Blue Jays Organizational All Stars : the Outfield

Chavez Young/legendsondeck.com Let’s just get this out of the way: because the Blue Jays scouting focus when it comes to position players the past few years has been on up-the-middle guys, the pickings at the outfield spots is….on the slim side. But that’s understandable, especially with the organization’s emphasis on run prevention. Branch Rickey famously …

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Chavez Young Injury Update

Imagine going half way around the world to get some much-needed reps, having to quarantine for fourteen days upon arrival, missing family and friends at Christmas, having the team president step down while COVID restrictions helped postpone the start of the season, then injuring yourself after recording a hit in your first at bat. Welcome …

Young Credits Improved Approach to Second Half Turnaround

Chavez Young burst onto the prospect radar last season with a power-speed flourish, becoming the only player in all of minor league baseball with 50+ extra base hits and 40 stolen bases. Promoted to Dunedin from Lansing last year, Young had some difficulty making the adjustment to the pitcher-friendly Florida State League, and after slashing …

A Conversation with Blue Jays MiLB Hitting Coach Matt Young

  At 5'8"/175, Blue Jays minor league hitting instructor Matt Young did not get a lot of attention in his draft year of 2004, even though he had put up very good numbers (.364/.476/.480, 43 steals, and 50 more walks than strikeouts) in his final year at New Mexico. Atlanta decided to take a chance …

Five Prospects to Keep an Eye on in 2019

As 2018 slowly winds its way down, it's a good time to look at players who put up solid numbers last year, but have been overlooked somewhat in the overall Blue Jays prospect picture. Ryan Noda What he did:   Noda led the minor leagues in walks with 109 last year, as did his .421 OBP.  …

The Blue Jays Top 20 – Five Who Just Missed

In putting together a top prospects list, invariably there's some buyer's remorse, and more than a few tweets or comments about who was left off - rest assured that the 11-20 list went through several drafts before it was published. As anyone who has ever coached a team can tell you, when you're selecting players …

Blue Jays Minor League All-Star Team

Catcher - Danny Jansen  .275/.390/.473 (MiLB numbers) Jansen solidified his label as the Blue Jays Catcher of the Future with a good season on both sides of the plate, and earned a late season call up as a result. Jansen has long been lauded for his leadership skills, and his ability to handle a Pitching …

Toronto Blue Jays Top 10 Position Prospects

"There are no shortcuts." Of all the correspondence this blog has had with Blue Jays President/CEO Mark Shapiro over the past year, that aphorism stands out the most.  It underscores the approach this management group takes to organization building, a methodology that eschews the quick fix.  Players will be challenged, but they won't be rushed.  …

There’s Another Team to Watch in the Blue Jays System

The AA Eastern League's New Hampshire Fisher Cats have been receiving most of the attention from Blue Jays prospects watchers so far this season, and rightly so, but there's another team in the system that has been just as successful. The Lansing Lugnuts took 3 of 5 games from cross-state rival West Michigan Whitecaps this …

Lansing Lugnuts Announce Roster

Lansing's roster often is one of the more interesting ones to wait for every spring. For the other three full-season affiliates, it's fairly easy to project their rosters.  There may be the odd surprise, but you can generally count on players moving up to the next level if they were successful the season before. The …