So, will Kawasaki play more than 1 or 2 game a week in Buffalo?

I would suspect so.  In Buffalo they have used (4+ games at position)...
2B...
Jim Negrych : 28 yrs old, 326/390/466, career 300/377/409 never in majors, 47 G at 2B, 14 at 3B
Mike McCoy: 32 yrs old, 253/366/322, 45 OPS+ in majors over 380 PA - 18 G at 2B, 7 at 3B, 15 at SS, 3 in LF, 6 in CF
Eugenio Velez: 31 yrs old, 284/373/460 71 OPS+ in majors over 718 PA - 11G at 2B, 3 at 3B, 28 G in LF

SS...
Ryan Goins: 25 yrs old, 270/329/368, career 276/334/377 never in majors - 60 G at SS, 2 at 2B
plus Mike McCoy.

3B...
Andy LaRoche: 29 yrs old, 284/360/475, 72 OPS+ in majors over 1184 PA - 48 G at 3B, 2 at 1B, 1 at 2B
plus Negrych

Of those 5 only Goins has any prospect status, and not much.  Negrych should be tried at other positions so he could become a utility player in the majors (3B, 1B, LF, RF, CF - he has had 159 games at 3B lifetime, 23 in LF, 2 at 1B).  McCoy never showed much up here and probably isn't getting another shot.  Velez is having a good year but not enough to convince anyone he should be up here.  LaRoche has an extremely brief visit to the majors and is probably not on the radar for another shot anytime soon.  They should be able to mix Kawasaki into that easily. 

I don't suppose anyone saw the Dunedin game, but any chance that Lawrie will use this rehab to fix his swing before getting back to the majors? I just can't see him having success while his front leg is bouncing up and down and his head is bobbing around when the ball is being released.

Nice to see Lugo and Barreto off to fast starts in Rookie Ball.

After some further reading of comments on the Box, it appears I'm a day late and a dollar short with my Lugo/Barreto observation.

Re Northey and others:

How and where (twitter ?)  to get answers and ask question on AAA Buffalo ? For Kawasaki, could he be part of a package to another team weak at SS ? Could Miami an option ? In other words, does trading spare players to another teams make sense ?

In other words, does trading spare players to another teams make sense ?

This is a common position of yours, that fringe players can be traded for something useful. If I recall, you had many trade proposals involving Jayson Nix back when he was a Jay. I think you are not appreciating just how plentiful replacement level players are (by definition). No one is going to pay a great deal to get one.

As for the Miami shortstop situation, the team is young and going nowhere. They are going to give Hechevarria every chance to prove that he is a major leaguer.

If I could recall, I don't think I propose "many" Nix's proposals but the record can be searched anyway. Thank you for answering parts of my questions. Common sense guides me that a position can be formed from plentiful information, which is not the case here and the reason I asked previous questions.

Is twitter is more useful social media tool to get an answer ? Plenty people reporting on the Jays have twitter account, I believe.

Is it possible to justify the view that:

• Pillar has already surpassed Gose as the next outfielder prospect for the Jays?
• Loewen seems to have found a swing improvement formula?  (Yes I know he is yesterday's man, and yes it is a just a few weeks I am referring to) but is anyone else intrigued by what is in his water supply this month?
• AJ Jiminez could be 1-2 years away from making us forget D'Arnaud?
• When next year we lose Oliver to retirement, and one or two other relievers to injury (my fingers are crossed), Carreno and Lincoln could step right up and fill any voids?
• Our biggest farm team gap remains the generation of real and early prospects for the rotation?  Short of Stroman maturing very rapidly, isn't Hutchison the only prospect with a real chance to earn a Jays' starting role before September, 2015?

Anyway, great day for 7 wins and one loss on the farm!!

earlweaverfan;

I think Pillar has passed Gose as a hitting prospect.  But I am not sure if Pillar will be good enough defensively to be a major league centrefielder.  If Pillar is a CF then he has passed Gose.  But if he is not a full time CF then Gose might still be ahead.  CF's are harder to find than LF or RF.  Gose has the edge in fielding and speed and that equalizes some of Pillar's hitting advantage.  The offense bar for LF is high, will Pillar hit enough to be an everyday LF?  Finally Gose is a year younger than Pillar.

Loewen is in AA and he has been in AA and AAA since 2009 or 2010.  He might have figured something out with his hitting but he would have to show it in AAA next.  We can be hopeful but I can't count on him.

Jimenez is probably a catcher of the future, probably for 2015.  Most catchers have their offensive numbers decline when they hit the majors.  Because Jimenez is a contact hitter who uses all fields he might be able to maintian more of his offensive value when he hits the majors.

I don't have as much hope for Carreno or Lincoln.  Both could be the back end of the bullpen guys but they could also be the swing guys in AAA waiting for an injury opportunity.  I think the Jays are looking at Stilson as the next bullpen guy.

Future starting pitchers include Sean Nolin in 2014 and Aaron Sanchez in 2015.  Both of those are optimistic projections but they are the next in line along with Hutchison and Stroman.

