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Toronto Blue Jays: MiLB Spring footage

By Jason Woodell

TAMPA, FL - JULY 12: Blue Jays prospects Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette pose together before the Florida State League game between the Dunedin Blue Jays and the Tampa Yankees on July 12, 2017, at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, FL. Guerrero and Bichette are both sons of former all-star big leaguers, Vladdy's father is Vladimir Guerrero and Bo's father is Dante Bichette. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - JULY 12: Blue Jays prospects Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette pose together before the Florida State League game between the Dunedin Blue Jays and the Tampa Yankees on July 12, 2017, at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, FL. Guerrero and Bichette are both sons of former all-star big leaguers, Vladdy's father is Vladimir Guerrero and Bo's father is Dante Bichette. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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MiLB Spring training footage for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Much has been written about the top farm systems in baseball.  The San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, and New York Yankees all boast incredibly deep and talented systems. While the Toronto Blue Jays have seen some love from the experts, many view them outside of the top 5 systems in the game.

Maybe the experts have a point. However, the time to sleep on the Blue Jays farm is about to come to an end. Led by Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Bo Bichette, the Jays boast two of the most high profile exciting hitters in the game.

Vlad has been ranked anywhere from 2 to 5 in most lists and Bichette has ranged from 13-19.  I’ve seen a lot of Bo Bichette. His approach and bat speed are well beyond his years. To me, he is easily a top 10 prospect and will be universally considered one by mid-season 2018 after some of the guys ahead of him graduate off the lists.

Boasting two Top 15 prospects is a good start to building a farm. Additionally, the Jays have Anthony Alford, a tremendous athlete with excellent bat to ball skills and great speed. Nate Pearson, their 2017 1st rounder and 28th overall, is already a Top 100 guy on multiple lists with a chance to really shoot up the prospect lists with a good season. But that isn’t all. The Jays may not have anymore can’t miss/elite prospects, but what they do have are some solid players that can contribute as MLB regulars.

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The videos posted are from two separate weekends and feature a number of players at the high level of the minors as well as footage of players yet to debut in full-season ball.  Catcher Danny Jansen and Lourdes Gurriel will start 2018 at Buffalo and are a call away from the show.

T.J Zeuch shined in the Arizona Fall League after missing most of 2017 due to injury. Thomas Pannone and Rowdy Tellez are talented but need to overcome adversity in order to be taken seriously.

At the lower levels, the Jays feature 2017 draftees Logan Warmoth, the aforementioned Pearson, Hagen Danner, Riley Adams, and Kevin Smith, as well as 15th round, pick and OBP machine Ryan Noda.  Bradley Jones, drafted in 2015, has done nothing but rake. A broken wrist ended his season in 2017 at Dunedin and with depth through the system on the infield corners, Jones has started playing 2B in Spring Training games.

If we go even deeper into the system, McGregory Contreras, Jesus Severino, Freddy Rodriguez, and Luis De Los Santos are very young and very raw.

So the Jays appear to be in good shape with a lot of nice pieces that are close to the bigs. Obviously, I didn’t mention everyone and this piece isn’t intended to rank anybody or provide scouting updates.

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But I hope that it provides Toronto Blue Jays fans with trust that the front office and scouting department has been diligently burning up the amateur trails and that reinforcements are on the way.

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