A Fortnight On The Farm: Volume Six

This is a sort of fascinating time for a minor league check in, particularly with the major league squad considering themselves contenders. Five days remain in which there may be a flurry of trades which will potentially shuffle the situation of some of these teams. Those left standing a week from now may find that promotions are about to ensue (we’ve already seen a few) and the organization will be looking to see who needs a fresh challenge down the stretch.

Buffalo via Trenton (for the last time)
More and more Jays fans, quite rightly, are banging the drum for SS Kevin Smith to be promoted and while you have to give props to Santiago Espinal for his work at 3B, if the Jays are looking to add a bat (Ramirez, if I’m dreaming, or Bryant, Escobar, some such) and fail then a guy who can supplement 3B and had 18 homers in his 66 AAA games on the record already is hard to ignore. I’m assuming he won’t be added to the 40 before the trade deadline (if at all) but if he’s not part of a deal, there will be every reason to get him up …

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Author: Tammy Rainey / Blue Jays Nation

Building a Sustainable Contender

Without a salary cap in a league, there will always be small markets in a league. Baseball is one of those sports that doesn’t have a salary cap.

Toronto is one of the largest cities in North America and is by no means a small market, yet, the Jays Front Office has used tactics often seen in small-market teams. How did the Jays turn an old team with a barren farm into a team that is a contender with a top-seven farm system in the MLB? Well, the short version is that they used small market tactics to create a sustainable contender.
The beginning
2015 and 2016 were fun. I only started watching baseball a lot around 2014, meaning that my fondest memory of the Jays came in the two following years. Alex Anthopoulos built a team that in all honesty should have won the World Series in 2015. In 2016, Atkins and Shapiro had taken over, but the team’s makeup was largely thanks to AA.
While 2015 and 2016 were nice, AA didn’t leave much for the future. He signed Russell Martin to a bad contract, he traded for a Troy Tulowitzki who was constantly injured as a Blue Jays. These moves helped …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

A Fortnight On The Farm: Mid-Season Edition (Part One, The Draft and Triple-A)

This is the unofficial midway point of the major league season but the literal halfway point for many minor league teams (the recent extension of the schedule and addition of playoffs notwithstanding). It’s a really good time to take a look at the progress so far and what sort of impact that could or should have on prospect rankings and valuations inside and outside the organization.

On Sunday the team added a new Top Prospect to the list in the form of University of Mississippi RHP Gunnar Hoglund, and made me look smart in the process.

I mean, I so seldom get to do this… pic.twitter.com/aDzaEBKElU
— Tammy Rainey WarrenDemocrat (@Tammy_Beth) July 12, 2021

Shi Davidi had this quote after the pick from the Blue Jays scouting director Shane Farrel:
“We saw a little pick up in fastball velocity this year. Combining that with his upper level ability to command the ball to both sides of the plate and throw the slider off the fastball is what really drove us to make the selection.”

Hoglund was originally thought to be in line to be the third college starter selected back before the season when everyone had the Vandy …

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Author: Tammy Rainey / Blue Jays Nation

The Toronto Raptors need a woman on the bench next season

The Toronto Raptors need a woman on the bench next season

The NBA has demonstrated itself to be a progressive league, especially in comparison to other sports. The Toronto Raptors, like the league, have taken steps to be vocal advocates for equality, as evidenced by their antiracism campaign. Though the franchise named John Wiggins to oversee organizational culture and inclusion, there still appears to be a […]
The Toronto Raptors need a woman on the bench next season – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Jeff Borsuk / Raptors HQ

Analyzing the up-and-down start to Alek Manoah’s big league career

Alek Manoah has had an up and down start to his Major League career.

He’s had very good outings in tough situations, pitching very well against the Yankees, White Sox, and Red Sox on the road, but he’s also struggled against weak opponents in the Marlins and Orioles.
His season earned run average of 4.18 doesn’t look great, especially when it comes with a 6.18 FIP and 4.52 xFIP, but prior to that Orioles start his ERA was a sparkling 2.66. He may not be the saviour of the rotation everyone expected but he has given the team quality innings and most importantly has taken the ball every turn through the rotation so the team doesn’t have to worry about a bullpen game once a week.
With five starts under his belt, this is a good chance to evaluate how Manoah is doing, what his attack plan for hitters has been, and how hitters made adjustments now that they have some video on him.
We will begin with the fastball. Manoah has thrown his fastball 42.9% of the time. He typically throws the fastball up in the zone, as he did in his first three starts…

There is nothing there in …

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Author: Paul Berthelot / Blue Jays Nation

Meet the Sellers: Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are a hot mess.

