John_Havok

I used to be a radio DJ, produced commercials, wrote them... voiced them... so as long as I can find the software, I can do it no problem.

No, usually he comes across as a completely stupid AND illiterate 10 year old.

From BA's most recent Hot Sheet chat: Gregg (513): Vlad Jr - is it too early to call him a generational talent ? J.J. Cooper: He's special. He's an awesome prospect. It depends on your definition of "generational talent." Mike Trout is one of the greatest players in baseball history and he was a prospect during this decade. They are of the same generation, so from that aspect, it's hard to say he's a "once in a generation" type player. And as much as I love Guerrero as a prospect, he'll play in the big leagues at the same time as Miguel Cabrera, so there's some generational overlap there too. But I could also say he's as advanced a 19-year-old hitter as we've seen in this generation, so I could make the argument that such a qualifier makes him a generational talent. psw (long beach, ca.): How long do you think Vlad jr. will stay at double a J.J. Cooper: The argument for keeping him in Double-A is to let him continue to work on his glove. As a hitter, Double-A isn't challenging enough. Triple-A probably wouldn't be either. And I think MLB pitching would be challenging but not too much for him right now. I do think he'd struggle if you had him face the NL All-Star pitching staff right now. Andrew (Alberta (Canada)): With Kevin Smith's hot start to the season, has he surpassed Warmoth on the Jays depth chart? Or is it too early for that? Thanks J.J. Cooper: That's a fascinating question. He hasn't surpassed him on the depth chart yet as the reason he's overmatching LoA pitchers is because Warmoth is in HiA blocking that spot. As good as Smith's year is, and it's been outstanding, he should be too good for that league. But his success is likely to get the Blue Jays thinking about working some sort of job-sharing arrangement in Dunedin before too long, maybe play both at 2B a little too and some DH. Warmoth isn't ready for Double-A (and Bo Bichette is there), but Smith is more than ready for HiA. AA (FL): Any concern about Bo Bichette's lack of power? Seems to be going through a slow stretch recently, but hasn't hit a HR all year. Any changes to his approach or just small sample size? Thanks! J.J. Cooper: He's been going through a slow stretch, but he's a 20 year old in Double-A adjusting to a new level. I'm not worried.

article with video from last night's Fisher Cats win: https://www.milb.com/milb/news/toronto-blue-jays-prospect-jordan-romano-deals-vladimir-guerrero-jr-rakes-to-lead-new-hampshire-fisher-cats/c-276971758

Players of the Day: Vlad Jr, Jordan Romano, Honourable Mentions: Norberto Obeso, Yeltsin Gudino, Brock Lundquist, Kevin Smith, Joshua Palacios, Cavan Biggio, Jonathan Davis, Andrew Guillotte, Rowdy Tellez

Blue Jays prospect Bo Bichette has changed representation, hiring CAA Baseball, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). The 20-year-old was a second-round pick in the 2016 draft. Bichette vaulted up prospect rankings boards after a big showing in two A-ball leagues in 2017. He opened the current season at Double-A, where he carries a .279/.353/.421 slash with one home run and nine steals. Though he is not quite as celebrated as teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is also the son of a long-time big leaguer, Bichette entered the year as a consensus top-20 prospect leaguewide. There’s some question whether Bichette will stick at shortstop, he carries the promise of delivering some defensive value along with an intriguing bat. As always, you can find up-to-date MLB representation information at MLBTR’s Agency Database.

