Notes on Blue Jays’ IFAs from Extended

The lousy weather that hit much of the northeastern part of the continent meant that there wasn’t a lot of minor league ball to watch this weekend.  However, Jason Woodell (@JasonAtTheGame on Twitter), who scouts prospects in Florida and contributes to several sites as well as his own, took in some Blue Jays Extended Spring Training action, and posted a number of videos.

First, some video and notes about SS Miguel Hiraldo, the top-ranked hitter in last July’s International Free Agent class:

Miguel Hiraldo – BlueJays SS
One of the top prospects from the 2017 J2 class. Electric bat speed pic.twitter.com/p6TNh5ipMG

— Jason Woodell (@JasonAtTheGame) April 14, 2018

Miguel Hiraldo BlueJays SS: quick first step, gets to balls to his left and charging quickly, strong accurate arm on the run pic.twitter.com/I0nmHWsfLU

— Jason Woodell (@JasonAtTheGame) April 14, 2018

Blue Jays Assistant GM Andrew Tinnish, who oversees International ops for the club, said in an interview in December that Hiraldo has, “A compact build, sneaky athletic ability, and quick hands.”  The most impressive part of his game, according to Tinnish, is his bat:  “it’s a compact swing, he hits a lot of line drives (and) uses the whole field, is a smart hitter, and there’s a lot of projection there.”

Tinnish said that Hiraldo may eventually outgrow SS and shift over to 3rd.  Woodell’s observations suggest that maybe there’s more there defensively than was originally thought.  The Blue Jays will likely keep him at short until he plays himself off of it.  Hiraldo will begin the season in the Gulf Coast League.

RHP Alejandro Melean was the 32-ranked IFA last year, and was a player Tinnish mentioned as one to watch.  A bit undersized, Melean was impressive at Instructs last fall, sitting 90-94 with his fastball, and an ability to spin a breaking ball.

A look at BlueJays Alejandro Melean facing Phillies Luis Garcia. Both top 50 J2 guys. Garcia was 7th. Signed for $2.5 mil pic.twitter.com/b7u53CTLtB

— Jason Woodell (@JasonAtTheGame) April 14, 2018

Melean likely starts in the GCL as well.

C Hagen Danner was not an IFA, of course, but he was a highly regarded two-way prep player who the Blue Jays decided to have focus on Catching last year.  Danner struggled in his first pro season, hitting .160/.207/.248, with a 26.5% K rate.  The news from Florida is encouraging:

Hagen Danner – Blue Jays 2017 2nd round pick with a beautiful swing here. Line drive 1B to RF to score a run. Didn’t see this approach or bat speed in the GCL last year pic.twitter.com/yhqEms5JOU

— Jason Woodell (@JasonAtTheGame) April 14, 2018

Vancouver will probably be Danner’s destination when short season play begins in June.

And finally, while he’s not a Blue Jays prospect, there’s a pretty strong connection here:

This was a nasty 3 pitch sequence for the backwards K from @BradenHalladay. @baseballpro pic.twitter.com/fLt9GBjngr

— Jason Woodell (@JasonAtTheGame) April 15, 2018

Halladay is draft eligible this June, but has committed to Penn State.