I really wish that someone down the road can do some analysis on minor league systems and the support given through those in charge of player development and coaches, and how that impacts what direction each players' career takes. JP took a lot of heat for drafting Romero ahead of Tulo, but is Tulo the same player if he comes through the Jays system? Is Romero the same player if he went through the Rockies system? It's really subjective and perhaps we'll never know.

In addition the last Blue Jay season ended in some controversy with the firing of several hitting coaches.

Gerry...what was the controversy?

"It is a little interesting that a few hitting coaches would be fired, and then later Scott was also fired.  If they knew they were getting rid of Scott why would they let him get rid of the hitting coaches?  Perhaps at the time they didn't know, or more likely, they supported the move regardless of Scott's outlook."

I'm pretty sure the hitting coaches were dumped at the end of the minor league season, so that was JP's call.

I'm all for the "if things are broke, then you fix it" approach, but I believe the influence of coaches are pretty marginal in player development.  I believe the cream rises to the top, the Jays have just been drafting the wrong players much more often then the right players.  Chalk that up to scouting and the GM.

Any links to interviews with LaCava from the past?

And kudos to Dick Scott for giving BB his time even though he probably knew he was gone.  I thought I detected a tone of apathy (compared to his normal excitement level) in his recent mini interview.

Pistol, it looks to me that Tinnish is running the amateur draft now.

I have met Charlie Wilson, although he is from Toronto he is based in Dunedin and handles all the administration for the minor league system.  Here is a story I did on Charlie back in 2006. 

I am not sure if his promotion is a change in title from manager to director or a change in responsibilities too.

Player development is a funny thing.  At the major league level, you have the players that theoretically need the least amount of coaching and the organizationi has the best coaches they can find at that level.  At the lower levels with the youngest players, you have the youngest, most inexperienced coaches as well.  The system is fundamentally flawed, but you can't fix that.

I liked Joyce and thought that he did a good job in the system.  I liked Charles Poe as well, but can understand that move.

I hope the minor league system keeps Clayton McCullough who managed Lansing the past few seasons.  He is in his mid to late 20's, but I think he has a heck of a future in coaching.  Who knows what will happen now.  The new director of player development may want to change a few more coaches in the system.

increased emphesis on potential trades

Roy Halladay?

The system is very flawed, Bart Given posted on his blog a while back, commenting on the situation of nutrition in the low minor leagues. That short season A-ball post game spreads might consist of a bag of Wonder Bread and a jar of peanut butter. Is this the proper eating for players aged 17-20 who physically exert themselves everyday? I rarely exert myself and that would be hardly passable for a good meal. He talked about how the Indians have nutrtionists throughout their minor league operations, ensuring that players are getting enough fruits and vegetables. And it makes sense. If the average person can't function eating peanut butter sandwiches all day, how would you expect an 18 year old to do hitting a baseball in 100 degree heat?

I agree with you guys..The problem on the nutritional end as far as post game spreads go is that those are provided and paid for by the minor league team.  If you have a team that is financially stable, post game spreads are not a problem.  I can tell you that the guys in Lansing in paticular are well taken care of on homestands in regards to post game meals.  If the minor league team is financially struggling however, it becomes more of a challenge to provide a nice post game spread. 

To do this, you need your affiliates to be strong financially as well.  Unfortunately, that is not the case in all places.  Like all minor league sports, it thrives in some places and yet in others, it is a challenge to even be able to pay to turn the lights on for night games.

Ducey "submitted a $350,000 bonus to scout Japan"? What does that mean exactly? Oh, I forgot, it's the Toronto Sun.

Workouts and the facilities for workouts are one thing as they are part of the job, but isn't the "post-game food" just a perk. I agree it'd be a good perk to have a nutritionist for athletes, but there are very few jobs where being fed is part of the bargain - even these 17-20 year olds are professionals. It isn't unreasonable that a proper diet is the within the purview of these professional athletes themselves?

I don't really disagree with what's been said above and I definitely agree trainers, coaches and even nutritionists could be a good thing for player development, but I just don't see why the Jays organization should be getting flack for the players eating, which is their responsibility.

Here here!  These players got fairly hefty bonuses and get paid a salary, how about putting some of the responsibility on them?  Its not like we're talking about breeding race horses here, these are men who should do everything in their power to get better since their earning potential is unlimited.  I would be surprised if the Jays do some sort of nutrition education for the new kids every year.

I have reached out to AA to congratulate him on behalf of Batters Box.  I told him that we all wish for him to be successful.  He said he would be willing to talk but not until the new year, likely before spring training.

We need to give him time to lay out his plan to the mainstream media and to see if there are gaps in what the those media ask him.

Edited....

Hootie can you e-mail me at minors at batters box dot ca

When Keith Law was on the FAN he was asked about this situation (perhaps indirectly, I don't remember the exact wording). Anyhow, he said that he was confident that Anthopolous would remain GM when the new President is hired. He said it would be very difficult for the new President to fire or reassign Anthopolous and he speculated that Beeston possibly had already run Anthopolous by the name(s) he had in mind.

