There are three prospects pitching in the Venezuelan Winter League (VWL), two in the Dominican Winter League (DWL), and one in the Liga Mexicano del Pacifico (LMP). Three players who were previously mentioned on this list have been removed, as Double-A New Hampshire arms Yohan Pino and Reidier Gonzalez are no longer playing and although Vancouver Canadians reliever Aleson Escalante is listed on the winter leagues website, he hasn’t pitched since October 15.

(more…)

The Jays currently have 11 players (six position players and five pitchers) sprinkled amongst three of the four Caribbean Leagues. The Venezuelan Winter League (VWL) and Dominican Summer League (DWL) each have five Jays prospects playing there right now, with one playing in the Liga Mexicano (LMP). Unlike the Arizona Fall League where players are selected ahead of time, players come and go in these Caribbean Leagues, so I’ll update these every few weeks or once a month.

The Caribbean Leagues give some prospects the chance to return home to their country while also working on their game for next season. The sample sizes are small yet again, but here’s a look at which prospects are playing winter ball and how they’re doing.

(more…)

Here’s a rundown of what the Jays’ pitching prospects have been doing recently down south:

RP Winston Abreu:

Another great under the radar pick up by Alex Anthopoulos that Mat Germain touched on yesterday, here’s a look at his efforts in the Dominican Winter League through 11 games:

(more…)

As for the Winter League update, the Jays have a total of 10 pitching prospects playing winter ball this year. Virtually every one of the Jays pitchers are having impressive campaigns, except for Matt Daly, who seems to be struggling in the Arizona Fall League (11ER in 9.1 innings).

Here’s a look at the success the Jays’ pitching prospects are having so far:

SP Marc Rzepczynski:

Rzepczynski is obviously the most well known Jays player on this list, not only because of his major league experience, but also his ridiculous numbers in the Arizona Fall League so far through 5 starts:

3-0, 0.69 ERA, 26.0ip, 2 ER, 21 hits, 8 BB, 20 Ks, 1.12 WHIP, .223 opp. avg

Marc leads the AFL so far in innings pitched and ERA. He has gone at least 6 innings in each of his last three starts, and he hasn’t given up any home runs. He is really increasing his trade value if needed, but hopefully he can carry this success into next year and have a strong spring. (more…)

The Closer Situation:

There are 2 trains of thought when it comes to closers and I’m sure we know exactly where Alex Anthopolous stands on the issue. There’s 1 train of thought that says you must have a top notch closer to win in baseball, and there’s another that says that you can find a good enough option out there without having to overspend. Well, last off season when Alex Anthopolous took Kevin Gregg on, everyone thought he was crazy. They said he’s get eaten alive in the AL East and would never become the closer. They preferred Scott Downs or Jason Frasor in the role. Well, now that we know what we know, and 37 saves later, Kevin Gregg looked like a decent pickup to fill the void left behind by the injury plagued BJ Ryan.

Now, that’s not to say that this off season will be different. There are some options sitting out there that look very attractive for the Jays and that could help solidify an area that I credit with enough losses to cost the Jays a playoff run. If the Jays pen had been better in 2010, it’s possible that they could have made a better run at the end of the year. Here are my candidates, put in the role either by trade, by FA acquisition, or internally:

Through Trade

1 – Heath Bell – 6-1/ 1.93 ERA/ 70 IP/ 56 HA/ 1 HR/ 28 BB/ 86 Ks

This guy is my top choice if I have the goods to get him and can afford the talent transfer. Not only is he still relatively young at 33, but he’s a great club house presence, would add leadership to the pen, and has been as dominant as it gets in recent years. If the Padres have any chance of being competitive over the next decade, they’re place in the daunting scenario of being forced to trade both Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell. Feels like the Doc Halladay deal did for the Jays, but Gonzo is their big fish. Heath may cost the Jays 2-3 prospects depending on the talent, but he won’t cost a king’s ransom like Gonzo will. It would be a pipe dram for the Jays to get both, but how great would that be?

I know what many people are thinking, take Heath Bell out of San Diego, and maybe he gives up more hits and more HRs, spiking his stats to the negative side. I don’t buy that one bit and can prove it as follows:

Bell’s home stats: 35 games, 131 batters faced, 30 hits allowed (.229 avg), .303 OBP, 2.25 ERA, 19 saves, 13 walks, 48 Ks

Bell’s away stats: 32 games, 122 batters faced, 26 hits allowed (.213 avg), .297 OBP, 1.59 ERA, 28 saves, 15 walks, 38 Ks

Not only did hitters fare worst against Bell while he was on the road, but he lowered his ERA by a fair amount, indicating that he’s more than comfortable feeling the heat of unfriendly crowds.

