Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - 2012 Minor League Players

2012 Minor League Players - Outfielders

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.

Posted by Gerry on Monday, January 30 2012 @ 04:50 AM EST.

2012 Minor League Players - Outfielders | 17 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

ayjackson - Monday, January 30 2012 @ 09:30 AM EST (#251328) #

I'd be interested to see if the self-proclaimed king of twitter could hack it in CF in New Hampshire. Last chance going once, going twice, going three times, going four, going five.......

ogator - Monday, January 30 2012 @ 10:16 AM EST (#251329) #

Is it just me or do the Blue Jays seem really thin in between nearly ready outfield guys and guys who won't be ready for a while? Gose and Sierra seem more than interesting as do Marisnick, Crouse and Knecht but the bridge between these two groups seems a little rickety. If Bautista hangs around for a while and any of Rasmus, Thames or Snider steps up then adding either Gose or Sierra should hold the fort until the young guys are ready to step up.

uglyone - Monday, January 30 2012 @ 10:38 AM EST (#251330) #

Might be a bit of a gap between the MLB ready guys and the next group, but only really a year or two...and with the very young and deep group of MLB-ready youngsters, I'm not sure waiting a year or two for the next group is a concern:

J.Bautista - 31 (MLB)
C.Rasmus - 25 (MLB)
E.Thames - 25 (MLB)

T.Snider - 24 (MLB/AAA)
M.Sierra - 23 (AAA)
A.Gose - 21 (AAA/AA)

M.Knecht - 22 (A+)
J.Marisnick - 21 (A+)
M.Crouse - 21 (A+)

C.Hawkins - 20 (A/A-)
E.Arce - 20 (A/A-)
J.Anderson - 19 (A/A-)
D.Smith - 19 (A/A-)

John Northey - Monday, January 30 2012 @ 11:01 AM EST (#251332) #

Generally speaking it is a wonderful situation to have strong prospects in AAA and A ball at the same time especially with 2 of our ML outfielders being sub-27. Ideally you'd have strong players at every position at every level but that is not a realistic goal (a good goal, but not realistic). Even during the Gillick days we never had that at any position. In fact, it was rare to have more than a couple at any position charging through while right now we have a batch in the outfield and at catcher and for the rotation at multiple levels. Now if there could just be a couple of real home run hitters it'd be complete.

Mike Green - Monday, January 30 2012 @ 11:03 AM EST (#251333) #

The club is very well stocked in the outfield.

Gerry, have you been told that Jacob Anderson will stay in extended or is that something that you are surmising from past practice? He did hit very well in the GCL, and the Jays have sometimes had advanced hitters in full-season ball at age 19. That was prior to AA's tenure, and I can understand why the club might decide that it is not a great idea, particularly when the organization has so many assets at the position. Anderson was also a first baseman in high school, and might develop better and faster if he was moved back there.

Gerry - Monday, January 30 2012 @ 11:47 AM EST (#251335) #

Mike:

I did not ask about Anderson, I assumed. He did play in the GCL but he had only 37 at-bats. Given the newish regime in Toronto I don't see them doing that, they don't see a need to rush anyone. The best I could see for Anderson would be a hot start in extended and perhaps a jump to Lansing in June or July. But I don't think the Jays will do that. The level of play in Vancouver is not that far from Lansing so he could go there if he plays well. The more likely posting is Bluefield.

Anderson might move faster if he was a first baseman but his value is higher as a rightfielder, and the Jays are about maximizing value.

Mike Green - Monday, January 30 2012 @ 12:10 PM EST (#251336) #

That makes sense.

My impression (from what I read) is that he might be a very fine defensive first baseman and perhaps average as a rightfielder. If that is right, it is unclear whether how you maximize value. Nonetheless, you are almost surely right that the club will leave him in the outfield, at least for now, and that the club will start him off in Bluefield or Vancouver.

gabrielthursday - Monday, January 30 2012 @ 02:32 PM EST (#251349) #

Tolisano/McElroy/Van Kirk make sense for New Hampshire, with Jackson being the utility guy, getting starts at SS, 2B and CF.

