Mikeleelop

so give each prospect one start at MLB and if they don't pitch well convert immediately to a reliever??

Just the style of never giving in. Always painting the edge or staying just off it Not the stuff

was it just me or did Odirozzi pitch like greg maddux. rarely threw an actual strike and always stayed on the edges (ump gave him quite a few)

what I would like to know is did they know that the turf would play this slow? I sure hope they did not unknowingly get this longer/softer turf and not consider the fact that baseballs don't roll on it. That would show a total lack of planning and foresight. Beeston should answer this question immediately. Hitters will get pissed off, it may cost them 20 or 30 points on their batting averages

don't want Lind on this team good bye

Geez these facilities look way nicer than Dunedin i dont see any exposed sprinkler heads either

So, Beeston said in no uncertain terms that payroll was going to go up. Going into opening day the Jays are down $12million (third highest % decline) the actual payroll is $124.9m which is basically the league average http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation I like how the team looks, but Beeston is a long way from his promise

I agree, send him to Buffalo. But that is a $4million piece of cake for Rogers to eat

Goins is the best utility option. Defensively he is a good shortstop and great 2B plus what happens when Izturis gets healthy, does he come in to replace tolleson?

Ban

from BA chat today with John Manuel Mikeleelop (416): The BlueJays may have 6 of their top ten prospects make the opening day roster. Has this happened before, especially on a team that thinks it can contend this season?? John Manuel: I would be stunned by that frankly, though in the writeup, I noted how it's hard to remember a contender being more reliant on rookies than Toronto is this year. It's also all the more glaring considering that (a) none of their rookies are Cuban or Japanese, i.e., older and basically MLB free agent types, ( rookies generally are finding it harder to put up big numbers these days if they are not Cubans or Japanese FA types, and © these rookies are going to be asked to play critical roles for Toronto. That said, I've heard raves from scouts this spring on Daniel Norris and Aaron Sanchez. I'm a Dalton Pompey fan and recall scouts putting potential 80 grades on his defense, and I think there's some juice in his swing as well. How a Canadian kid with his tools lasted until the 16th round is kind of beyond me. Ben Badler has long been a Devon Travis fan and Ben's going to be proven right there, and I love Miguel Castro's story and liked the reports we got on his stuff last fall when I helped report the short-season Northwest League. I'd have to research if it happened before; I'd have to imagine the B-Ref play index would be useful to search out past productive rookie classes. But I do recall the Rockies having 3 rookies debut on Opening Day 2004, believe it was Ryan Speier, Jeff Baker and Cory Sullivan, all making their debuts on the same day, all signed by the same scout, Jay Matthews, now a Rox crosschecker. Not top 100 guys but 3 rookies on Opening Day was pretty intriguing.

Baseball America Farm Rankings 10. Toronto Blue Jays 2014 Rank: 15. 2013 Rank: 15. TOP 10 PROSPECTS 1. Daniel Norris, lhp (18) 6. Max Pentecost, c 2. Aaron Sanchez, rhp (27) 7. Roberto Osuna, rhp 3. Jeff Hoffman, rhp (69) 8. Richard Urena, ss 4. Dalton Pompey, of (30) 9. Miguel Castro, rhp 5. Devon Travis, 2b 10. Sean Reid-Foley, rhp How They Got Here: Toronto’s high-risk, high-reward draft strategy and aggressive pursuit of international talent in recent years has paid off with a strong farm system as players such as Daniel Norris (expected) and Dalton Pompey (unexpected) have developed. The Jays have intriguing young power arms, such as Roberto Osuna and Miguel Castro, even after trading plenty of prospects in previous offseasons. High-Ceiling Sleeper: OF Lane Thomas has speed and strong baseball makeup, which the Jays hope to use to move him to the infield. He has the arm strength for third base, but second base might make more sense in the short term. His bat should be ready for a full-season shot in 2015. 2015 Rookies: Is any contender more dependent on rookies than Toronto? Top prospects Norris and Aaron Sanchez could comprise 40 percent of the rotation. Pompey and Devon Travis were both expected to win starting jobs at up-the-middle positions. Castro’s strong spring could lead to a spot in the bullpen.

AA on Blair said April 15 target. He's supposed to start running today/tomorrow..... you are prob right - 3rd week of April

the Jays are about $10m below last year's team salary...... just saying

oh ya, my apologies I'd def go after Christina, one hot rocking Ginger

Could AA be pumping up Osuna and Castro to get the Philles on board for a Hammels trade?? hammels to rotation, Sanchez back to the bullpen.....

