In a recent article by Jordan Bastien, he explains exactly how Alex Anthopolous has been able to make amends with Jeremy Accardo over his role with the Blue Jays in 2010. It’s a very telling piece in terms of the personal approach Alex is taking with each player. He’s wiling to go the extra mile in order to make sure players know their roles within the organization, the way it should be done. Accardo had dealt with this issue in the press, because unlike Alex JP was not as approachable and Jeremy’s camp were not getting the attention they thought [...]

I’m about to rank the best OF prospect in the Jays organization, but I can’t get Vernon Wells out of my mind. The perfect way I can describe his being in Toronto is like that scene in the Godfather III, when Joey Zasa says to Michael “I got a stone in my shoe, Mr. Corleone. A two-bit punk who works for me. The one who thinks he’s related to you.” Alex must feel like Michael did at that moment because it’s no easy task, and although I quoted the Godfather, it seems more fitting to call it Mission Impossible. I know [...]

I wanted to touch on what the loss of league means for the Blue Jays pen, but first have to review what Brandon League’s potential benefit to the Mariners is. He was drafted in the second round of the 2001 draft, and began his career as a starter, making it all the way to AAA as a starter before being converted to a reliever. His lack of secondary pitching is what prompted the move, and Brandon started pitching primarily out of the pen in 2006 (23). He saved 8 games that year in AAA and held a 2.14 ERA over [...]

MLBastien is reporting that OF Yohermyn Chavez, arguably the best OF prospect the Jays had, is on his way to Seattle in the Morrow for League deal. I still like the deal because it’s much harder to find a good starting pitcher than a good outfielder, but this makes the trade a little less palatable due to the lack of depth the Jays have in the minors for outfielders.
Chavez has been with the Jays since he was 17 and had shown promise as a possible 5 tool outfielder, making it all the way to LoA Lansing in 2009 and hitting [...]

It seems that there were other things being talked about when the 3-way Doc Halladay trade went down recently, because the Jays have now swapped RP Brandon League (26) and what is termed to be a “solid prospect to balance out the deal” in return for SP/RP Brandon Morrow (25). Alex strikes gold once again. While I enjoy League’s work and do believe he has the stuff to close, the Jays already have Josh Roenicke, Daniel Farquhar, and Tim Collins coming on quickly to take that role. Also, with the depth of the rotation the Jays have, and the injury issues [...]

The Jays signed 26 year old Lance Broadway to very little fanfare recently, so I decided to take a look at what the Jays may be able to get out of the formerly high-ranking prospect. After all, Lance was ranked as the 2nd best prospect in the Chicago White Sox organization by Baseball America (BA) in 2008, behind only Aaron Poreda, so there has to be some real talent there! BA gave him credit for 4 pitches that he can throw for strikes, and added that he had a plus change up. They also noted the lack of velocity he [...]

Before I begin breaking down the current pitching depth of the Jays, I’d like to give a shout to to Wally Fish and encourage everyone to follow his posts on Kings of Kauffman. Wally is responsible for getting me over to Fansided and I appreciate all of his help thus far. He recently pointed out in his posts that the Jays may have hit a HR when they hired Alex as GM, and I entirely agree with that assessment. The impact of his recent deal can be seen in the pitching depth listed below.
As Alex Anthopolous took over from JP [...]

I know that many Jays fans rolled their eyes when the Jays decided to sign 2 defensive specialist Short Stops in Alex Gonzalez and John MacDonald. But it’s the unheralded addition of 2B/3B/SS/OF Mike McCoy from the Colorado Rockies that has me most intrigued heading into 2010.
Mike McCoy was a 34th rd draft pick in 2002 by the St-Louis Cardinals, out of the University of San Diego. He’s a survivor, having beaten the odds and made it all the way up  to AAA by the time he was 27 and never giving up on his dream to make it to [...]

It seems fitting that I began posting about the Jays at the very same time the Jays changed direction in leadership, and in philosophy of what it would take to win in the AL East. There’s nothing I like more than what the “Drunk Jays Fans” crew would call “prospect porn” and to attempt to discern who will have an impact, when that will be, and to watch it all happen thereafter. Alex Anthopolous took over at the helm and has begun a process that I’ve been screaming for the Jays to begin for at least 6 years. I remember [...]