Bork: Is Cavan Biggio legit? 12:10 Kiley McDaniel: Talked to a guy that saw him recently and he thinks he’s a solid piece, but it’s fringy at 2B, more corner utility fit and is lifting the ball now so there’s more offensive upside but hard to see as everyday. I can already feel Jays fans being mad that I’m saying this but hey you found a real prospect outside the top few rounds so feel good Mike: How much longer realistically can the Jay’s keep Vlad Jr. In the minors and do you think they skip him over AAA. Also any concerns about Bo Bichette’s evaporation of slugging at A+ and now AA+, has his bat wrap been exploited by better pitching. 12:12 Kiley McDaniel: From what I can gather, the Jays (and everyone with eyes) can see there isn’t much to gain from staying in AAA, but they want to motivate him to try harder at 3B, where he can be something approaching average in the short term, but he’s never really seemed to care that much about defense, for some obvious reasons. This is why we projected him to 1B just because this doesn’t feel like the longterm home even if he could choose to be serviceable there with more focus and keeping the body where it is. 12:13 Kiley McDaniel: Also, I mentioned this last week, but we’ll be updating his present hit/power grades now, since I’m not sure anyone thought he’d be doing this well right now in a first look at Double-A with not exactly warm weather. And I confirmed that he’s hit three balls 117 mph this year so that’s pretty good. Desperate, Confused Marlins Fan: Why wont the Blue Jays free Danny Jansen? 1:12 Kiley McDaniel: #freedannyjansen

I don't think it's really fair to project someone to be Ted Williams though....

Okay, so ... let's dissect that a bit. Donaldson will still have more trade value unless he's season ending injured at the time. But I think what you're really saying is it will be easier to move Happ for a valuable return than it will be to move Donaldson. Close?

I think it's the bat to ball skills that will keep his obp down. I think Vlad has a lot more strike zone aggression and will put way more balls in play than Votto, which will keep his OBP down (and by down I mean... something like .380ish). I don't envision Vlad walking upwards of 16% of the time long term.

Not sure if serious....

Actually... Votto seems like he'd be a pretty close comp to Vlad's ceiling... maybe more pop and less obp...

Or have Warmoth and Smith play SS/2b at Dunedin. No need to skip over a level for Smith

"In his apology, Votto said being asked about baseball in Canada, the Blue Jays and the Paxton no-hitter recalled his resentment for not making Team Canada or being drafted by the Blue Jays out of high school and not being picked for the Olympic team while in the minors." That statement would seem to indicate he cares a great deal about being a Canadian baseball player, and was pretty upset that he didn't get chance to rep Canada or play for the Jays when he was younger. Obviously those feelings lingered and his initial statement about not caring at all was born of that frustration. Much like Brett Hull when he was passed over for even trying out for the World Championships for Canada in 1986, but was still eligible to play for the US and did, then always played for the US in future tournaments because he felt he owed it to them for giving him that chance.

Players of the Day: Chavez Young, Samad Taylor, Christian Williams, Bradley Jones, Logan Warmoth, Cavan Biggio Honourable Mentions: Kevin Vicuna, Yeltsin Gudino, Jonathan Davis, Bo Bichette, Conor Panas, Juan Kelly,

Ardent Zwelling puts a decent article together here with video from Vlad's game last night, including the good, bad and ugly. Also has video on Bichette and Biggio https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/fisher-cats-takeaways-guerrero-jr-gives-full-vlad-experience/sn-amp/

The difference being.... Osuna had only 129 innings of injury filled minor league ball under his belt over 4 seasosn, including a TJ surgery, so his decision was probably largely based on health rather than a lack of belief in his stuff. His numbers when he pitched as a starter were always pretty good. There's 0 reason to think Pearson needs to be relegated to a pen arm after 21 innings and a freak line drive injury

I think listening to anything Blair and Barker say about prospect development is about as smart as jumping into a swimming pool filled with double edged razor blades.

Seems like a perfect opportunity for Bauer to weigh on Verlander's increased spin.

I can't speak for Hurl, but anything under 90% would absolutely shock me. And I mean the full range of PEDs, not just the obvious steroids.

Is VLad Jr ?

weird. Fixed it.

Players of the day: Kevin Vicuna, Kevin Smith, Bo Bichette, Vlad Jr, Conor Panas, Dalton Pompey, Danny Jansen Honourable Mentions: Juan Kelly, Cavan Biggio, Andrew Guillotte, Donnie Sellers

Jansen gets plenty of love around here, it's just the collective boners around Vlad cast shadows over anyone else.