Toronto Blue Jays: Baseball America Top 30 Series, 2007

Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

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In the midst of the offseason that had Alex Anthopoulos jump ship we thought it would be the perfect time to review the impact he had on the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system. Namely, we want to know how many drafted players were making it to The Show under J.P. Ricciardi’s drafts in comparison to how many have made it from the first 3 Anthopoulos led drafts.

The first season we’ll cover is 2007, which will provide us with 3 drafts that were from the Ricciardi ERA (2007, 2008, and 2009), one of transition (2010), and three that were from the Anthopoulos ERA (2011, 2012, and 2013). I really believe you’ll find a couple of trends as we move through these, including the top-heavy nature of how Ricciardi built his system in comparison to the broad depth and awesome talent that Anthopoulos was able to gather.

We’ll split these up by 10 per table in order to keep things legible and easy to follow. The categories of the table will include the level reached, MLB GP (games played), and MLB Stats. Each grouping of 10 will be assessed for impact with an overall grade. Here we go!

Next: First up is the 1B traded for Marco Estrada

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

BaseBall America 2007 Toronto Blue Jays Top 3o: 1 – 10

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There were 4 impactful MLB caliber guys developed out of the top 10, good for a 40% success rate. Lind is obviously the best of the bunch despite Snider possibly being the most hyped of the group. Romero looked poised to have a great career until injuries and other issues slowed him down.

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I don’t think you’ll find one Blue Jays fan that ever thought Travis Snider would wind up having the career he’s had. Everyone had him being a power-hitting RF for years in Toronto. You can’t fault the Jays and Ricciardi for this lackluster result, it just wasn’t meant to be.

David Purcey almost cracked MLB long-term but wasn’t able to build a niche for himself despite having a pretty live arm.

The one who may yet crack MLB on this list, surprisingly, is the suddenly hot Fuenmayor. He’s still a surprisingly young 25 years old and had a great season in 2015 after revamping his approach at the plate. That led to a .358/.384/.589 line with 47 extra base hits in only 378 PA. Still in the Royals system, in AAA, he may very well get a shot to prove himself in 2016 if a spot opens up or may become trade bait. Being so young, he is just getting into his prime so anything is possible.

Next: Next up, 11 through 20

Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

BaseBall America 2007 Toronto Blue Jays Top 3o: 21 – 30

[table id=133 /]

Just as in the 11 to 20 list, the 21 to 30 only has 1 real gem in it. This time it’s an infielder that remained an infielder in Ryan Roberts. He last saw action with the Red Sox and was mostly used as a utility player and ended up being an important piece of the Diamondbacks for a few years. Roberts tried to catch on with the Royals (as pictured above) this season and had he suited up for a game he would have received a WS ring. That’s how close it can be some times.

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The lack of other break outs in this portion of the rankings is a symptom of what was a major issue under J.P. Ricciardi. Nobody ever questioned the fact that he could pick the right guys at the top of the draft and make the most of his top picks, but he truly lacked the ability to find guys in the later portions of the draft, something that could have provided some much needed depth. That was true in the draft, and it was reflected in the BA rankings and their career results.

We’ll have 2008 and beyond coming out soon, so continue checking in to Jays Journal for the rest of the series.