Deadpool (01-31-2023),Ehjays (01-31-2023),Jimcanuck (01-31-2023),max silver (01-31-2023),Spanky99 (01-30-2023)
I saw multiple comments yesterday from Cards fans suggesting their FO is stuck in 2011 and will probably keep Walker in the minors for another 3 years. Thought that was interesting. I guess every franchise has their group of grumpy (likely ignorant and outdated) fans that are never happy - no matter how much success the team has.
Spanky99 (01-31-2023)
Law's top 10 outside of his top 100
Orelvis Martinez, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays
Age: 21 | 6-1 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
International signing in 2018
Last year’s ranking: 44
Martinez had just 27 games in High A prior to 2022, but the Blue Jays took a chance and promoted him to Double A to start the season. It was too aggressive given Martinez’s lack of plate discipline, and he struggled quite a bit at the level, with a .286 OBP and a 28.5 percent strikeout rate. He did hit 30 homers, however, and played above-average defense at third base with close to average defense at short, although I don’t think he’s going to stay at shortstop for the long term. He was the only 20-year-old to play regularly in the Eastern League last year and one of only three anywhere in Double A; the other two, Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn, are both on the top 100 list. I think it is way too early to give up on Martinez, but I also couldn’t rank him over guys who might have similar ceilings with less risk, or who just have a lot more probability.
You can charm a manager, but you can't hypnotize a walrus.
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Ehjays (01-31-2023)
I don't pay attention to Law
Jimcanuck does not endorse or make any warranty, express or implied, of the accuracy of any link in this post.
Keith law must be back at the keyboard.
Org rankings today
17. Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays depleted their system with trades and promotions, down to just the one top-100 guy (Ricky Tiedemann), but they still have a deep reserve of middle-infield prospects signed by their international scouting department, along with a couple of outfielders, who are mostly still unrealized potential and just need to get healthy or gain a full year of at-bats. Tiedemann is the pitching prize, but his teammates at Double-A New Hampshire later in the year, like Yosver Zulueta and Hayden Juenger, could be up sooner as bullpen pieces (even as potential long-term starters).
Virgil_Hiltz (02-02-2023)
****FREE SPANKY****
Spanky99 (02-07-2023)
More from Keith law.
3. Brandon Barriera, LHP
Age: 19 | 6-2 | 180 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 23 in 2022
Barriera was the Jays’ first-round pick in 2022, a “now” pitcher, kind of the way Andrew Painter was in the 2021 draft, where the stuff is already there and we’re not waiting on physical projection. Barriera has been up to 98 mph with a plus changeup and a high spin-rate curveball, showing fringy or worse command, but also able to just overpower competition in high school. He’s 6-2 and 180-190ish pounds, not offering much room to fill out but also not needing any more velocity or stuff. If he stays healthy this year, he’ll almost certainly be on the top 100 a year from now.
4. Tucker Toman, 3B
Age: 19 | 6-1 | 190 pounds
Bats: Switch | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 77 in 2022
Toman was the Jays’ third pick last year, one of four they had on day one, but he took home their second-highest bonus of the draft at $2 million. He’s a switch-hitter who projects to hit for average and to show above-average to plus power as he fills out, with some concerns about his whiffs against better competition as a high schooler. Scouts raved about his feel for the game, as he grew up around the sport with his father spending 13 years as a Division I head coach. Tucker played short and third in high school but third base is his ultimate position. If he makes enough contact, he projects as an above-average regular who has 20+ homers and league-average OBPs.
5. Sem Robberse, RHP
Age: 21 | 6-1 | 160 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: International signing in 2019
Robberse, the best Dutch prospect currently in the minors, lost some weight going into 2022 and it cost him over a mile an hour on his fastball, something he has to reverse to be more than a fifth starter. He’s a command guy with a great delivery and good spin on two distinct breaking balls. If he threw 96 mph, he’d be a top-10 pitching prospect in the sport. He looks like he could put some weight back on and get himself to solid-average velo, at which point he’s probably a mid-rotation starter given his feel for pitching and present command. I’m betting he gets there.
6. Yosver Zulueta, RHP
Age: 25 | 6-1 | 190 pounds
Bats: Right| Throws: Right
Drafted: International signing in 2019
Zulueta sits 97-98 mph and has hit 100 many times, showing a full arsenal to start but scattering the ball to the point where he walked 18 men in 19 innings between Double A and Triple A last year. He missed 2019 due to Tommy John surgery, 2020 to the pandemic, and 2021 after he tore an ACL fielding a ball hit by the first batter he ever faced after signing with the Jays in 2018. Last year’s 55 2/3 innings across all four full-season levels marked a career high. He has a super-short arm action that I don’t think he can harness enough to get to even 45 control — which might be all he needs to be a starter, given the raw stuff. His slider and curve might both be plus, assuming he can get to them (rather than falling behind and finding himself forced to throw anything for a strike), giving him a definite path to the majors as a bullpen guy, maybe even this year.
