situation. While it's technically true that Alford will have completed 5 years in the minor leagues after 2016, he's only had about 1.5 seasons worth of plate appearances over that 5 years - mainly due to playing football in the first 3 years. Taking that into account it's actually even more impressive that he's advanced as far as he has

 

Since giving up football, he's had pretty much his entire 1.5 years of plate appearances in the past 2 seasons, with the missing time only due to s***** injury luck.

 

If you told me that a guy with only 900ish plate appearances in the minors would be dominating in the Arizona fall league during his age 21 season...i'll take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

Judging him the same as a true 5 year minor leaguer is willfully ignorant

[Krylian]

At the risk of sounding Grant-esque, you're ignoring the context of Alford's situation. While it's technically true that Alford will have completed 5 years in the minor leagues after 2016, he's only had about 1.5 seasons worth of plate appearances over that 5 years - mainly due to playing football in the first 3 years. Taking that into account it's actually even more impressive that he's advanced as far as he has

 

Since giving up football, he's had pretty much his entire 1.5 years of plate appearances in the past 2 seasons, with the missing time only due to s***** injury luck.

 

If you told me that a guy with only 900ish plate appearances in the minors would be dominating in the Arizona fall league during his age 21 season...i'll take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

Judging him the same as a true 5 year minor leaguer is willfully ignorant

 

This is Todd you're talking about. Logic won't work here.

[Krylian]

excusses...............he gave up football the year

the blue jays drafted and signed him. Only have a short period to sign

players. NEXT B.S

You are only talking about half of what I wrote.

I'm more interested in having more developed prospects.

He's falling into Dalton Pompey area. Good but not good enough

to play in the majors.

NOT ENOUGH PLAYING TIME.

To many players on teams.

 

He didn't give up football the year the jays signed him. That's the point.

 

He was drafted in 2012 and didn't give up football until the end if the 2014 baseball season... Meaning his first year focusing only on baseball was 2015.

 

Next time you want to tell everyone how awesome you are, do your research first.

[KevinGregg]

He didn't give up football the year the jays signed him. That's the point.

 

He was drafted in 2012 and didn't give up football until the end if the 2014 baseball season... Meaning his first year focusing only on baseball was 2015.

 

Next time you want to tell everyone how awesome you are, do your research first.

 

You would think someone who spends as much time hating a top prospect as Todd would at least know this fundamental point about his story before forming such a strong opinion

[Spanky__99]

You would think someone who spends as much time hating a top prospect as Todd would at least know this fundamental point about his story before forming such a strong opinion

 

Trolling, bro... he had to ask how comp picks work. I wish people stopped quoting him.

[Grant77]

At the risk of sounding Grant-esque, you're ignoring the context of Alford's situation. While it's technically true that Alford will have completed 5 years in the minor leagues after 2016, he's only had about 1.5 seasons worth of plate appearances over that 5 years - mainly due to playing football in the first 3 years. Taking that into account it's actually even more impressive that he's advanced as far as he has

 

Since giving up football, he's had pretty much his entire 1.5 years of plate appearances in the past 2 seasons, with the missing time only due to s***** injury luck.

 

If you told me that a guy with only 900ish plate appearances in the minors would be dominating in the Arizona fall league during his age 21 season...i'll take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

Judging him the same as a true 5 year minor leaguer is willfully ignorant

 

If calling people out for ignorant comments is synonymous with my name then I'm cool with that.

 

You explain the Alford situation very well. It's hard to believe he only has 900 at-bats. He's advanced a long way in a short time.

[Atothe]

Todd is clearly someone's alt account. At first I thought it was King's but I'm not sure who it is now

[King]

Todd is clearly someone's alt account. At first I thought it was King's but I'm not sure who it is now

 

For the last time i am NOT king

and king is not me.

*******s like atothe are

just mad because we know more

about the blue jays than you do

[Spanky__99]

For the last time i am NOT king

and king is not me.

*******s like atothe are

just mad because we know more

about the blue jays than you do

 

lol

[L54]

For the last time i am NOT king

and king is not me.

*******s like atothe are

just mad because we know more

about the blue jays than you do

 

King caught not logging out of his todd account? Quoted for evidence. Wow!