They sit second-last in the National League West, only ahead of the miserable Arizona Diamondbacks (who will be examined in the next “Meet the Sellers” segment). The Rockies, as of June 21st, hold a record of 30-43, 16.5 games back of the Giants and unlikely to compete with three dominant teams ahead of them.
The big story (pun intended) for the Rockies is the likely selling of superstar shortstop, Trevor Story. In the Blue Jays’ case, I personally do not see the fit right now. I am adamantly against moving Bichette from his regular SS position because I think he needs to continue developing there. I think he still has a chance to be a very good defender, despite the occasional hiccups. Moreover, the Blue Jays have a plethora of right-handed power bats at their disposal already, and bringing one in to move your young star SS to a new position seems unnecessary to me.
Despite this, the Rockies still have some higher profiled names expected to be available. They have a couple of high-end starting pitchers available for trade, as well as a couple of valuable bullpen pieces. One of the starting pitchers …

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Author: Eric Lightfoot / Blue Jays Nation

The Blue Jays are severing all ties with Roberto Alomar amidst sexual misconduct allegation

Major League Baseball has placed Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar on its ineligible list following an investigation of sexual misconduct allegations, commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Friday.

Alomar had been working with Major League Baseball as a consultant in Puerto Rico and is now banned from working in the league office or for any team in the majors or affiliated minors. He had also been working with the Blue Jays as a special assistant but was let go as part of an overarching restructure by the organization back in September of 2020.
The Blue Jays have announced that they support MLB’s decision and will be severing ties with Alomar. This means that the team will be removing Alomar’s name from the Level of Excellence and removing his No. 12 banner from the rafters at the Rogers Centre.
Here’s a statement issued by the team and one from Mark Shapiro…

Finally, the Hall of Fame issued a statement saying that Alomar’s plaque at Cooperstown “will remain on display in the Hall of Fame in recognition of his accomplishments in the game, and his enshrinement reflects his eligibility and the perspective of the BBWAA voters at that time.”
…

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Alek Manoah will start in Triple-A, Simeon Woods Richardson, Jordan Groshans, and Austin Martin to Double-A

The Minor League Baseball season is right around the corner!

It’s been quite some time since we had Bisons or Fishers Cats or D-Jays or Canadians box scores to fawn over as the past year-and-a-bit has seen all minor-league ball streamlined into Alternate Training Sites.
This year will be a little different for the minor leagues. The Bisons will be playing in Trenton, the Fisher Cats will remain the same in New Hampshire, the Dunedin Blue Jays are now a Low-A team, and the Vancouver Canadians, who are playing in Oregon, are the new High-A team. There also isn’t Rookie League anymore and the Bluefield Blue Jays no longer exist.
We don’t yet know the full rosters that the Blue Jays farm teams will be operating with, but we learned yesterday about where a few key names will start their seasons.
Simeon Woods Richardson and Jordan Groshans will start with the Fisher Cats in Double-A. The last time Groshans played was all the way back in May of 2019 with the Low-A Lansing Lugnuts while Woods Richardson made six starts for High-A Dunedin after being acquired from the Mets in the Marcus Stroman trade.
And then there’s …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Alek Manoah will start in Triple-A, Simeon Woods Richardson and Jordan Groshans to Double-A, no word yet on Austin Martin

The Minor League Baseball season is right around the corner!

It’s been quite some time since we had Bisons or Fishers Cats or D-Jays or Canadians box scores to fawn over as the past year-and-a-bit has seen all minor-league ball streamlined into Alternate Training Sites.
This year will be a little different for the minor leagues. The Bisons will be playing in Trenton, the Fisher Cats will remain the same in New Hampshire, the Dunedin Blue Jays are now a Low-A team, and the Vancouver Canadians, who are playing in Oregon, are the new High-A team. There also isn’t Rookie League anymore and the Bluefield Blue Jays no longer exist.
We don’t yet know the full rosters that the Blue Jays farm teams will be operating with, but we learned yesterday about where a few key names will start their seasons.
Simeon Woods Richardson and Jordan Groshans will start with the Fisher Cats in Double-A. The last time Groshans played was all the way back in May of 2019 with the Low-A Lansing Lugnuts while Woods Richardson made six starts for High-A Dunedin after being acquired from the Mets in the Marcus Stroman trade.
And then there’s …

Read More

Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Alek Manoah will start in Triple-A, Simeon Woods Richardson and Jordan Groshans to Double-A

The Minor League Baseball season is right around the corner!

It’s been quite some time since we had Bisons or Fishers Cats or D-Jays or Canadians box scores to fawn over as the past year-and-a-bit has seen all minor-league ball streamlined into Alternate Training Sites.
This year will be a little different for the minor leagues. The Bisons will be playing in Trenton, the Fisher Cats will remain the same in New Hampshire, the Dunedin Blue Jays are now a Low-A team, and the Vancouver Canadians, who are playing in Oregon, are the new High-A team. There also isn’t Rookie League anymore and the Bluefield Blue Jays no longer exist.
We don’t yet know the full rosters that the Blue Jays farm teams will be operating with, but we learned yesterday about where a few key names will start their seasons.
Simeon Woods Richardson and Jordan Groshans will start with the Fisher Cats in Double-A. The last time Groshans played was all the way back in May of 2019 with the Low-A Lansing Lugnuts while Woods Richardson made six starts for High-A Dunedin after being acquired from the Mets in the Marcus Stroman trade.
And then there’s …

Read More

Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation