I'll be curious about the Buffalo rotation and infield. I still see the following starting pitchers: Biagini, Borucki, Deck McGuire, Gaviglio, Rowley, Tepesch and potentially Guerrieri and Santos. Three of those will have to be sent to the bullpen or New Hampshire. As for the infield: can there be enough regular playing time for Espinosa, Gurriel and Urena? Or will one of the youngsters be sent back to AA?

Urena has had 634 AA ABs. The best I can say is that he did ok. Certainly not good.

AAA pitchers are good young pitchers like Borucki and Biagini and also veteran, older pitchers that have an assortment of non FB pitches. I don't know if this will be good or bad for him.

yeah, for me, neither urena nor gurriel have earned a promotion to AAA. not even close, really.

that being said, they should probably put gurriel in AAA because at his age and with his contract they have to see what they have here.

Urena though at 22 is actually just entering his AA age-appropriate year imo. No reason for him to be in buffalo at all yet.

I suspect Urena will be in AAA to start given his ML experience and that Bo will be everyday at SS in AA.  The Jays will want the kid to get everyday play at SS even if he is overmatched with the bat for the first half.  Then down to AA as Bo comes up to AAA with Vlad for the 2nd half so both are ready for 2019 if needed, meanwhile Urena is preparing for a career as a backup.

Minor ST Report: Gurriel is terrible at d, he made several errors over the week I saw him, Friday he got hit in the face with a grounder he missed at 2b. I didn't see Urena at all, I guess he will start on the DL? Grayson Huffman (elbow) and Tom Robson(not sure but hes going to dr andrews) might be out all year due to tommy john. SRF was by far the worst out of any pitcher I saw during the full week.

Zeuch wasn't with any of the AA roster the last few days, so I guess he will repeat Dunedin? Biggio got in a game at 1b thursday vs the yankees @ tampa, so maybe they are making him a super-utility player? Tellez had 2 HR's over the 5 games I saw him, so hopefully he is due for a bounce-back season.

Looks like the Buffalo roster is up, I think. Gurriel Jr and Urena are there...and both Jansen and McGuire. Interesting.

I believe that is the winter protected roster for Buffalo. It would be unusual to have the roster updated without a press release. Plus the online rosters are usually not updated until game one.

Ah...thanks, Gerry.

I saw Reggie Pruitt tweet that he is on his way to Lansing.

Kevin Smith is heading to Lansing.

Jordan Romano to New Hampshire.

Painful trickle of minor league assignments.

Panas to NH.

Connor Panas has tweeted he's going to New Hampshire.

I would expect a flurry of press releases tomorrow detailing the rosters.

Poor Jonathan Davis is back in AA despite a strong spring and injuries to Pompey and Alford.

Juan Kelly, Harold Ramirez and Lourdes Gurriel in New Hampshire (AA)...

And Gunnar Heidt.

Even though the Jays coordinate the release of the minor league rosters, Sportsnet's (and Rogers indirectly) Shi Davidi gets some early information.

Davidi says the NH rotation will include SRF, Jon Harris, Francisco Rios (all repeating AA), Nick Tepesch and Jordan Romano.

Andrew Case will also be there.

Buffalo rotation will be Biagini, Borucki, Guerreri, Gaviglio and Deck McGuire.

Davidi has posted the NH roster.

Max Pentecost and Patrick Cantwell are listed as catchers meaning that Jansen and McGuire will be in Buffalo.

Biggio and Gurriel are in AA too.

Tom Robson is on the DL there and might be headed for a second TJ surgery, as reported previously.

Craig Breslow is also on the NH roster. It could be because his hometown is listed as Connecticut.

Nate Pearson, Riley Adams and Logan Warmoth, all 2017 draftees, start in Dunedin.

DJ Davis is still there, Rodrigo Orozco gets the promotion too, presumably to open us slots for the younger guys in the Lansing outfield.

Biggio will join Guerrero and Bichette in Double-A.

Does anyone know why Breslow is in New Hampshire? That seems odd.

Thanks Gerry. That makes sense.

Shane Dawson has been released.

