...in the sun or shade...without the busy pace back east.

The Phoenix Desert Dogs went all the way this AFL season with Blue Jays farmhands playing a lead role. Chip Cannon, Kyle Yates, Curtis Thigpen, Ryan Klosterman, Dustin McGowan, Jordan DeJong and Tracy Thorpe all contributed to the Dogs' success. Shall we take a look at how some of them did, and how it affects their prospect status?

Baseball America revealed their Top 30 Blue Jay prospects today.  There is a subscriber only chat at 2 pm.  Baseball America are higher on Ryan Patterson and Brandon Magee than Batters Box was and the big surprise is Balbino Fuenmayor at number 10.

It's been a fine Arizona Fall League season so far for the Blue Jay farmhands playing for the Phoenix Desert Dogs, who lead the circuit with a 14-8 record. 

Today Baseball America released the most up-to-date list of minor league free agents that I've found on the web. It's complete with some of our favourite names of the past few years, including Frank Menechino (??), Tom Wilson, Alberto Castillo, Gookie Dawkins, one of the Bobby Joneses, Tony Torcato, C.J. Nitkowski and Mac Suzuki.

...Phoenix or Tucson.  The Arizona Fall League season got underway on Tuesday.  This year, the Jays have sent players to the Phoenix Desert Dogs, including Dustin McGowan, Curtis Thigpen, Chip Cannon and Ryan Klosterman. McGowan got the start yesterday and threw 3 pretty good innings but took the loss as the Dogs were shut out.  Cannon is 3-7 with a walk to start the season, and Klosterman reached base 3 of his first 4 plate trips. 

In early returns, scoring seems to be down in Arizona.  We will see if this continues.

Not all prospects worth following can be found on our top 30 list. Some are rising, and others, once noteworthy, have to work to get it back. We have chosen five of each.

Monday, we took a look at Prospects #30-#21 in the Blue Jay farm system. Yesterday, it was #20-#11. Now, we get to the part you've all been waiting for.

The top 10 classic rock songs of all time are...Never mind. There was not much debate among the minor league crew about the best of the best in the Jay system, with one exception. Who is the better Romero, Ricky or Davis? We enlisted ouija boards, oracles and Jordan Furlong to assist us in resolving this difficult question. We are pleased to advise that with their assistance, no wars were fought and no bones were broken as we came to a decision.

Shaun Marcum, Casey Janssen, Dustin McGowan and Brandon League, mainstays from last year's top 10 list, are no longer eligible due to major league service time.

Yesterday, we looked at prospects #30-#21. We move on today to players who are more familiar.

It's that time of year again. The minor league crew voted on the top 30 prospects in the Blue Jay farm system after the 2006 season. We are pleased to share our choices, ten daily for the next three days. We begin with nos. 30-21.

The comments are prepared by individual members of the crew and indicated by their initials: G- Gerry , P- Pistol, JG- Jonny German, T- Thomas, R- Rob and MG- Mike Green. Jonny German was again instrumental in providing the statistical information that accompanies the comments.

Adam Lind makes it three in a row.

The Jays have notified the Appalachian League that they will not be in Pulaski next year, and apparently are planning to have five minor league affiliates rather than six next year, according to Baseball America.

Thanks to mendocino for the tip.

Travis Snider had a highly successful debut in professional baseball.  What does the future hold for him?

And so it ends. All three playoff runs ended Sunday. Dunedin lost three straight games in the final as their pitching just wasn't good enough. Lansing had struggled in the second half and injuries in the pitching staff left them weak, they lost both games by six runs. Auburn lost both of their games by a single run, one in the eighth inning and one in the ninth. This brings an end to the 2006 minor league updates, look for our top 30 and other features in the next few weeks.

The Dunedin hometown faithful had their hearts broken in the ninth inning.

Both Lansing and Dunedin advanced to the next round of their playoffs with exciting one-run wins. Dunedin swept Fort Myers in extra innings, while Lansing got out to a lead and refused to relinquish it.