John Sickels is one of the best sources of evaluations of minor league players. His evaluations tend to be a little more statistically oriented compared to Baseball America, but they certainly aren't the only basis for his evaluations.
Sickels has recently completed the 2004 Baseball Prospect Book and is taking orders for the book, to be delivered in February (for those that might use this as a Roto tool).
I purchased the 2003 edition last year and I would highly recommend it to anyone that is interested in minor league players. It's a great reference source for an independent view of the Jays' prospects and all other minor league players. I know I used it frequently throughout the year, and especially when minor leaguers were included in trades.
There's approximately 800 evaluations, each with a letter grade, with minor league statistics for all players evaulated.
One of the features of the book that Sickels does is a 50/50 prospect list - ranking the top 50 pitchers and top 50 position players. The lists are available now to anyone that has ordered the book.
Here is how the Jays prospects stacked up:
Pitchers
7. Dustin McGowan A-
24. David Bush B+
40. Josh Banks B+
Hitters
14. Alexis Rios B+
23. Guillermo Quiroz B+
25. Gabe Gross B+
30. Aaron Hill B+
40. Russ Adams B
My observations from the list:
* I would have expected Rios and Quiroz to be ranked a little bit higher than they were.
* The Jays' first 2 picks in the 2003 draft are both thought highly of.
* Sickels still believes that Adams will be a good player, but Arnold has fallen off the top 50 list.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20031224023429999