Eric Brown gets the opening day start for Vancouver today.  Bobby Brosnahan gets the home opener next Monday.

Lets take a look at some pitching staffs in the low minors by age.
A+: Dunedin
20: Sanchez, Aaron : 9 starts, 4.7 IP per start, 5.3 H/9 3.4 BB/9 7.8 SO/9 - nice but not 'wow' so should spend more time there once healthy
21/22: none
23: 4 guys led by Ybarra, Tyler* and Antolin, Dustin - both are in the pen and have over a K/IP. 
Rest of the staff is too old to be viewed as strong prospects if they are still in A+ ball.

A: Lansing
18: Osuna, Roberto: has to be viewed as a 'wow' prospect as at 18 he has a 2.96 ERA 1.3 BB/9 11.9 SO/9 4 1/2 IP per start.  Needs to move to A+ for more of a challenge. First start after a DL stint and had 5 IP 2 H 0 R 0 BB 5 SO.
20: Norris, Daniel*: 5.80 ERA - yikes! 5.8 BB/9 9.6 K/9 - someone get this kid a map of the strike zone.
21: Gonzalez, Alonzo*: 5.40 ERA, 4.4 BB/9 4.8 SO/9 - non-prospect unless he figures out how to miss bats more often
22: 4 guys , none doing anything worth noting.
Note: Jackson, Justin at age 24 has done well - 1.56 ERA in 11 games 17 1/3 IP 0 HR 4.2 BB/9 7.3 SO/9 - not great, but OK.  Given his age I'd push him to A+ mid-season and if he can cut a walk per 9 off and add a K/9 he might be something.

DSL: short season in Dominican - no one has pitched in more than 3 games so far.
16: Rodriguez, Dalton
17: 2 guys Herdenez, Yonardo, Aleton, Wilfri*
18: 7 guys.
Max age on the team is 20.  Eduardo, Francis at 19 has thrown 11 IP 1 BB 10 SO and the walk was intentional.  Nice.

Love seeing really young guys down at the A+ and lower levels as few guys down there over 22 have much of a shot unless they are in their first pro season or rehabbing. 

Let's not always blame it on the players who may be stuck in A+. Let's allow them opportunities to compete at higher levels. The fault may be in the managing and movement of those arms.

 

Odds are if a guy is good enough to be at AA or higher the team would push them or they would dominate (ie: ERA sub 2, K/9 over 10) to a big enough degree to make people go 'wow'.  If neither of those barriers is reached they probably aren't going to last long if they are, say, 25+ at a level that has a single A in its name.

Example: Bibens-Dirkx, Austin- he was doing well in AA but was sent to A+ as he isn't viewed as a prospect at 28.  In Dunedin he has a 3.31 ERA in 35 1/3 IP but 11.7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 suggesting he is very strong for that level.  He seems to run hot and cold, with 2 'wow' games (7 IP 1 or 0 ER, 1 BB each time and double digit K's), 3 'meh' games (5 IP 3 or 4 runs allowed) and a nice but nothing to write home about game (6 IP 2 R).  Seeing that out of a 20 year old in A+ and we'd all be getting excited.  Seeing that from a 28 year old and we're 'meh'.  If he didn't have the 3 'meh' games and instead was 1 or 2 runs each time then he'd be trying to force the Jays to move him back to AA or up to AAA (where I felt he should've gone due to weakness at that level).

Players do have control over their fate to some degree.  Dominate when demoted and you force it.  For example, Juan Perez in AAA - he had a 0.86 ERA in 21 IP with 10.7 K/9 which made the Jays give him a shot and he ran with it (8 1/3 shutout innings).  Neil Wagner did pretty much the same thing (0.89 ERA 14.2 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 0 HR).  On the flip side guys sent down who don't perform can end up in no-mans land, such as Chad Jenkins who looked good up here but his 10.24 ERA in 2 starts in AAA will make it hard to call him back up.

On offense you have Luis Jimenez* who is trying to open eyes with a 348/420/600 line at 1B/DH - if Lind or Encarnacion get hurt he might get a shot.  But then you get guys like Gose who have had trouble in AAA (233/337/324 and no better since being sent back down) but do better in the majors (304/385/391 in his 26 PA this year) and get shots over others who seem to have earned it more. 

Shi Davidi has a column at Sportsnet where he has some information on minor league assignments:

Manager Clayton McCullough, back after a two month stint bullpen catching for the Blue Jays, tabbed Eric Brown for the season opener, to be followed by lefty Kyle Anderson and righty Jeremy Gabryszwski, a second-rounder from the 2011 draft.  Lefty Colton Turner and righty Bobby Brosnahan round out the rotation.

Shortstop Dickie Thon, a fifth-round pick in 2010, moves up a level after two seasons at rookie-league Bluefield.

Catcher Mike Reeves of Peterborough, Ont., a 21st rounder who signed for $1,000, and outfielder Brenden Kalfus, taken in the 23rd, are 2013 draft picks who will suit up for the Canadians.

