Blue Jays Minor League Depth – Third Base

Andy Burns. Credit: Cody Smith//NH Fisher Cats/MiLB.com

To the hot corner we go on our list on the Blue Jays minor league depth. We will continue to go through MLB ready talent, minor league reserves, break out candidates, and long shots.

After an offseason of changes we hit a position that will be dominated by new acquisition Josh Donaldson for the foreseeable future.  Having Donaldson brings some stability to the 3rb base position which has been in disarray the past few seasons.  Brett Lawrie was part of the trade that brought Donaldson to the Jays.  Me personally I loved the style of play Lawrie brought to the team but his inability to stay healthy hurt the ball club.  Having Donaldson slide in as a result of the trade brings the same high energy player into the position but with a proven track record.  The self appointed Bringer of Rain will bring his powerful bat and talented glove into our lineup everyday.  Playing 158 games in his first 2 full seasons is the type of consistence we need.

Depth behind him consists of previously mentioned players like Danny Valencia, Steve Tolleson, Matt Hague, and Matthew Dean.  The rest of the list shakes out with the remaining players with 3B experience.  The list is rather thin because so many of our 3rd basemen in our system are mainly used in other positions first.

Toronto Blue Jays

MLB Ready Talent ?

–Andy Burns– Looking to figure it out

Burns has been an intriguing power hitter playing for New Hampshire the past season and a half.  After having a stellar start to his 2013 season in Dunedin he crashed in his first half season with New Hampshire.  In 2014 he played the entire season with New Hampshire hoping to continue his climb toward the majors.  In that full season he had a rough time batting .255.  Looking at his offensive stats shows some potential.  His bat has good pop posting 32 doubles, 5 triples, and 15 home runs.  Those hits helped him drive in 63 RBI.  Burns also has some decent speed and stole 18 bases and scored 71 run.  I think his batting average will climb if he can get his strikeout to walk ratio down.  He is striking out double the amount of times he walks (99 k’s – 41 BB).  Plate discipline appears to be the issue but I would guess he is a player with a Carlos Pena like ceiling as a hitter.