Blair had an article on SN yesterday saying AA was scouting other Philles.....

what is timeline on Saunders? There was talk a couple of weeks ago for opening day, that has stopped and he was DL'd. Any chance on home opener??

nothing fishy to me, osuna and castro also have options. They are just pitching considerably better than Delebar. im happy they r taking the best players for once

or its got nothing to do with Delebar and he's only talking about his surgery etc

from Ben Badler of Baseball America. if you go more than 15% over your limit you get the subsequent restriction. For the blue jays that is $348,615 or a total bonus pool of $2,672,715 2015-16 MLB International Bonus Pools February 26, 2015 by Ben Badler Teams have received their international bonus pools for the upcoming 2015-16 signing period, which begins on July 2. The pools are up slightly from a year ago, with the top pool getting an extra $378,500 and the bottom pool getting an additional $102,300. The bonus pools are determined based on reverse order of winning percentage from the 2014 major league season, which means the Diamondbacks have the largest bonus pool, while the Angels have the smallest. However, the Diamondbacks will be unable to sign any pool-eligible player for more than $300,000 during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 signing periods as a penalty for going more than 15 percent over their current 2014-15 pool, mainly to sign Cuban righthander Yoan Lopez. The Angels, Rays, Red Sox and Yankees will also be unable to sign any pool-eligible players for more than $300,000 during the 2015-16 signing period. They do still keep their entire bonus pool, however, and are free to trade the individual slot values that comprise their pool. While the majority of July 2 signings come from Latin America, especially the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, the bonus pools cover players classified as international amateurs from all countries not subject to the June draft. Cuban players are subject to the bonus pools as well, unless they are at least 23 years old and have played five or more seasons in Serie Nacional, in which case they are exempt. Team Bonus Pool 1. Diamondbacks $5,393,900 2. Rockies $4,966,300 3. Rangers $4,586,600 4. Astros $4,248,800 5. Twins $3,948,500 6. Red Sox $3,681,000 7. White Sox $3,443,000 8. Cubs $3,230,700 9. Phillies $3,041,700 10. Reds $2,873,000 11. Marlins $2,779,300 12. Padres $2,691,800 13. Rays $2,609,200 14. Mets $2,531,300 15. Braves $2,458,400 16. Brewers $2,389,300 17. Blue Jays $2,324,100 18. Yankees $2,262,800 19. Indians $2,204,900 20. Mariners $2,150,300 21. Giants $2,130,900 22. Pirates $2,111,900 23. Athletics $2,093,100 24. Royals $2,074,700 25. Tigers $2,056,200 26. Cardinals $2,038,200 27. Dodgers $2,020,300 28. Orioles $2,002,900 29. Nationals $1,985,400 30. Angels $1,968,600

then again, who doesnt love an 18 year old throwing 98 with a good breaking ball?

Alvarez is the type of pitcher AA loves. He seems to be a Sanchez clone

Lind is what he's always been - a passive agressive lazy pussy the stuff he said was not ever a direct critisism but always a negative about his time and experience with the Jays