I'd be very surprised if the new President makes any personnel moves in the front office.

We need to give him time to lay out his plan to the mainstream media and to see if there are gaps in what the those media ask him.

Oh there'll be gaps.

Some fun with numbers: The entire Dunedin team could have healthy meals after each home game during the entire season -  at a price that is equivalent to what Vernon Wells makes in 2 (Two) at bats.
They would even have money let over for some nice desserts.

Sad thing is you're probably being generous.

$20m/650 AB's = $30.7k.

25 players X $10 per head X 70 game sched = $17500 (don't argue cost per person, this is just for reference)

The Good: AA made a move by shuffling the pieces he knows - and he moved fast!.

The Bad: Does he know anything else?

The Ugly: Apparently, Lalonde's move to "professional" scouting is because there may be "Trades" - shudder - Halladay?

Shi Davidi has some interesting quotes from AA in today's Globe.

“Instead of trying to go toe-to-toe and dollar-for-dollar in terms of player acquisition and so on — and I think one day we may be able to do that with the fan base here and the upside of the market — where we stand today, let's go toe-to-toe with staffing, let's go toe-to-toe in terms of employees.

“If we can get the best scouts, the best player development people that can come in here, the results from the players side that we're going to see from a development and talent aquisition standpoint, whether it's trade or drafting, should lead to great results up in Toronto.”

And

"Scouting and development is very important to me,” he said. “It's going to be the pillar of what we do here.”

It sounds to me that the new direction is towards more player development and less big spending.

There are two parts to pro scouting, one is the advance scouting.  The other is general scouting on every player in the majors and upper levels of the minors.  Major league players approaching free agency are scouted, possible non-tenders, newer players who might be involved in a trade some day.  In addition all AAA and AA  players are scouted and some teams actively scout below that.  When the Reds agreed to take Rolen the Jays had to know who to ask for, whether that player was on the Reds major league or minor league rosters.  The Blue Jays would have a scouting file on every player above AA in the other 29 teams organizations.  That is 87 teams and over 2,200 players.  By the time an opposing player reaches the majors the Blue Jays should have three to five scouting reports on the player and by the end of his first year they would have several more.

Most clubs have about six to eight pro scouts.  One or two might be advance scouts although these days some of that work is done on video.  The other pro scouts usually split the other 29 teams.  Some teams do it by league so a pro scout might have the NL Central as his territory.  That means he scouts the major league and minor leagues of each team in the NL central.  That gives him 18 teams at AA or above to scout.  Scouts usually follow a team for 4 or 5 days to try and see all the pitchers and the relievers and see the position players over several days.  18 teams times 5 days each is 90 days.  If you see them twice in a season that's 180 days.  Impossible to do since the minor league season is 150 days or so.

More scouts would give each scout less teams to cover so they could see each team more often.  It could also allow scouts to follow teams as low as high A.  This could help a team with a trade or sometimes they might pick up a useful arm who was released by another team.  Sometimes a change of scenery works for a player.

Sometimes the best deals are when you get a player at A ball "thrown in" to a deal.  If you scout well you can pick up a good player while the other team might look at the player being traded as a long shot because he is two years away from the majors. 

Back in 2005 I interviewed Blue Jay pro scout Kimball Crossley.  Here is that interview and in it he explains his job.

Something we can look for from the Blue Jays under Anthopoulos is more of a running, bunting, sacrificing kind of offense.  I read an article on the Slam website quoting Alex as saying he likes the Angels way of playing the game, the way they run the bases, the "fundamentals".  No doubt there are fans who will agree with this approach and others who will disagree.  For several years the Angels have been the type of team that doesn't draw a lot of walks, that likes "free swingers", that runs a lot, etc.  I for one, do not think this is the best approach - I prefer the patient type hitter who draws walks, works the count, wears down the opposing starter, and hits home runs.  I hate the bunt, except in very rare circumstances, and think the stolen base is over rated because of the high cost of the caught stealing (taking a runner off the bases, plus putting an out up on the scoreboard).  Gaston has never been one to use the bunt much, which is one of the few things I like about him, so he may not be the type of manager AA wants, but on the other hand I believe Alex has said that he wants Gaston as the manager, so who knows.  Not looking forward to the Jays adapting the Angels-type offensive strategy, but let's see to what extent that actually happens.  Not like they have a lot of patient hitters on the team now anyway, but if they start bunting a lot, count me out.

AA hires an assistant:

 "The Blue Jays will hire Nationals scouting director Dana Brown as a special assistant to new GM Alex Anthopoulos, according to Bob Elliot of The Toronto Sun."

christaylor,

I live in Korea and for the past few years I have been able to watch ALL 30 teams games. There are no blackouts in Korea. Even if the fine print on the mlb.com does seem to say otherwise..