Our biggest farm team gap remains the generation of real and early prospects for the rotation?  Short of Stroman maturing very rapidly, isn't Hutchison the only prospect with a real chance to earn a Jays' starting role before September, 2015?

Stroman, Hutchison and Nolin are all decent, or better, prospects to be ready to contribute to the rotation by the middle of 2014.  I don't think Drabek is (I suspect that if he succeeds, it will be in the bullpen).    That's pretty good depth.  The biggest farm team gap is in the middle infield.  It sure would be nice to have a decent middle infield prospect under the age of 25 at high A or above.  In addition, Is there a power bat in the minors?  Maybe I am thick, but I can't think of one.  That would be good, too. 

I do agree with most of your other points.

In addition, Is there a power bat in the minors?

There are plenty, Sano, Baez, Boegarts ....oh, you meant Jays. The only ones I can think of are Nay, Dean and Anderson which probably doesn't bode well given they haven't demonstrated anything in professional ball yet.

There's Eric Arce, but he's a marginal prospect at best.

While discussing Jays pitchers returning from surgery, apparently Dylan Bundy is under going Tommy John surgery today. Moderated pitch counts, bio-mechanical analysis ... sometimes even the best laid plans go awry. That said I am sure that Arnsberg, Walton or Walker are responsible in some way though.

Our rotation candidates are pretty good IMO:

Hutchison (22): MLB - 58.2ip, 4.60era, 4.48fip / AAA - 0.0ip, 0.00era, 0.00fip / AA - 31.2ip, 1.71era, 2.19fip
Nolin (23): MLB - 1.1ip, 40.50era, 15.05fip / AAA - 0.0ip, 0.00era, 0.00fip / AA - 54.0ip, 2.83era, 2.16fip
Stroman (22): MLB - 0.0ip, 0.00era, 0.00fip / AAA - 0.0ip, 0.00era, 0.00fip / AA - 44.0ip, 3.27era, 4.52fip
Drabek (25): MLB - 167.0ip, 5.34era, 5.41fip / AAA - 75.0ip, 7.44era, 5.80fip / AA - 258.1ip, 3.21era, 3.86fip


And then of course Sanchez is 20yrs old in A+. Assuming a very slow progression - i.e. giving him a full year at each stop, that puts him at age 21 in AA next year, and 22 in AAA in 2015....which puts him in definite contention for an MLB spot at that point.

I'm pretty baffled that the Jays are putting Drabek in the rotation . He's had TJ surgery twice, and he's only 25. Is there some reason to believe he's not going to blow his elbow out again some time in the next 2-3 years? And that's not even considering the obstacle his control problems pose.

I am really excited to seeing Hutchison pitching again, though. High hopes there.

"While discussing Jays pitchers returning from surgery, apparently Dylan Bundy is under going Tommy John surgery today. Moderated pitch counts, bio-mechanical analysis ... sometimes even the best laid plans go awry. That said I am sure that Arnsberg, Walton or Walker are responsible in some way though."

Good snark. Here's some for you - You do realize Bundy pitched before reaching the pros. From sickels website:

"ESPN's Keith Law reminds us via Twitter that Bundy took on some extreme workloads in high school, including a 181-pitch outing and 293 in a four-day period."

Which is exactly my point hypobole. The Jays and by extension their coaches get crucified in these parts for their pitching injuries when the truth of the matter is that young pitchers get hurt, all the time, in every organization, pitching philosophies be damned.

To address Law's point, pretty much every elite pitching prospect takes on ridiculous workloads through high school and quite often in college for those that go that route. Bundy is hardly an outlier. Doesn't make it right but it is the norm.

Barreto with another 2 hits today. Hitting .476. Seems to need to work on his fielding. Already has 4 errors.

Hodgie, arm injuries occur in every organization.  The rate in the Jay organization has been higher than average over the last few years.  Whether that is a fluke, or (in part) due to some organizational decisions is open to reasonable debate.  How many serious arm injuries has the White Sox organization (say) had over the last 5 years?  If it is many fewer than the Jays, is there anything demonstrably different that the Sox organization is doing?  These are the kinds of questions that can be asked.  An arm injury to Dylan Bundy or to David Price doesn't negate the proposition that some organizations have a much better pitcher health record over a period of years.

John Lott has an interesting piece in the National Post today about the relationship between Dickey and Pete Walker.

The rate in the Jay organization has been higher than average over the last few years.

Mike, I know it feels that way but that perception doesn't seem to match reality. Look at the number of days lost to injury in two studies done by Fangraphs. From 2002-2011 they were well below average. One outlier of a season later and they are a Tommy John factory? Mentioning Don Cooper is interesting in light of the fact that his pitching staff's seem to have suffered the fewest significant injuries year over year during that span despite his disdain for practices like bio-mechanics.

The fangraphs study measured 2002-11.  The Jays were about average for pitching injuries during that span.  Brad Arnsberg arrived in 2005 and was here until 2009.  The pitching DL record during his time was (I think) about average or a little worse.  It has (I am pretty sure) been much worse than average from 2010-13. 

Kawasaki is playing second base tonight for the Bisons.  He singled in his first PA, stole 2nd and came in on a Kevin Pillar double...