In honour of the start to the 2011 short-season leagues for the Jays organization, I have written a 56-page guide that includes draft reviews, prospect profiles and much more.

A 3-2 night on the farm included Lansing and Vegas getting knocked around while the Fisher Cats provided a slew of nice performances.

Zach Stewart was the headliner on Thursday as he showed why the Jays are excited about his future.  There were no angels on this day, at least not for the bullpen, who conspired to lose the game in the ninth inning.  The Jays were in some ways lucky to get to the ninth inning tied, Jeremy Guthrie had been knocking them down but he injured his back and had to leave the game after five innings.  His replacement, Jim Johnson, was not really ready and what usually happens in these situations is that the pitcher can be hit around.  The Jays did and scored twice but EE snuffed out the rally by hitting into a DP.  That was it until Jon Rauch gave up three ground balls, only one of which was hit hard, in the ninth.

Travis Snider's hot streak continues. Is he ready to be called back up? All this, and more, in today's Minor League Update

The initial Vancouver roster is out and is listed below.  This roster could change quite a bit between now and the end of the month due to new draft signings, free agents, etc.  The two most notable "young guys" on the roster are Justin Nicolino and Shane Opitz.  Most of the players on the roster are college aged as the league is considered a college player league.  Other 2010 draftees like Aaron Sanchez, Noah Syndergaard, Griffin Murphy, Kellen Sweeney and Chris Hawkins are likely headed for Bluefield.  Their season starts next week so the teams are not yet formed.

Opera Bob's is starting their series of "JAYS DAYS" and I thought it would be a good opportunity for a beer club. Check the details below.

A big night for the Las Vegas outfield highlighted a 4-1 night on the farm with the lone loss coming in extra innings.



Maybe it's just me but doesn't Eric Thames remind you of Samuel L. Jackson in "Shaft"?  Can you dig it?

Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reports the Blue Jays have demoted Kyle Drabek to AAA Las Vegas.  Getting the call to the bigs is fellow righty Zach Stewart from AA New Hampshire.  A tip of the cap to Bauxite smcs for the heads up.  The linked story from above also features audio from general manager Alex Anthopoulos about Drabek's demotion.



Zach Stewart and Kyle Drabek.  Photos courtesy of Zimbio.

The battle for fourth begins.

And McGuire Bretts Tampa?

Doug Davis, the Blue Jays minor league field coordinator, answered some questions for me over the weekend.  Davis was on his way to Florida to get the short season teams ready for the season.  In addition to the specific questions below I asked about where the young guys, drafted last year, would be heading.  Davis wouldn't specifically answer but he did say that the Jays added the extra team in Bluefield for the younger players.  Vancouver, like Auburn, is closer in level to Lansing and is a college heavy league.  In my opinion you might see one or two of the young pitchers headed for Vancouver but I would guess hitters like Sweeney and Hawkins will go to Bluefield.

Eddie Michels, who writes for a number of outlets, reports that the injured Jessie Litsch has begun his rehab assignment.

Anybody get the license number on that truck?

Yesterday saw two newly-promoted pitchers give very strong efforts in their first starts at their new levels. It also saw a couple of strong efforts out of the bullpen, which also included one reliever, recently demoted, return to dominating his old level. Las Vegas exploded for 17 hits, including three by the streaking David Cooper, but the bats were nearly absent in New Hampshire and Dunedin.

The June 6-8 amateur draft fallout is already beginning. So far we've heard that about five draft picks have signed with a handful of undrafted free agents also coming to terms - although all moves have yet to be confirmed by the organization. The Vancouver Canadians' season begins on Friday (June 17) so we should be seeing a bunch of player signings (likely lower picks) become official in the coming week. 

Let's keep track of the transactions in this thread: