Four comments on a nice but short summary:

1. I don't know where John Sickels got Alexis' weight as 180; the two figures I saw were 195 and 206. I suspect Sickels' figure is old.

2. Rios' defence in centerfield (range and arm) received raves from opponents.

3. Sickels' article didn't put Rios' offence in context. The Eastern League is a pitcher's league and New Haven's park favour left-handed hitters (with a short right-field porch like Yankee Stadium) and punishes right-handed hitters such as Quiroz and Rios, who both hit much better on the road than at home. By all accounts, Rios hits monster home runs from right to left center, and there are no cheapies at home for him.

4. Rios made a number of baserunning errors during the season.

I saw Rios about a half dozen times this year. I suspect that Sickel's weight of 180 was before the season, or at the end of last season.

If I were to guess I would guess that he's in the 190-195 range right now.

The $2,000,000 question would seem to be:

Is Rios' fantastic 2003 season a natural progression of talent identified by the Ash regime, or is it the result of the emphasis placed on plate discipline instilled by the Ricciardi regime?

No, it's not really an either/or question, but I'm curious where the split is. Same for Quiroz; is it coincidence that both these former toolsy hackers began to show offensive progress when Ricciardi took over?

MLE of .310/.360/.460?

Wow.

Is Rios' fantastic 2003 season a natural progression of talent identified by the Ash regime, or is it the result of the emphasis placed on plate discipline instilled by the Ricciardi regime?

You can't have one without the other. All the coaching and player development in the world won't turn your average tenth-round pick into a superstar.

I saw Rios on 2 broadcasts this year and I really don't like the Gonzalez comparison(other than their both from P.R.) Rios is much more tall, angular and wiry. His shoulders are very narrow so I doubt he has the frame to carry more than 200lbs. He's very tall, maybe even taller than listed. I'd compare him build wise to former Houston Astro Enos Cabell, frankly he looks sort of odd, built like a basketball player not a baseball positional player.

He's very fast, saw him beat out 2 infield singles, has a fairly long swing plane which indicates some power, but what I liked best, he has absolutely great plate coverage. With those long arms and a fairly quick bat he can really put good swings on pitches just on the periphery of the strike-zone.(A little like Vlad Guerrerro) At any rate a very interesting prospect

Wildrose, Dave Winfield when he was young was built like this. I've seen pictures of Rios from a number of angles, and I'd be surprised if his frame could not handle 20-25 extra lbs by the time he's in his early 30s. He's got the kind of build and skills that mark him as the kind of player who could be very good into his late 30s. The only question in my mind about him is his emotional maturation process. We'll watch how he does in Triple A next year with great interest.

A 'superstar' tag from Sickels is about as good as they come - I'm impressed. I knew Rios' stock had risen, but I didn't know it was this high.

Love to talk about Rios!
The Gonzalez comparision is basically for the contact, power combination, assuming that such power potential is fullfilled ( along with the arms muscles ).
I like the Winfield comparision, but my bet goes with a Vernon very Wells comp...
He is making strides with his onfield performance. He was a third base in HS, LF in low A and now he is mastering center field. Has very good arm for all of those positions, but I guess he is too tall for third.
His strugless in low A, could be linked strongly to cultural, language, emotional, life style shocks.
The longer he hangs with Delgado the better for Rios and The Jays. Carlos can tutor him about the thousand and one nuances of major league baseball and pitching and the nice things about living in Toronto.
As Carlos, Alexis is a very inteligent young man, and strongly believe he will mature soundly and in time ( avoiding the Felipe Lopez syndrome ).
Mike G, the baserunning errs were the dozen stolen bases? ( joking )

I think when all is said and done, Alexis Rios will take his place alongside Tony Fernandez, Carlos Delgado, Shawn Green and Vernon Wells as the best position players ever produced by the Blue Jays.

I guess the question now is whether it's Rios or Dustin McGowan or neither who is the top Jays prospect (perhaps it's on-base machine Gabe Gross, Quiroz or even Jason Arnold if he can rebound from an off year in 2003 much like Gross rebounded from an off year in 2002). BA had McGowan rated as the Jays best prospect heading into 2003 and, since both Rios and McGowan had strong years, I wonder who they will rate as the Jays' best prospect heading into 2004. I'm betting BA will rank Rios as the Jays' best prospect as he was a finalist for their minor league player of the year award; however, although it's tough to compare pitchers to position players in terms of their potential, I'd chose McGowan as a better prospect given that he's a year younger than Rios and given the fact that the organization needs quality pitching.

