John Manuel gave him a Ty Wigginton comp, but I think he sticks at 2b, and if he develops a bit more power 15-20 HRs at 2b is awesome.

+1 on those young kids at Lansing. Action Jackson’s numbers weren’t awful when you consider his glove but they were collectively terrible.

Also Balbino decided to wait until halfway through his second short season to start hitting, but ended up putting up pretty good numbers, albeit with less than thrilling plate discipline.

They’re gonna graduate the top 2 this year, but it looks like the list could actually be better next year if some of those young kids develop some skills, and Cooper looks like Lind 2.0 with some defensive value at 1B, in the good-prospecty sense.

I agree (though I can’t buy into the Dopirak movement … sorry .. lol)

This system is a mix of 3 distinct groups right now, the guys who are the absolute upper tier who are performing and have high ceilings (Snider, Cecil, Cooper and Arencibia), the next group which is guys with similar ceiling who are extremely young and haven’t really stepped it up (Jackson, Ahrens, Eiland, Tolisano) and some older guys who are either late bloomers, beating up on younger competition or just playing above their heads a bit (Emaus, Campbell, Mills, Luis Perez, Rzepczynski).

I guess, and I’m sort of doing this off the top of my head, I’d rank it:

Snider A-/B+ I’m a little concerned w/ k’s
Cecil A-/B+ before the critics yell and scream .. compare his stats (in particular BB, k, GB%) to other top pitching prospects at AA last year … any of them, Price, Kershaw, Anderson, Cahill, Hanson, Tillman. Statistically its hard to argue he’s far behind that group.

space

Arencibia B K:BB ratio is a concern, but at this point you can safely say he’ll stick at C and hit HRs
Cooper B/B- Need to see more.
Jackson B-
Mills B-

The rest probably get C+’s. I’m big on the upside of guys like Ahrens and Eiland, but you also have to perform. Emaus maybe has a shot at B-, but glove is supposed to be just okay and it was only high-A.

One of the most interesting things about John’s list will be his take on Dopirak. As I recall he’s usually pretty harsh on “too old” prospects, is he not?

Jeroloman has been praised as having defense that would be above average for a major leaguer for 2 years or more now. I’m not an expert on every catcher in the major but it would shock me if he wasn’t at least on the very short list to talk about when you discuss the best defenders in the minors. Even if he never hits more than, for instance, Schneider…he can have a long career just on his glove.

Exceeded 50 IP

Jackson’s glove alone puts him ahead of 3 or 4 of those guys. His glove is exceptional. He also knows how to take walks. If he can just cut his K’s and add a little more power (which should come with age … not saying he’s going to be a power hitter, but just a bit more) he’s going to be a good one.

Snider A- (his defense is better than most give him credit for, only issue will be the strikeouts)
Cecil B+ (great stats, has yet to log a tone of innings as he was getting eased into to starting)
Arencibia B+ (Defense vastly improved and plus power
David Cooper B (looks like he will hit for average and power..how much power?)
Justin Jackson B (good glove think he will break out with the stick next year)
Scott Campbell B- (hitting 340 with an OBP over 400 most of the year until he was injured..late bloomer
Brad Mills B- (Jays pitching prospects have flown under the radar…Marcum, Litsch, Mills next)
Mark Rzepcynski B-(good numbers in low A, suprised he didn’t get a midseason jump to high A)
Brad Emaus C+ (good solid bat for a 2B , raked in Hawaii)
Kevin Ahrens C+ (Can only ride the scouting/1st rounder thing so long..make or break year coming up)

Dopirak belongs no where near the top 20, hes not much of a prospect. Jeroloman doesn’t do much for me, his upside would be Mike Matheny at best and although thats valuable its not really much to get excited about cause there are those players availble on the waiver wire every year.

Next year will be very telling for Ahrens, Tolisano, Eiland and Chavez.

I liked the looks of markus brisker and Tyler Pastronicky in Rookie ball….the jays definitely have more sleepers in the system in years past when it wasfull of college seniors sleeping.