I do tend to think that one of Dwight Smith or Jacob Anderson will start the season in Lansing, dependent on how the Jays coaching staff evaluates them. But if Smith is as advanced a hitter as reported or Anderson as good as he appears to be, I don't see why they'd necessarily be assigned to Bluefield or Vancouver. There could be a playing time crush in Lansing towards the end of the season, as you could see Smith, Anderson, Arce, Hawkins and others competing for playing time in the corners. For what it's worth, given that Lansing doesn't look to have an established 3rd baseman, I'm not sure why Hawkins shouldn't be given an opportunity to play a little at 3rd.

Gerry - Monday, January 30 2012 @ 07:16 PM EST (#251360) #

In reply to a question in ask BA, Jim Callis notes the following Blue Jay prospects did not make the Jays top 30 for BA but would have had a good chance to be on the white Sox top 30 list:

Besides Jaye, other prospects who couldn't crack the Toronto Top 30 but would have been prime candidates for the Chisox list include: first basemen Mike McDade and J.C. Hobson; shortstop Dawel Lugo; outfielders Eric Arce, Wilmer Becerra, Darin Mastroianni and Brad Glenn; lefthanders Griffin Murphy, Sean Nolin and Mitchell Taylor; and righties Manuel Cordoba, Jesus Tinoco, Joel Carreno and Trystan Magnuson.

Gerry - Monday, January 30 2012 @ 07:38 PM EST (#251361) #

My three biggest surprises of the misses would be McDade, Nolin and Carreno. Carreno because he played in the majors last season, successfully. The others because I think they have major league potential.

Of course it is a tribute to the strength of the Jays system, and the number of draft choices they had in the last two years.

TamRa - Tuesday, January 31 2012 @ 12:03 AM EST (#251366) #

I have Nolin at 28, Carreno at 30 and McDade at 31 so that's not THAT far off to me.

It's good to get an insight into what they think about guys who didn't make the cut.
coincidentally, if you add in the "others we thought about", BA, Sickels, and Da Box all give us 44 names (not counting Jaye in this case)

The OP omits the mention of Thames (or snider) in Vegas (I think)

I wonder if, among the CF options for NH, they might try Keenan Balli there? As much as i'd like to see Jackson redeem himself, I've about given up.

John Northey - Tuesday, January 31 2012 @ 08:42 AM EST (#251373) #

So basically the guys who are #31-45 for the jays would be in the 1-30area range for the White Sox. Yikes for Whitesox fans.

hypobole - Wednesday, February 01 2012 @ 01:36 AM EST (#251421) #

Interesting comment from Mike Newman (Scouting the Sally) during a FanGraphs prospect chat. He was asked "Who is the best athlete in the minors right now?"

Newman's response: "I'd have to literally see a better athlete than Anthony Gose to believe it. In three years, it has not happened yet."

Kelekin - Wednesday, February 01 2012 @ 03:21 PM EST (#251470) #

I honestly don't want to see Gose in AAA. I want to see him -dominate- AA. I know he was a "forced free swinger" last year, but it isn't relevant. That doesn't mean he stops doing that and suddenly has 50 less strikeouts and 50 points higher in batting average. Gose has not mastered AA, and should not be going to Las Vegas where he can slap the ball into the ground and be a .500 hitter. There is also no reason to rush him, considering Rasmus will man the position this year.

Gerry - Wednesday, February 01 2012 @ 03:48 PM EST (#251472) #

Kelekin, I agree with you but I am projecting what the Jays will do and in general they promote prospects after a year at each level.

Kelekin - Wednesday, February 01 2012 @ 03:57 PM EST (#251474) #

Yup, of course. I just wish player development wasn't so uniform. I like seeing players dominate before being pushed, a la the Rays.

rpriske - Wednesday, February 01 2012 @ 05:11 PM EST (#251478) #

Mastroianni has been DFAed.

2012 Minor League Players - Outfielders | 17 comments | Create New Account

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