not sure if this is thread worthy, but here's top 20 prospects to compete in majors in 2015 - 3 Bluejays (from Keith Law) To balance that out, I produced another list, this one ranking the top 20 prospects in baseball based solely on how much value I think they might produce in 2015. This list includes one of my least favorite kinds of forecasting (because I don't do it well and have no idea how to do it well): estimating playing time for the next seven months. So you're getting my best guesses -- guesses is the operative term here -- for probably 30 or 40 players underlying the rankings below and my decisions on which players to include. If a prospect you like isn't listed here, it might be only because I don't think he gets the playing time in 2015 to make the list. I don't consider Boston outfielder Rusney Castillo or Arizona outfielder-maybe-third-baseman Yasmany Tomas as "prospects" due to their ages (27 and 24, respectively) and lengthy experience in Cuba's Serie Nacional, but were I to rank them, I'd have Castillo third on this list and Tomas sixth. I believe more in Castillo's athleticism and glove; Tomas is bigger and stronger, but he's not a great athlete and doesn't have Rusney's bat speed. With that, let's look at the top impact prospects for 2015: 1. Kris Bryant, 3B, Chicago Cubs Bryant probably won't head north with the Cubs on April 5, but he'll be at Wrigley Field maybe two weeks later as the Cubs look to push off his eventual free agency by a year. He's my pick right now to win NL Rookie of the Year, likely to hit 20-plus homers and get on base at a strong clip even with a strikeout rate that will probably top 25 percent. 2. Jorge Soler, RF, Chicago Cubs If Bryant doesn't win the ROY award, maybe his teammate will. Soler hit the majors like he was fusing deuterium and tritium nuclei, but it lasted only about a week before he discovered the travails of a hitter facing the major league strike zone. His hands are explosive, and he's a more disciplined hitter than the raw strikeout rate he had with the Cubs last year might indicate. He should have 25 homers in him this year, but with a modest OBP and average to above-average defense in right. 3. Joc Pederson, CF, Los Angeles Dodgers Pederson also fell victim to that strike zone, as well as the gigantic gap between hitting at 5,300 feet above sea level in Triple-A Albuquerque and hitting at the bottom of a ravine in Los Angeles. He's a power/speed player, without quite as much present raw power as Soler or Bryant but with more defensive value. He'll have to become more aggressive within the strike zone to succeed in the majors this year, as well as just making more contact overall. 4. Steven Souza, RF, Tampa Bay Rays It's not Souza's fault he has been so widely overrated. He's been a bit of a late bloomer, has been old for his leagues just about every year of his career until 2014, and has never played 130 games in a single season. He's a good athlete who can run a little, has very strong hands, and a short, mostly linear swing that should produce a ton of doubles but not huge home run totals. Among AL rookies, he has the best chance to get 600 plate appearances in the majors this year. 5. Aaron Sanchez, RP/SP, Toronto Blue Jays I prefer Sanchez as a starter because he'll show three-plus pitches at times, and he could end up at the top of the Jays' rotation. But he has had delivery issues that the Blue Jays haven't been able to fully address, and he might need to work in relief in the short term due to both command woes and the higher injury potential because of his short stride and abrupt finish. If they lengthen his stride and let him make 25 or so starts, he'd be a solid bet to win AL Rookie of the Year. If not, he might be a Dellin Betances-caliber reliever with 75 or so innings out of the bullpen. 6. Christian Bethancourt, C, Atlanta Braves Bethancourt has a grade-80 arm and should control the running game right away. He has the potential to be a plus receiver, but has shown a tendency to take pitches "off" and lose focus, costing his team some strikes and even leading to some passed balls/wild pitches. At the plate, he has plus power but needs to show some plate discipline to get himself into hitters counts that will allow that power to play. 7. Andrew Heaney, SP, Los Angeles Angels Heaney is one of the few rookie pitchers in either league to have a firm grip on a rotation spot entering spring training, but he has a lot of work to do to improve on his 2014 showing, when major league hitters jumped on his fastball before he could get to any of his quality off-speed offerings. I think he's about a 1-WAR starter this year, below-average but better than the Hector Santiago/Nick Tropeano group behind him on the depth chart. 8. Marco Gonzales, SP, St. Louis Cardinals Gonzales' spot in the rotation might depend on the health and performances of others this March -- how Michael Wacha holds up, whether Carlos Martinez throws enough quality strikes as a starter -- but I feel confident there will be 20-25 starts for him in 2015. He'll give up some hard contact on the fastball, but he has a swing-and-miss changeup, an above-average curveball and the feel to pitch with the stuff he actually has. 9. Maikel Franco, 3B, Philadelphia Phillies It's a sink-or-swim moment for Franco, who doesn't have much left to learn in Triple-A, so while his approach isn't ready for major league pitching, it's probably in his best interests to let him struggle in the majors rather than sending him back to rake in the minors again. I could see 15-18 homers with an OBP around .290 from a full season for him in the majors. 10. Nathan Karns, SP, Tampa Bay Rays Karns has two legit plus pitches in his fastball and curveball, but needs to work on staying in his delivery better, a problem that sabotaged his 2014 season in Triple-A. He's fifth or sixth on Tampa's current rotation depth chart, but he'll miss more bats than Jake Odorizzi and is better able to turn over a lineup three times than Alex Colome, so I expect him to get 20-odd starts even if he's not their fifth starter on April 5. He'll be among AL rookie leaders in strikeouts if he gets a chance. 