Also, now that we will have covered the latest and greats of the minors transactions over the last 9 months, we will also be updating all Jays minors transactions in our new “Jays Minors Transactions” page, so check back there from time to time if you’re curious about what’s happening in the Jays affiliates and depth chart.

End of July 2010

RHP Bubbie Buzachero – Traded – 5’10″ 180 lbs, 29 years old (more…)

Lansing Lugnuts – LoA

• Chad Jenkins brought his record to 5-4 after beating Peroia with a 7 inning, 8 hit, 3 ER, no walks, and 3 SO performance. His ERA now sits at 3.51 on the season and he is proving to be exactly what was advertised when the Jays drafted him – a work horse #3 caliber starter.
• Chad was throwing to the young and impressive AJ Jimenez (20) in this game. AJ hit his 3rd HR of the season and went 2 for 4 on the day, driving in a whopping 6 runs. Over his last 10 games, AJ is hitting .353 with a .421 OBP, 2 doubles, 2 HRs, 12 RBI, 4 walks and only 5 SO over 34 ABs. With Travis d’Arnaud and JP Arencibia ahead of him, the road isn’t easy for AJ, but he is impressing enough to become one big potential trade chip for the Jays. (more…)

The one pair of good news for Las Vegas was that both Jesus Merchan (.295) and JP Arencibia (.309) were very hot at the plate, each getting 3 hits, with Merchan getting a double and Arencibia getting his 3rd HR of the season. Arencibia now has a .429 OBP on the year and is definitely knocking on the door along with team mate Brett Wallace (.288).  We know that John Buck and his sub-Mendoza line average are not standing in JP’s way, or at least we hope he isn’t!

Las Vegas is now .500 on the year, 10-10, and sit 2.5 games behind Fresno (SF).

Top Batting Averages

1. Bradley Glenn – LoA Lansing – .389
2. Raul Barron – HiA Dunedin – .366
3. Brian Jeroloman – AA New Hampshire – .348
4. Mark Sobolewski – LoA Lansing – .333
5. Travis d’Arnaud – HiA Dunedin – .328

To have 2 catchers in the top 5 AVG players in the minors for the Jays is yet another indication of just how strong they are at the position all the way through the minors. the one name most people probably don’t recognize much is Raul Barron, a 24-year old 2nd baseman who is a little over age at his level, but is having an impressive year nonetheless.

(more…)

AAA Las Vegas – Lost 7-3

• Lance Broadway‘s line: 5.1 IP, 6 hits, 5 walks, 4 ER, 4 strike outs, and now has a 3.48 ERA on the season.
• Zach Jackson didn’t give up a run in relief, but he did give up 3 walks and 2 hits over his 2 IP.
• 3B Christian Colonel went 3 for 4 with a double and now has a .381 average on the year.
• LF Chris Lubanski is the other other player to have a big impact offensively, as eh hit his 2nd HR of the year.

AA New Hampshire – Lost 7-6

• Zach Stewart is having a hard time in AA. He only lasted 4.1 IP, gave up 9 hits, 7 ER, 4 walks and got 4 Ks. His season’s ERA now stands at 7.71 – not what the Jays had in mind when they sent him to AA to build up his repertoire and confidence.
• Trystan Magnuson was strong in relief, going 1.2 IP with 4 Ks and 1 hit and no walks allowed.
• Zach Dials and Daniel Farquhar followed that up with 3 shut out innings only allowing 1 walk.
• 3B Brad Emaus (.375) was the catalyst offensively speaking, going 3 for 3 with a SB.
• CF Darin Mastroianni and LF Eric Thames both got 2 hits, one of which was a double for Darin.

HiA Dunedin – Lost 3-2

• Charles Huggins was outstanding in his start, lasting 7 innings, getting 2 hits, and striking out 4. He allowed no ER but still ended up with a no-decision. He now has a 2.13 ERA on the year and should be looking at a promotion at some point in 2010.
• Matt Daly blew the save, allowing 2 ER over 3 hits in the 9th inning.
• Brian Van Kirk (3 for 4) and Welinton Ramirez (1 for 4) both hit a double to lead NH offensively.