Urena starts the season on the DL. According to the Bisons Chris Rowley will be a starter in Buffalo and Sam Gaviglio will be in the pen. Rhiner Cruz will also start on the DL.

interesting 13 pitchers per team 12 fielders (2 catchers per team)
missing from last years full season teams
Pitchers
Murphy Smith
*Shane Dawson
*Angel Perdomo
*Alonzo Gonzalez
Mike Ellenbest
Denis Diaz
*Dan Lietz
Yonardo Herdenez
Andrew Deramo

Catchers
#Michael De La Cruz
*Ryan Hissey
Javier Hernandez
Andre Sotillo

1B Emilio Guerrero, *David Jacob
2B Luis Silva
SS #JC Cardonas
OF *Jake Thomas

Zeuch repeating Dunedin after a strong AFL is interesting, and I'm wondering if the fact he has not been aggressively promoted is a sign that the front office isn't as high on him as others.

Looking through the rosters and this is clearly the deepest the upper minors have been in some years.

"Nate Pearson, Riley Adams and Logan Warmoth, all 2017 draftees, start in Dunedin."

Happy about this. All college guys so the Jays could afford to be a little more aggressive.

Glevin, I would have been just as happy to see each of them start the season at Lansing, but sure, let's see how they do in A+ first.

thanks gerry - i was surprised at the comment that rowley wasn't in the bisons rotation after his strong year last year.nice to hear that rowley is in fact starting for them.

dissappointed to hear zeuch is repeating in dunedin, though. he was good enough there already to deserve a promotion, even before his nice AFL stint. hope they don't hesitate to promote him within the first month or two if he's pitching well.

Zeuch may be in Dunedin to start the season in order to keep him out of the cold weather in April in New Hampshire. He does have am injury history.

Could be a case of wanting Zeuch to pitch in a warm weather environment after back and hamstring issues last year.

The Lansing roster has some surprises.

Maximo Castillo and Maverik Buffo are among the likely starters but Jose Espada did not make the cut.

Matt Morgan and Ridge Smith are the catchers, meaning no room for Yorman Rodriguez, Javier Hernandez or Ryan Gold.

Kevin Smith, Samad Taylor, Cullen Large and Kevin Vicuna man the middle infield meaning less playing time for one or more of those guys. There is no specialist third baseman on the roster so some of them might rotate through third.

Reggie Pruitt, Ryan Noda and Chavez Young are among the outfielders, with Mc Gregory Contreras not making the roster.

Kacy Clemens and Brock Lundquist are also on the roster.

It sounds as though, with Yorman Rodriguez, Ryan Gold and Mc Gregory Contreras, the Jays are holding back the best candidates to benefit from extended spring training. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up assigned to Lansing after extended wraps up.

I'm happy to see the likes of Tepesch and Breslow in NH, not blocking younger players in Buffalo, but adding more veteran depth to the org.  Not that I see them helping us out in the bigs this year, but you never know - after his demotion, Deck McGuire parlayed a strong season in AA last year into his big league debut. 

And speaking of, ex Jay Marcus Walden made his for the Sox at the age of 29, giving up a hit in 1 1.3 IP.  He was dominant in ST - I always love a longshot winning a roster spot in ST.  Congrats on persevering, especially after losing his 2015 to injuries.  Most guys would have hung em up, but once again a failed minor league starter makes a possible big league reliever.  Only Brett Cecil and Zep are left in the bigs from his 2007 JPR draft class.  Hopefully Luis Santos has similar success, this looks likely to be his first year pitching primarily in relief. 

Ian Parmley is lucky to have a roster spot at the moment, given all the OF depth in the upper minors.  I figured DJ Davis would have earned himself a chance in AA with his hot streak in the second half, but the same roster crunch seems to have kept him in Dunedin.  Slow and steady seems to be his only path forward though - this is his third year in high A, after two in Lansing.  He's still only 23 - anyone else think he still has a chance as a 4th OF? 

I'm excited to see Buffo in Lansing - he might end up being a real steal in the 34th round of last year's draft.

I figured DJ Davis would have earned himself a chance in AA with his hot streak in the second half, but the same roster crunch seems to have kept him in Dunedin.  Slow and steady seems to be his only path forward though - this is his third year in high A, after two in Lansing.  He's still only 23 - anyone else think he still has a chance as a 4th OF?

