Courtesy of John Northey.

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I found the following information about payrolls and exchange rates:

The new hitting coach, Gary Denbo, comes from the Yankees minor leagues.  As with most hires they sound good when they happen.  We'll see if there's any noticable change next year.

I have always been fascinated by teams which are able to piece together unlike talents into a coherent whole better than the sum of its parts. The October 10 birthday boys have the potential to be one such team.

Got predictions? Observations? Questions, comments, concerns? Post all your Rockies/Diamondbacks witticisms and dissertational items right here, Bauxites!

Got predictions? Observations? Questions, comments, concerns? Post all your Red Sox/Indians witticisms and dissertational items right here, Bauxites!

Dick Scott is the Blue Jays Director of Player Development and a regular interview subject here at Batters Box.  Recently Scott answered questions from Batters Box regarding the 2007 minor league season and some of the Jays prospects.  The 2006 edition of this season-ending interview can be found here.  Batters Box would like to thank Dick Scott for giving us some of his valuable time.

Until Damon hit that home run yesterday, I thought it was all my fault. See, going into the first round of this year's playoffs, I thought there were four teams who were clearly better than their opponents in the four series at hand.

Yup, LAA was obviously the best team in the AL, just a noodge ahead of NYY. And CHC and PHI would make for a fun traditionally-loveable-losers NLCS bracket, certainly (the NL West never wins anything, after all). Then yesterday I found myself one dominating Jake Westbrook start -- that never came, of course -- from all four being swept in the first round. 

So as we just barely avoid the first "four-sweeps-and-out" first round of the Wild Card era, here's a couple of simple questions for you ...

Let's regard this as a 2007 sequel to April's enormous examination (with the Data Tables here) of Home Field Advantage.

For Batter's Box readers Of A Certain Age, it's time to feel old ... today is Alfredo Griffin's 50th birthday. AG is one of 61 men born on Oct.6 who have played in the major leagues -- and while none have yet made the Hall of Fame -- oh, who am I kidding, none are ever getting there; the best of the lot is Ruben Sierra, a Hall of Fame talent who never quite sustained a Cooperstown career. But there is a "yet" worth mentioning -- or at least, that is ...

Once again, we check in with the ancient sage!

The Pittsburgh Pirates have led off the post-season axe brigade by firing manager Jim Tracy, who took the squad to a 68-94 mark this year, not precisely a quantum leap from the '06 67-95 slate.

C'mon, Jim! Bucco management clearly provided you with 71-win talent!

So, start your bidding, Bauxites -- who's next? And who should (or who will) replace Tracy?

Evaluating prospects is an uncertain pastime. Players are hindered by injuries, some obvious, some hidden to the fans and some hidden from the organization. Position players can often show little until they mature, sometimes around age 21. Pitchers can be helped by a new pitch or better mechanics that improve their control. In 2007 Brian Wolfe pitched well in the bullpen for the Jays even though he was not rated as a top 30 prospect by Batters Box or Baseball America.

In that spirit here are some players to watch who just missed our top 30 list. There is very little reason to differentiate between the bottom half of Blue Jay prospects this year. An argument could be made for any of these players to be in the top 30.

On Tuesday we delivered #30-#21, and yesterday #20-#11. Now, we are proud to present our selections as the top 10 Blue Jay prospects for 2007. Youth will be served.

Yesterday, we took a closer look at our #30-#21 prospects. Today, it is #20-#11. In past years, the more highly rated prospects were higher up in the system. Not so this year, as recent drafts take up more than their share of the prized slots. As you shall see.

We continue a Batter's Box tradition with our annual top 30 Blue Jay top prospect list. It is a combined effort of Thomas Ayers, Mike Green, Pistol, Gerry McDonald and Niall O'Donohoe. Today, we look at numbers 30-21.