11. Dalton Pompey, CF, Toronto Blue Jays Pompey should get a majority of the at-bats this year among Blue Jays center fielders, although he could start the year in Triple-A; he's just such an advanced hitter that he should be able to hold his own in the majors enough to let his speed and defense produce for Toronto. He'll draw some walks and grab some extra hits with his speed, but even in a full season, he isn't likely to get to double-digit homers. Speaking of the Jays, they also could give Devon Travis a trial at second base, a position of great need for them right now, but I'm not a big believer in Travis' bat or glove. 12. Alex Meyer, SP, Minnesota Twins Meyer is not penciled in as a starter for the Twins just yet and might have to wait his turn behind fellow rookie (but lesser prospect) Trevor May, but Meyer has the highest upside in 2015 of any potential Minnesota starter after Phil Hughes and Ervin Santana. Meyer is a two-pitch guy, both plus, generating ground balls and missing right-handers' bats, and he made some progress at year-end with a new changeup that should at least keep lefties from lighting him up the second and third time through the order. He's already 25 years old, so the time for him is likely now, or as soon as the Twins have a need for him. 13. Daniel Norris, SP, Toronto Blue Jays Norris is more likely to spend time in Toronto's rotation than Sanchez is, but Sanchez is higher on this list because I think he's more likely to spend the whole year in the majors than Norris. Norris has similar upside to Sanchez's, but while the latter's delivery has gone a bit backward in the minors, Norris' has improved to the point where he's throwing more strikes and will show a plus slider and changeup. He has the potential to rack up a ton of strikeouts even if his walk totals this year are higher than you'd like. 14. Mike Foltynewicz, SP, Atlanta Braves Foltynewicz is probably Atlanta's fifth-best rotation option right now, but given where the team is in the contention cycle, it makes some sense to hold him in the minors for a few months to push off his free agency by a year and get him to work on throwing more strikes and getting more consistency with his changeup. He'll miss a lot of bats, as the aforementioned Norris will, but I think Folty gets only 15-18 starts in the majors this year. 15. Eddie Butler, SP, Colorado Rockies Butler joined the Rockies' rotation in June of last year but got hurt in his first major league start, returning to the big leagues in late September and preserving his rookie status. At the moment, the Rockies have five major league starters on their roster -- this includes Jordan Lyles, who missed most of last year with a broken hand -- but no franchise has ever cycled through starters the way the Rockies do, so there should be work for Butler soon enough. 16. Micah Johnson, 2B, Chicago White Sox Johnson might have seen the majors in September if he had been healthy, and now that his hamstring is fully healed, he's probably the best internal option at second base. He hasn't had much high-minors experience and could use some work on his footwork, so a couple of months at Triple-A makes sense for his development. But I think he almost has to be Chicago's second baseman by the All-Star break, given what else they have available. 17. Matt Wisler, SP, San Diego Padres Wisler is a lower-upside starter, but he's major league-ready, and while the Padres ostensibly have six other starters on the roster right now, three of them could charitably be called injury-prone, and Wisler seems very likely to get 20-25 starts in the majors this year, with which he should be worth 1 WAR or more. 18. Noah Syndergaard, SP, New York Mets Thor is ready, but the Mets don't need him just yet; they have six potential starters already on their major league roster. But Jon Niese is not a great bet to stay healthy, Matt Harvey is coming off Tommy John surgery, and Bartolo Colon is one of just two major leaguers older than I am -- that's just not a good thing anymore -- so the opportunity will come for Syndergaard, just not right away. I think he has 18-20 solid starts in him this year, but he has shown he's a gradual adjustment guy, so I expect he'll have several areas to work on in the majors, such as fastball command and learning to locate his curveball to be a swing-and-miss pitch when he needs it to be. 19. Carlos Rodon, SP, Chicago White Sox The No. 3 pick in last year's draft and the first college player taken couldn't have asked for a better organization. The White Sox move their top prospects aggressively, and they're among the best at keeping arms healthy. Rodon isn't on the 40-man yet, so I don't think we'll see him in the majors before the White Sox have a viable role for him, but I also wouldn't be surprised to see him spend more than half the year in the White Sox's bullpen as a tuneup for him to be in their rotation to begin 2016, much as they did very successfully with Chris Sale four years ago. 20. Raisel Iglesias, RP, Cincinnati Reds The Reds are looking at potentially losing Aroldis Chapman to free agency after the 2016 season, and may want to trade him next winter to maximize their return, which would in turn leave them looking for a shutdown reliever to replace him. Iglesias could work as a starter, but he's 24, already on the 40-man roster, and hit 97 in short-relief work in the fall, while the Reds don't have a clear right-handed setup option already on their depth chart. I'm betting they put Iglesias in the major league bullpen to start the year and see if they can build him up to handle the eighth inning, with an eye toward making him Chapman's ultimate replacement if the need arises.