I wish they had split the upper catching depth like this. It's a bit early but so far the plan seems inconsistent for slow or fast promotion.
Potentially viable ML players who could use some time lose out on depth and may just get buried. I'm thinking specifically about Urena, how I think it wouldn't have hurt Bichette/ Guerrero JR to start at high a for a month then move to AA. Urena stays at AA and now moves to 2b or to split time with Gurriel around the IF? that doesn't seem to benefit anyone's development.
And at C, where Pentecost is definitely a player who won't catch full-time and could legit play elsewhere, so as to give Jansen some time alone at AAA - because he earned it - and
McGuire a starting role at AA
Having them split time at AAA or one starting at AAA screws the other, and IMO makes the team worse off. Happy about depth, unhappy about asset management.

I've been wondering about the same thing lexi, but remain hopeful that the plan is to give guys playing time in a variety of positions.  If McGuire and Jansen get some ABs at DH and some games at 1B, the pairing might end up being a positive in terms of limiting wear and tear.  Presumably one or both will get some run in the bigs too. 

Until Pompey and AA come off the DL, there should be enough playing time to go around. 

I think it depends on how the Jays evaluate the potential across the board.  Star potential gets playing time no matter what at each level, thus Bo & Vlad both are ready for AA so you put them there as everyday players - too bad, so sad for everyone else.  After star comes potential regulars so Jansen in AAA, Pentecost in AA.  Then comes likely ML backups/slight chance at regular duties such as Urena, McGuire, Gurriel who get mixed in as best as possible.  Then comes 'best hope is as a ML backup/AAAA player' guys who fill in the gaps.  I suspect DJ Davis is in that category if he is in Dunedin again.  Bottom of the barrel are the 'space filler' guys who the Jays had all over in the JPR days and are slowly clearing out of the system at the upper levels as AA's prospects reach those levels and Atkins players start to push through.  Takes a long time for a system to fully recover from the mess JPR put it into, and from the trade flurry that AA did at the end to get those 2 playoff appearances.  But as we all saw in the 90's it takes more than a good farm to win, you need those last steps or you just get a lot of 80-85 win teams.

They probably expect to use (by virtue of performance) or have to use (by virtue of a martin injury) Jansen and Mcguire a good bit in mlb this year, and yeah jer there is plenty of room to use them at 1B/DH right now.

Gurriel I don't think should really be in the infield at all really. Bad look for him being back in AA at 24. Not that he deserved anything else of course. But I'd be happy with Bichette/Urena swapping back and forth between SS/2B and even some 3B. I think that's more than good for there defensive development and gives them all the at bats they need.

A.A.’s Drafts were always “Hail Marys” because he desperately need to get talent moving fast in the system to make up for what wasn’t there. He thought pitching could get you anything. He traded a lot of talent, but no all of the best.

I think Pentecost has had too many injury issues. Him being a c+  corners guy is still progress and allows ft for McGuire AND Jansen. If Pentecost holds up for a bit you promote McGuire and let the pt battle begin or promote Jansen. Jansen earned the shot to establish himself.

"....Bad look for him being back in AA at 24..."

But you know the unique factors that led to this "bad look" at his age.  He missed more than a year due to his delayed departure from Cuba and the lack of a pro contract.  It's misleading to compare him to other players who have been in the professional system for their entire careers.

I don't see Angel Perdomo on a roster. He's not listed as injured on milb.com, either. He split last year between Lansing and Dunedin. Would have expected Dunedin to start the year.

"It's misleading to compare him to other players who have been in the professional system for their entire careers. "

eh i don't think it's misleading at all but it's fine if you have a different opinion.

If Martin or Maile goes on the DL, whoever gets the call would only be playing at most 50% of the time anyway.
I think it's good that the 2 most advanced catchers will be working with the most advanced pitchers.
You can always send them to winter leagues if you think they need more reps.

For me, I am still trying to figure out the thinking process of this FO regarding player development.. We have examples of aggressive promotion and the opposite. With the many layers of development people ... G Kim, B Cherrington and roving specialists there is information that we don't know.

The AAA catching assignment seems odd, I agree. JD Davis back in AA is odd due to too many OFs. The IF also seems to be getting crowded.

"It's a bit early but so far the plan seems inconsistent for slow or fast promotion."