If Rios can develop some Gross-esque patience at the plate, he could be something special. His approach at the plate seems to be very similar to Vernon Wells in that he can hit for a very high average but could take the next leap forward by being a little more selective. As it stands, however, I'd be delighted if Rios turned out anything like Wells.

Given Quiroz's age and production this year I think he's at the same prospect level as Rios or McGowan, and possibly higher.

Hmmm .... BA's 2004 Top Ten prospects for Toronto? I think they'll rank 'em this way:

1. Alexis Rios
2. Dustin McGowan
3. Guillermo Quiroz
4. Gabe Gross
5. Jason Arnold
6. David Bush
7. Aaron Hill
8. Jayson Werth
9. Russ Adams
10. DJ Hanson

BA aren't tools slaves, but they do like potential and they do like power; they also like guys who are close to the majors.

By way of showing how much has changed for this organization in a year, here's BA's 2003 Top Ten:

1. Dustin McGowan
2. Jayson Werth
3. Kevin Cash
4. Francisco Rosario
5. Jason Arnold
6. Brandon League
7. Alexis Rios
8. Russ Adams
9. John-Ford Griffin
10. Vinny Chulk

Tell you what, I like the class of '04 better.

I can't wait to see what kind of pitcher Rosario will be post-Tommy John surgery. Assuming he's ready to start the year in April, I'd wager that he'll start at Dunedin with a promotion to Manchester waiting for him the moment he re-establishes himself as the kind of pitcher he was prior to the adversity he encountered in 2002's AFL.

Jordan, I don't know what BA will do, but it seems to me that the top 6 are Rios, Quiroz, Gross, Hill, McGowan and Bush (not necessarily in that order-hitters listed first). There are probably 10 prospects who could creditably be listed in the 7-10 spots, including Rosario, Vermilyea, Banks, League and Marcum.

The two who are most likely to have top-drawer careers are Rios and McGowan, but I'd venture a guess that Quiroz, Gross, Hill and Bush are more likely to reach their apex earlier in their careers.

Hmm...I didn't think Rios' MLE was that high. Pretty impressive. I believe MLEs are supposed to take into account park factors so I think Sickel's MLE should include the fact that Rios hit in a pitcher's park. Though I'm unsure if it goes as deep as lefty/righty splits.

Rios and McGowan are most definately the best combination of ceiling and current production in the organization.

I would rate him ahead of McGowan just because of the nature of young pitchers and give him an edge over Quiroz despite the positional advantage of the latter; I just think Rios is a better pure hitter though for GQ to show the patience and power he has at his age is no small feat. If he takes another step forward offensively he might vault to the head of the list once you account for his defence behind the plate.

That's a pretty fine trio of prospects. Probably better than what the Expos gave up for Colon (though to be fair Brandon Phillips appears rushed).

That's a fascinating comparison.

Sizemore vs. Rios was explored in a recent edition of Baseball America. They concluded that Sizemore was more polished as a hitter, but that Rios has more power, range, and a way better throwing arm. It really depends on your taste in baseball players. Sizemore is a better bet to stick, while Rios has a better chance at being a superstar.

Cliff Lee >>> Dustin McGowan right now. He's two levels ahead of him, and he hasn't had any arm problems yet. McGowan has fantastic potential, but a wise man once said, there's no such thing as a pitching prospect :)

I'm guessing Quiroz will follow the path of many young catchers, and struggle to establish himself as a major league hitter. Even though Phillips was rushed, the complete and utter collapse of all aspects of his game suggest there was more to it than just being rushed.

For those of you with subscriptions to Baseball America, there is a scouting feature on the top outfielders in the minor leagues. As a non-subscriber, I can ony guess that Alex Rios is at or near the top of the list. (That sure is a dandy pic of Lexi on the front page, eh?). If someone could shed some light into the reports/rankings of Rios, Gross, et al., that would be greatly appreciated.

Rios was indeed ranked #1 ahead of Sizemore. Gross finished 11th. JFG was in the "best of the rest" category and Ty Godwin was in the "sleeper" category.

Rios was indeed ranked #1 ahead of Sizemore. Gross finished 11th. JFG was in the "best of the rest" category and Ty Godwin was in the "others to watch" category.

all of you remember Juan Gonzalez when he sing? the same body,weight,a little small than Alexis Rios.I Remember like today because im current resident of Puerto Rico,I belive in a short time he its going to be in mayors.