LoA Lansing – Lost 6-4

• Dave Sever had a mediocre day, lasting 5 innings, allowing 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 walks and getting 2 Ks.
• Nestor Molina took the loss after allowing 2 runs, 1 earned, over his inning of work.
• Aaron Loup was outstanding again in relief, allowing only 1 walk over his 2 shut out innings. He now hasn’t allowed a run in 6.2 innings and has 9 Ks over this period. He’ll be headed to HiA at some point in the very near future after these performances.
• Ryan Goins was 3 for 4 while Bradley Glenn hit his 2nd HR in 3 days in the losing cause.

1. Lance Broadway RHP
2. Willie Collazo LHP
3. Kyle Drabek RHP
4. Zach Jackson LHP
5. Chad Jenkins RHP
6. Rommie Lewis LHP
7. JP Arencibia C
8. Travis d’Arnaud C
9. Raul Chavez C
10. Brian Jeroloman C
11. Kyle Phillips C
12. Jesus Merchan SS
13. Brett Wallace 1B/3B
14. Joey Gathright OF
15. Adam Loewen OF
16. Chris Lubanski OF
17. Jorge Padilla OF

The question now becomes, should anyone else be invited? And if so, why?

My answer to that, in my humble opinion, is yes, 2 more names should be added to the list. They are:

1. Darin Mastroianni, OF: Mainly because he’s the best OF prospect that is close enough to the majors to have an impact in 2010. Giving him a taste of big league pitching would go a long way to setting his expectations and areas of improvement in 2010.
2. Daniel Farquhar, RP: If any minor league pitcher deserves a look it’s Daniel. Not only is he possibly our closer of the future, but he has the best chance of making a real big impact into the pen in 2010/2011. He could learn a lot from Scott Downs and Jason Frasor before either of them are traded away.

Am I missing anyone? Let me know in the comments.

(more…)

Lance Broadway (image from broadway.tv/blog)

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 had, which meant that on days when he couldn’t locate his pitches, Lance could get himself into lots of trouble. Well, it seems like Lance has had problems with location, because the results have not been there ever since that point.

In 2008: 11-7, 24 GS, 145 IP, 101 Ks, 44 BB, 4.66 ERA, 1.448 WHIP

in 2009: 5-9, 19 GS, 100 IP, 56 Ks, 38 BB, 6.17 ERA, 1.560 WHIP (in the minors)

in 2009: 0-1, 16 GP, 30 IP, 18 Ks, 15 BB, 5.87 ERA (in majors as RP)

There really isn’t anything impressive about those stats and it seems like Lance may have put too much pressure on himself to make perfect pitches. However, since being acquired by the Blue Jays Lance has turned it on in the Venezuelan Winter League:

Winter League: 2-2, 6 GS (10 GP), 37 IP, 30 Ks, 17 BB, 2.65 ERA, and hitters are averaging .185 against him.

There definitely should not be too much emphasis placed on winter stats since the talent level differs so much. But for someone like Lance, it’s very encouraging since it means that he must be locating his pitches a lot better than before. So what can the Jays expect from Lance in spring training and beyond? I’m not really sure since so much of his talent depends on him locating his pitches, but if he can build up his mental toughness, the Jays could wind up with a serviceable #4-5 starter. If he can’t locate his pitches as he has to to be effective, he could wind up in a relief role, which would help him a little by not demanding for him to be perfect for more than 1 or 2 innings.

Lance is still very young at 26 and has the chance to regain his form with the Jays, but getting a chance to pitch in the AL East is not exactly what heightens a pitcher’s performance in most cases. I hope for Lance that he keeps things simple and can find his way back into top form in 2010, as the Jays can use every asset possible to get them back to winning 90+ games.