I don't think it's inconsistent at all. I think it's just treating different players differently. DJ Davis had a WRC+ of 95 last year despite being old for his league and isn't a real prospect which is why the Jays didn't move him up. Urena is staying at AA because he hasn't learned to hit AA pitching yet. You'd rather push up someone with a 73 WRC+ so they can stay at SS? McGuire had a 134 WRC+ with very good defense which is why the Jays feel the need to push him.

"Having them split time at AAA or one starting at AAA screws the other, and IMO makes the team worse off."

No, it doesn't. There's a problem developing if you're only getting a few ABs or reps here and there but both these guys will play 3 times a week behind the plate and probable DH occasionally. Jansen and McGuire combined for around 140 games at catcher last year and developed fine. They'll be OK. I mean, do you really think that Jansen with 80 starts won't develop and with 110 starts he will? Player development isn't nearly as sensitive as people make it out. Unless you are really pushing someone up way too fast or not giving someone any playing time, good prospects will develop and any player who shows promise will get opportunities.

Urena is on the DL but listed on the Buffalo Bisons (AAA) roster. I think he should be on the AA team.

I see the point about good prospects will develop. Yan Gomes did that. He developed. IMO he did not get enough playing time in the minors. The stats said that he could hit. I never knew his defensive abilities.

So I always thought that he should get ABs at 1st and DH. I actually thought his offense was good enough for those 2 spots. Maybe 1st would have been trouble defensively.

Of course you don't want to take ABs away from any good 1B and DH prospects that you are high on.

Danny Espinosa has an "out" in his contract at the end of April. If he departs the Jays will need another middle infielder in Buffalo. It would be Urena or Gurriel. Pick one.

Urena has an inter-costal, i.e. rib, strain.

It could also be Ngoepe, if Espinosa is added to the ML team.

I would prefer Gurriel get the undserved promotion rather than urena just due to age....but then again, I'm not sure gurriel actually is a middle infielder, so they might not even be competing for the same spots.

It is true that Gurriel has shown little in the field, due to rust and injury. We have heard from media that he is a "beast". So let us see what he can actually do.

The same applies to Pentecost, let us see what he can do if he is healthy.

I hope the pitching prospects step up. The 2019 rotation will need 8 SPs. The farm needs to contribute.

Glevin - great point on development.  I think we all get caught up in playing time when often the key is extra reps in the batting cage (which are far more advanced than 20 years ago - I remember seeing one at a batting cage that had a video of a pitcher throwing then the ball came out of where his hand was at the end - I suspect ML teams now have far stronger ones that can simulate curveballs, sliders, etc.  so hitters can get dozens of reps vs those at ML speeds without wearing out a pitcher.  Plus of course, they have pitching coaches and hangers on who could pitch to the hitters 'in real life' without hurting a prospect although the speed would be much lower than a ML pitcher.

As to catchers - 70-80 games is plenty each season.  You don't want to wear out their knees before they reach.  The other 70 or so games they can play at 1B, LF, 3B, DH, whatever works best with their personal skill set.  Try to get them stretched out at multiple positions so they are more useful ala Russell Martin.  Never hurts to train a player at a second or third position.  Carlton Fisk had the most games caught record for a bit but also played in LF and DH at times. 

For outfielders, it is very common to do a 4 man rotation where they play LF/CF/RF/DH or a 5 man with 1B mixed in.  Heck, if you wanted you could make it a 6 man rotation with a day off so LF day one, CF, RF, 1B, DH, day off or something like that.  Again, it teaches them how to be useful at more than one position and keeps them fresh all year (hopefully).  Infielders can rotate between SS/2B easily - and if needed add in 3B, or more positions.

Yeah, all of this makes it harder to win in the minors but honestly, that is about as low on the consideration list for the ML team as it gets.

Urena wasn't on any of the backfields for the last week of ST, so my guess is that he might be gone for a while. Alvery De Los Santos was the backup AAA infielder (hes listed as a pitcher, but somehow was playing SS) for the last few days, he covered for Epinsosa for a few innings after he got hit by a pitch.

I'm guessing it was Luis De Los Santos doing the backing up, not Alvery... Those two players have been mixed up in the past too.

Opening day in the minors is a good day for the big club to have off.  Francisco Rios gets the start for New Hampshire, T. J. Zeuch for Dunedin and Yennsy Diaz for Lansing.