Asher Wojciechowski Works, Deck McGuire….Doesn’t!

This is one of my biggest pet peeves about the draft process and the fact that the signing deadline is so far away. Three weeks should be plenty to know whether or not a team will sign a player. After that, the player and the team are just wasting their time and delaying the progress that could be made by that player. Regardless of whether it’s the player or his agent’s call in terms of signing, the kid is never going to get that time back. He’ll sit, watch others gain experience that puts them ahead of the curve, and diminishes the chances that he’ll be successful. End of story.

All of that for a couple of bucks? Come on now. For someone like Deck McGuire, the signing should be immediate because he needs to learn and needs to pitch in order to learn. If not, guys like the 3 sandwich picks the Jays got behind him will leap over him in the Jays prospect ranks and could get to MLB more quickly as a result. What then? Let’s say that Aaron, Asher, and Noah do beat Deck to the bigs and he winds up sitting in AAA for a season or two longer as a result, how much money does that cost him? I guarantee you it’ll cost Deck AND his agent a ton of cash. So, go ahead Deck, waste your time sitting at home filling your iPod and playing video games waiting for that 100 or 200 K to be added to your bonus. Meanwhile, those “behind” you in the draft are getting the experience they need to get ahead of you.

Case and point is Asher Wojciechowski who just threw 4 shutout innings in Auburn yesterday. He allowed 3 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 2 hitters. Talk about a great pro start! The 21 year old is a big and intimidating presence at 6’4″ 235 lbs who is projected to be a power pitching workhorse. He is already ahead of Deck McGuire in my books, for the simple reason that we now have data and experience to go on. Sadly, Asher didn’t get the win because Auburnh hitters only got going after Asher left the game, but he definitely deserved the win.

Lance Durham (.400) hit his first HR of the season for Auburn. The son of Bull Durham really needs to show his power potential this year in order to move to LoA Lansing or HiA Dunedin next season. The 1B depth and competition internally for the Jays is pretty deep and fierce, so he needs to impresss. Carlos Perez (.400) has now hit safely in his first 5 games for Auburn and has a .500 OBP over that span. Nice start to ’10 for the 19 year old who has to fight his way up the impressive line of Jays catchers. Looking at that depth, I think it’s safe to say that Alex Anthopolous could use one of these great catching prospects as a pretty impressive trade chip.

Other Minors Notes:

• Jake Marisnick was able to get 1 hit a 1 Sb in his pro debut in the GCL, following that up with an 0 for 2 with 2 walks and another SB yesterday;
• Santiago Nessy hit 2 doubles for the DSL Jays;
• Moises Sierra is playing for the GCL Jays, for those who were wondering where he was. He started off the year 2 for 4 in his first game there, and went 0 for 4 yesterday;
• KC Hobson is 3 for 8 over his first 2 games in the GCL. He is yet another big 1B prospect the Jays have beginning his pro career this season. Monitor him closely as he does have power potential.

So, as Jays prospects keep progressing and Deck McGuire keeps sitting, we are beginning to get more and more prospects to follow. This is a very fun time to monitor the minors as there are so many gusy to watch, so many trades to be made, and transactions will begins to speed up. I’ll try to keep everyone updated as much as possible.