The cost? I’m not sure, but starting with decent SP and OF prospects would be a good start. They may also have interest in David Cooper or Michael McDade who could give them some protection once they deal Adrian Gonzalez. The Jays would probably want to extend Bell for another 2 years as he is entering his last year of Arbitration after making $4,000,000 in 2010, but they are in a position to afford him and would get exactly the kind of leader the pen needs for a fair price.

2 – Jonathan Papelbon -5-7/ 3.90 ERA/ 67 IP/ 57 HA/ 28 BB/ 76 Ks/ 1.269 Whip (more…)

Marc Rzepczynski was just getting warmed up when the 2010 season ended because he had some issues which limited his innings pitched in 2010. Now pitching in the AFL, Marc has just been named the AFL pitcher of the week and has the following stats over 3 starts in the AFL thus far:

3GS / 14 IP/ 16 Hits Allowed/ 2 ER/ 7 BB/ 9 SO/ 1.29 ERA/ .291 Average Against

What I like about the line above is that it shows how effective Marc has been with runners on, since they are hitting .291 against him yet have only scored 2 runs overall. The AFL has always been known as a hitter’s league, and so it’s great to see this kind of performance from the probable #5 starter for the Jays in 2011.

CF Darin Mastroianni:

Darin is playing in the Venezuelan league where he sports a .406 average with even better .451 OBP! He also has 3 doubles, 2 triples, 1 HR, and 5 SB. He is dominating that league and is definitely earning a shot at manning an OF or bench position with the Jays in 2011 if he has a really strong spring.

1B Michael McDade:

Michael is playing in the AFL and has made a nice impact for his squad. His numbers are as follows:

.327 avg/ 18 hits/ 6 doubles/ 1 HR/ 9 RBI/ .431 OBP/ .491 SLG

While the AFL is a hitter’s league, Michael is making this kind of impact having only played as high as HiA ball at 21 years old, which heightens the impact of his stats. He’ll get a shot in AA in 2011 and should do very well.

RP Alan Farina:

One of the lesser known RP in the system, Alan is also pitching in the AFL and is making quick work of their hitters.

6.2 IP/ 5 hits allowed/ 1 ER/ no walks/ 5 Ks/ 0.75 whip/ 1.35 ERA

It’s a tiny sample size, but with so much emphasis on hitting in the AFL, it makes Farina look pretty great. The only thing working against Alan is his age, as he is already 24 and so is expected to dominate at this level.

SP Henderson Alvarez:

I’m actually surprised he has pitched as much as he has this winter, but Henderson is continuing to do well – not very well, just well – as he faces hitters in Venezuela. (more…)

The Good

In reality, this should be named “The Great” category because there are a bunch of things to be really excited about in the minors for the Jays.

• Marc Rzepczynski threw 7.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing only 3 hits, 1 walk while striking out 9 in AAA. It’s fair to say that he’s back on track and should be the next arm in the rotation is and when the Jays need one!
• Brett Wallace is also getting back on track, perhaps due to Jarrett Hoffpauir’s promotion that serves as motivation to crank it up.  He has hit .372 over his last 10 games with a .404 OBP and 2 HRs in his last 5 games.
• Mike McCoy is taking his demotion in stride, hitting 2 HRs over his first 3 games in AAA and sporting a .467 OBP over his first 12 ABs there. (more…)

Here’s a revision of the in-season moves that have added to the ever-changing Jays depth and bench:

1. 4/13/10: Every single Jays fan was aware that the Jays had no in-house SS option at any level in the minors that seemed to be on the rise or able to handle SS duties in MLB within the next 3-4 years. So what does AA do? Well, he steals what most believe was the best international SS prospect from under their hated rivals nose when he acquires Adeiny Hechavarria. Sure, the kid is rough around the edges and will take some time to develop, but a 1-2 year time-line is better than anything that was going to be available on the FA market or in the draft, so this was by far the most important and best acquisition made by AA.
2. 4/15/10: The second acquisition was Fred Lewis from the Giants for peanuts and a bobble head of Alex Anthopolous that says “gotcha” continuously. We all know the impact he’s had in settling the top of the lineup and he’s learning to hit the inside pitches….oh oh…. (more…)

The most interesting part of the New Hampshire game yesterday was the fact that Ronald Uviedo, recently acquired from the Pirates, was the starter! It was the first start of his 2010 season as he was expected by most to remain in the pen, where he has been more than effective. Ronald did well as a starter in 2009 with 21 GS for a season total of 110 IP, 89 Ks, 30 BB, and a 3.35 ERA. It’ll be interesting to see if he continues to start and how well he does as he stretches himself out. Yesterday’s game had his struggling with control, but also mostly unhittable as he walked 3 and allowed only 1 hit over 3 IP. He allowed 3 ERs in the game and was relieved by Bubbie Bzachero who threw 4 stellar shut out innings. Daniel Farquhar picked up his 14th save of the season in this one, a 5-4 win over Altoona. (more…)