Today we take our final look at the position players by predicting where the outfielders will land. The outfield projections vary from simple to complex by team.
Las Vegas
Anthony Gose, Moises Sierra and Darin Mastroianni are the top three players who would expect to be in AAA. Mastroianni had his first major league experience last season and has already spent more than a year in AAA. Moises Sierra bounced back from a 2010 filled with injuries to spend all of 2011 in New Hampshire. In addition
Anthony Gose laying the lumber.
Backup positions could go to some combination of Danny Perales or Ricardo Nanita, as well as Mike McCoy who's ability to play the outfield could get him some regular at-bats.
Moises Sierra extends.
New Hampshire
The 2011 New Hampshire outfield of Gose, Sierra and Tolisano/Mastroianni was a big part of the title push. In 2012 the outfield will probably be less productive. John Tolisano is likely to be back in AA, he only hit .221 last season and needs more time in AA. Tolisano would play in left field and the right fielder is likely to be Brad Glenn. Glenn was the second best outfielder on Dunedin in 2011 with 26 home runs and an 833 OPS. The best outfielder in Dunedin was Brian Van Kirk who had 17 home runs and an OPS at 879. Tolisano, Glenn and Van Kirk could share two outfield spots and DH. Ricardo Nanita has re-signed with the Jays and he could be in AAA or AA as a Dh, extra outfielder type.
That leaves the question": Who plays centrefield? Four players shared centrefield in Dunedin in 2011, Brad McElroy, Justin Jackson, Chris Hopkins and Kenny Wilson. McElroy would get the job based on past performance but Justin Jackson could get the job based on future potential.
Dunedin
The Lansing boys will be reunited in Dunedin, Jake Marisnick, Michael Crouse and Marcus Knecht. There are a lot of players vying for the fourth outfield spot. One of McElroy/Jackson, Kenny Wilson, Chris Hopkins and Kenan Bailli.
Marcus Knecht's unusual batting stance.
Lansing
Chris Hawkins is now a third year pro and based on his excellent 2011 in Bluefield should be first in line for the left field job. Kevin Pillar will be 23 when the season starts and after his excellent 2011 he too should get a shot in Lansing. Pillar should be the centrefielder. That leaves left field up for grabs and there are many suitors including: Eli Boike, Marcus Brisker, Jon Jones, Nicholas Baligod, Steve McQuail and Dalton Pompey. Pompey is still young at 19 and will probably stay in extended. Jacob Anderson and Dwight Smith, 2011 draftees, will also stay in extended. The rght field job would probably be filled by a couple of players. Boike played college ball in Lansing at Michigan State. He would be a local favourite and the Lansing owners would probably appreciate having him on the team. Jones is the youngest of those players and had the best numbers in Vancouver and has experience in Lansing. I see Boike and Jones as the favourites for the last outfielder positions in Lansing.
Eric Arce, who is 20, could get the DH job in Lansing.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20120126165009384