Deadpool (02-07-2023)
7. Hayden Juenger, RHP
Age: 22 | 6-0 | 180 pounds
Bats: Right| Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 182 in 2021
Juenger was a little-used reliever at Missouri State, which is kind of hard to fathom given how good he’s been as a starter since the Jays took him in the sixth round in 2021. Did the Bears have three future MLB aces in their rotation or something? Anyway, Juenger works 92-97 mph with a 55 change and 50/55 slider, missing some bats with all three, but also making mistakes with all three in the upper half of the zone. He gave up 18 homers in 83 innings between Double A and Triple A, half on his fastball, which has velocity but not a ton of life. He could still be a back-end starter if he improves his command in what will be just his second year of starting, although he was less homer-prone working in relief to manage his innings later in the year, so that’s more of a possibility for him to help the major-league team in the near term. The Jays really should call him up this year. After all, he’s not getting any Juenger.
8. Gabriel Martinez, OF
Age: 20 | 6-0 | 170 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: International signing in 2018
Martinez is a corner outfielder who already shows advanced command of the strike zone for a 19-year-old, hitting .293/.355/.477 between Low and High A last year, with just a 16.4 percent strikeout rate and 37 extra-base hits in 96 games. He projected to have power when younger but didn’t hit a pro home run that counted until this past year — his first one, in 2021, was disallowed because he passed a runner while rounding the bases — and ended up with 14 on the season. He’s adequate in either corner in the outfield, so there’s some pressure on the bat. Given what he’s already done at 19, with room to get even stronger, he has a high probability of becoming a regular or more given his age and experience level.
9. Leo Jimenez, SS
Age: 22 | 5-11 | 215 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: International signing in 2017
Jimenez’s first year in High A was a mixed bag, as the Panamanian shortstop went from 1 career home run to 6 in just a half-season, but was limited by injury to 69 games (which is NOT nice) and saw his plate discipline numbers both head in the wrong directions. He’s still a high-contact hitter and the power was the result of him putting on a good amount of muscle the previous offseason, but needs a consolidation year where he recaptures the selectivity that made him interesting before 2022 and the power he showed last year. He’s a fringy defender at short now, putting more pressure on the bat. He needs a full season of at-bats more than anything else right now.
10. Addison Barger, IF
Age: 23 | 6-0 | 175 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 176 in 2018
Barger started making harder contact in 2021 out of the pandemic, then held on to those gains and added a little more with moves up to High A and Double A last season. There’s real power here, 20-odd homers if he could play every day, but he looked far different against lefties with decent stuff and might be better off as the strong side of a platoon. He’s not a shortstop but he’s solid at third and I see no reason he couldn’t handle second. He could be a regular at either of those spots on a non-contender, whereas for a good club he’s a very good utility infielder who can handle short on a temporary basis and would also be a valuable pinch-hitter when he’s sitting against a lefty starter.
11. Dasan Brown, OF
Age: 21 | 6-0 | 185 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 88 in 2019
Brown’s an 80 runner and no worse than a 60 defender in center, with explosive bat speed and better contact quality last year in his age-20 season. There’s just too much swing and miss right now, especially for someone with his offensive profile; he struck out 28.3 percent of the time last year between Low and High A, although in his defense, he had all of 65 pro games under his belt before last year due to injury and the pandemic year. He’s also from greater Toronto, which is worth an extra 0.5 runs a game, I think. I’m not sure about the current exchange rate.
12. Josh Kasevich, SS
Age: 22 | 6-2 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 60 in 2022
Kasevich is a lot like Angels infielder David Fletcher, a capable middle infielder who never struck out in college, takes a few walks, and has too little power to play every day. Fletcher has already been worth 10.5 WAR in his career, even with a .274/.324/.360 line, because he’s an elite defender at second and a 45 defender at short, and he puts the ball in play enough to get by. I think that’s Kasevich’s most likely path to success as well; in his two years as a starter at Oregon, he struck out 7.6 percent of the time, and in his pro debut in Low A he struck out 7.4 percent of the time, but with no power anywhere. I like him, even with these limitations, perhaps because there’s something old-school about this style of player, and in a peculiar way he’s become undervalued.