Definitely rooting for him.

Hopefully he can be a little more patience. Its funny b/c he didn’t show this kind of approach in college. His last year in college he walked 33 times to 38 K’s (52 games). He now has only 32 walks in the pros, but thats in 189 games. His college numbers do give me some hope, but who knows.

As a Jays fan, you can’t help but think of Josh Phelps when you see J.P. At the same age, between the same 2 levels they put up similar #‘s. Phelps always walked more, but he also struck out more. The huge difference is that Phelps didn’t have much chance to stick at catcher, Arencibia does. There’s a big difference in the O you look for out of your 1bman/DH and your catcher.

Thats why I think J.P. is a solid B prospect right now. Even if he stays a free swinger, he should hit enough to be a starting catcher in the majors (that’s not saying much). And if he adjusts his approach and takes some more walks (doesn’t have to be an OBP machine mind you), he could be a tremendous asset for the Jays.

I’ve not found a good comparison among catchers, but just in terms of hitting ability, Mike Jacobs is a current major league with power but almost no on-base ability.

He was said to be a pretty raw toolsy pick, so its nice to see that kind of pick get off to a good pro start.
306/370/343. This was something the system lacked 3 years ago.

He was definitely on the radar before a disastrous season. Needs to rebound to gain some recognition.

1. I still think they believe Ahrens is the future at 3B, i don’t see who else
2. I think Campbell has better patience at the plate, and could probably stay at 2b
3. he was ok offensively, need to cut down on K’s, decent walks, but this only happened in low A, could maybe be taking too many pitches, which could really hurt you in higher levels
4. He’s gotta cut down on walks, if you look at his game log, when he walks too many, he gets in trouble, which you can say about a lot of guys, but he’s somewhat of an enigma, last year his K’s increased, this here they were down, but kept his ERA down, i don’t know
5. Tough to accomplish, but anythings possible, could be 2-3 years before you have a better idea

1. Not sure … don’t think there is a rush to name a “3b” of the future. Heck, if you need one, draft one this year.
2. He looks like a potential utility man … I’d hope for Mark Loretta
3. Never going to mash for power, but can take a walk and run. I don’t want to name names, but think of a guy who could hit for average, draw a walk and hit for gap power.
4. Not well I’d bet
5. A lot.. Ankiel wasn’t the first to try that, but might be the first to have succeeded. IOW, don’t hold your breathe.

1. Emaus is still very far away. I’d like the Jays to be more aggressive with him but who knows who will emerge.

2. Campbell hasn’t been playing as much baseball so I think his ceiling is a little higher then Cat though if he turns out into something like Cat that wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe not as useful for the Jays but he’s a guy I’d like to see succeed.

3. Not sure how great of a shortstop he can be, strikes out a ton. He ceiling would be more likely an all-defense light hitting SS with good speed etc. Guys like Cesar Izturis ring up a bell. I think it’s more then likely he ends up being in a utility role.

4. I wouldn’t be surprised if they either put him in AA or aggressively promote him to the majors to see if he can find the magic.

5. It didn’t hurt Ankiel one bit, we’ll see… it’s a crapshoot until we see results.

Wallace is a better hitter, and he moves well for a big dude too while Cooper is terribly slow. And to quote BA on Cooper’s glove “some scouts label him disinterested at worst and below-average at best”.

Wallace just offers more all over the place. Better defensive value, outstanding plate discipline as opposed to solid plate discipline, plus-plus power as opposed to above-average or plus.

I like Wallace more than, say, Yonder Alonso . . .I think he’s actually one of the best 1B prospects out there right, and that’s even with me being pessimistic and saying he’s definitely moving over to 1B. If he’s a 3B for any amount of time, he’s some kind of awesome.

I see Cooper as an easy B prospect, nothing more, nothing less. Although I’m encouraged by the good early showing in pro ball.

He looked horrid last year, looks like he’ll never have power, but who knows.