—

ROOKIE LEAGUES: The Blue Jays’ two rookie league teams, Bluefield in the Appalachian League and the GCL Blue Jays in the Gulf Coast League, begin play next Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Assignments of note thus far to Bluefield include Canadian right-hander Tom Robson and third baseman Matt Dean, while among those bound for the GCL Blue Jays are 19-year-old Venezuelan right-hander Adonys Cardona, 2012 supplemental first-rounder Tyler Gonzales, second-rounder Chase DeJong, third baseman Mitch Nay and outfielder Anthony Alford.

 

The big surprise is keeping DeJong, Nay and Alford in the GCL.  Last season the 2011 draftees, Anderson, Smith, Lopes and Dean all had a lot of at-bats at Bluefield.  If Davidi is right then the Jays are going even slower with their 2012 draftees by keeping many of them in the GCL.

What about Davis?

He got up to Vancouver last-year, and seemed to not do too well in extended ST over the last few months.

John, I agree with you to a point. Have you seen how these lower minor games are scored. Pitchers take a beating because of a lack of adequate fielding. Plays that should be made are not made by mediocre fielders, and instant hits and earned runs flash on the board. I've seen many A+ and AA games, so until a player plays to a level on the field  and not on paper, prospects will prosper and lower echelon players will catch on with other teams and be given the opportunity to excel at a higher level, the exact reason that the Jays added an additional team to its minor league system, but it's not gonna help those players as much since there is only a few high level ( AA and AAA ) teams where a player gets the opportunity to make it or move on.

Always wondered if it might be worth it for a club to have a second AA or AAA club.  Not practical unless another team does it too (or you go to 3 AAA or 3 AA clubs).  Then you could stash more AAAA guys, you could push prospects further faster, and might find a few gems you'd otherwise miss.

Bluefield Roster:

Tom Robson

Jario LaBourt

Zak Wasilewski

Alberto Tirado

Chase De Jong

Shane Dawson

Adonys Cardona

Mark Biggs

Francisco Gracesqui

Adaric Kelly

Brady Dragmire

Yeyfry Del Rosario





Jorge Saez

Garrett Custons

John Silviano

Timothy Locastro

Dawel Lugo

Mitch Nay

Matt Dean

Angel Rojas

Alexis Madonado

Eric Arce

DJ Davis

Derrick Loveless

Jesus Gonzalez

DJ Jones

Melvin Garcia

Jon Davis

That roster makes more sense than what Davidi wrote earlier. The one issue I see is both Dean and Nay are on the team, it will be interesting to see who gets the at-bats at third.

I don't think keeping Alford in the GCL is a surprise. He played 5 games there last summer, and then didn't play baseball for almost a year.

John, teams are permitted only one farm team at each full season league level.

hypobole: is it permitted or just practice?  At one time teams had multiple farms clubs at the same level.  For example, St Louis in 1950 had 2 AAA teams (Rochester and Columbus), one AA team, 2 A's, 4 B's, 4 C's, and 8 D's.  By 1960 they had cut down to 1 AAA, 2 AA, 1 B, 2 C, 3 D and a WRk.  1970 saw 1 AAA, 1 AA, 3 A's, 1 A-, 1 Rookie, and 1 WRk.  1980 saw it down to 1 AAA, 1 AA, 2 A's, and a Rk.  One of the A's was a Florida State League team which is now known as an A+ level so by 1980 it was pretty much how the major/minor relationship is now.

So is there a rule or is it more teams being cheap - saving a few dollars by having just one club per level rather than building up the number of players available.  Also, another modern problem is the 40 man roster and minor league free agency after 6 years.

Roberto Osuna continued his mastery of the Midwest League tonight- 6 innings, 1 unearned run, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts. 

that kid is turning himself into one of the best pitching prospects in baseball this year.

Alford's only playing until football preseason again, no?  He says in this article he'll get some ABs in the GCL, then go to Vancouver for a few weeks.  He's hoping to be eligible for Ole Miss this fall.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20130529/SPORTS/305290017/Ex-Petal-star-Alford-back-Blue-Jays

With the Canadians batting in the top of the 5th and 2 outs:

Walk
Wild pitch
Walk
Hit by pitch
Wild pitch (run)
Walk
Walk (run)
Fly out

The Canadians scored 9 runs on 4 hits.

" The one issue I see is both Dean and Nay are on the team, it will be interesting to see who gets the at-bats at third."

Weren't there some bad reports on Dean's defense last year? is it possible they are already looking at the 1B conversion? (as long as they waited to move Pierre, one would think not but...

What's the story on Jake Anderson?

I thought it was Nay that was projected as a 1B all along.

I was hoping that this year Vancouver would have more of our high upside prospects. I admit that I may not be giving the 2 championship teams a fair evaluation.

Each year Vancouver has produced some pitching studs Nicolino & Syndergaard in 2011. In 2012 Osuna. The rest of the 2012 rotation is not considered by some, myself included as top prospects. But Avendano, Cole & Turner were very good last year so maybe they become useful ML players.

Since I like the trend, I am hoping for some young pitching studs this year as well.

The Bulefield roster has been released. You have to go to the official site of the Bluefield Blue Jays.