The 2017 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook

Table of Contents

Introduction

- Stats

- How to Follow the Games

- About this book

- About the Blue Jays from Away Premium Content Section

2016 Draft Review

- Drafted Players

- Non-Drafted Free Agents (NDFA)

- International Free Agents (IFA)

2017 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Affiliates

Toronto Blue Jays 2017 Minor League Staff

Buffalo Bisons

- 2017 Coaching Staff

- Playoff Procedures

- 2017 Schedule

- Website

- Directions and Parking

- About Coca-Cola Field

- Broadcast

- Local Colour

- Other Notes

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

- Q&A with the Fisher Cats' Broadcasters

- 2017 Coaching Staff

- Playoff Procedures

- 2017 Schedule

- Website

- Directions and Parking

- About Northeast Delta Dental Stadium

- Broadcast

- Local Colour

Dunedin Blue Jays

- 2017 Coaching Staff

- Playoff Procedures

- 2017 Schedule

- Website

- Directions and Parking

- About Florida Auto Exchange Stadium

- Broadcast

- Local Colour

Lansing Lugnuts

- Q&A with the Lugnuts' Broadcasters

- 2017 Coaching Staff

- Playoff Procedures

- 2017 Schedule

- Website

- Directions and Parking

- About Cooley Law School Stadium

- Broadcast

- Local Colour

Vancouver Canadians

- Q&A with a Vancouver Canadians Blogger

- 2017 Coaching Staff

- Playoff Procedures

- 2017 Schedule

- Website

- Directions and Parking

- About Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium

- Broadcast

- Local Colour

Bluefield Blue Jays

- Q&A with the Bluefield Blue Jays' Broadcaster

- 2017 Coaching Staff

- Playoff Procedures

- 2017 Schedule

- Website

- Directions and Parking

- About Bowen Field

- Broadcast

- Local Colour

Gulf Coast League Blue Jays

- 2017 Coaching Staff

- Playoff Procedures

- 2017 Schedule

- Website

- Directions and Parking

- About the Bobby Mattick Training Facility

- Broadcast

- Local Colour

Dominican Summer League Blue Jays

- 2016 Coaching Staff

- 2016 Schedule

Player Profiles

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

Appendix 1: Positional Depth Chart

Appendix 2: Glossary

Appendix 3: Top Prospect Lists

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Connect with the Author

Introduction

Welcome to the fourth edition of the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook. This year we bring you all of what you expect from the previous editions of the Handbook, with a couple of new features. As usual, the meat of the Handbook is the player profiles. We look at almost 280 players who are expected to play in the Blue Jays’ minor league system in 2017, updated as late as we can before publication. All of the profiles of returning players have been updated while all of the new players in the system--minor league free agents, 2016 draftees, trade acquisitions and 2016 international free agents--are all here. In addition, we have an overview of the 2016 draft (to supplement our profiles of all the players the Blue Jays added in the draft), and reviews of the 2016 season for each of the Blue Jays’ minor league affiliates.

The e-book format of this book is going to be short on flashy things like graphs, charts and photos. We love those elements too, but they would compromise readability across a number of platforms so we’ve deliberately kept things simple. To enhance the e-book, you can visit the Premium Content section of Blue Jays from Away. The Premium Content section is like an online version of the Handbook, giving each player his own page with photos and video (where available). We'll be updating the video and photos throughout the season while adding exclusive scouting reports to players' pages and to the Premium Content section. Readers have the opportunity to purchase both a subscription to the Blue Jays from Away Premium Content section as well as the 2016 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook for one low price. Of course, both can be enjoyed separately.

2017 will also be the second year in which we make a print version available at our print-book partner, Lulu.com. There, you can print to order a copy of the 2017 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook in a slightly abridged format (we cut most of the appendices) so you can have a physical copy to take along with you to Buffalo, Lansing, or wherever else you might be.

If I’ve got a uniform on my back, I’ve got a shot.

How many of us have heard a player say this? This is the reason why the Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook profiles every player in the Blue Jays’ system. We hear the Blue Jays’ broadcasters talk about the top few prospects in the system or discuss the minor league careers of the Jays’ latest bullpen call up. Most Blue Jays blogs profile a dozen or two top prospects. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This Handbook, folks, is the iceberg.

Every player, whether he's from Latin America (or Belgium), Mississippi, British Columbia or even Toronto, in the Toronto Blue Jays' organization has one thing in common: a scout or executive saw some talent in him and offered him a professional contract. While the stories in this book have a common theme, you'll find players who came to the organization in a variety of different ways. One player was drafted after returning to college following a Mormon mission to Toronto. A couple of players had some success playing other sports before returning to baseball after their careers were over there. Another spent two years in the Army after a stellar professional debut. Some bounced around organizations until they found a home with Toronto. Others bounced around community colleges and NCAA universities until they were drafted. Some players are rebounding from injury, hoping for one more shot at the major leagues before they call it a career. Sure, there are tropes and patterns but every player's story is unique and that's why we're here.

One word that we don’t like to use is prospect. Sure, some players have a greater ability to make an impact at the major league level than others because of their physical gifts but we’ve seen too many prospects who were unable to live up to their expectations. Whether because of injuries, the inability to adjust at the higher levels or just going off the rails, many highly-touted prospects have disappointed. Conversely, players have emerged completely unheralded to make the major league team and make big impacts. That’s why we don’t compile our own Top Prospect list. We’re trying to avoid creating a hierarchy of players within the system. We do provide you with other lists in our appendix but we like to think of all the players as being on (more-or-less) equal footing.

I just spent the last paragraph telling you why everyone in the system has a shot and how we democratize the Blue Jays’ minor league system for the purposes of this book but the reality of minor league baseball is that the players are not on equal footing at all. Players who get more money from the club in the form of signing bonuses will be given much more rope while late draft picks and non-drafted free agents (NDFAs) will have to prove themselves to a higher standard over and over again in order to remain employed. Teams are reluctant to give up on players in whom they have invested hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of dollars. As we’ll see in our Dearly Departed essay, one part of being a professional baseball player is that you’re always competing for that spot at the level above you and competing against younger, faster, stronger players who have been more recently acquired, possibly at a greater cost to the organization. Players can be released at any point or they can be traded. And sometimes, a player is released regardless of how well he actually played.

This book is designed to accompany you as you spend the 2016 season following the Toronto Blue Jays and their minor league affiliates. With the 2016 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook (and/or a subscription to the Premium Content section at Blue Jays from Away), you'll know who is on the cusp of being called up to the majors and who could be making his North American debut in the Gulf Coast League after coming over from the Dominican Summer League. You'll know to whom the Blue Jays have handed out big signing bonuses and who they've signed to minor league free agent contracts to fill roster spots for this season.

Stats

As in our previous editions, tapping or clicking on a player’s name in the 2016 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook will take you to his Baseball Reference page filled with useful statistical information. We’ve been able to include stats in the Blue Jays from Away Premium Content section but because of our format here, we’re limited to what we can do in terms of charts.

You may not be familiar with all of the statistics that I use and I’m aware that some of these stats might be hard to follow, particularly since I’m using some stats that go a step beyond the typical batting average, home runs and runs batted in. I’ve chosen stats that try to help understand what a player is doing well and leaves out elements of the game that are beyond his control

You’ll see strikeout and walk rates cited a lot (K%, BB%). These are extremely important both for pitchers and hitters because they’re some of the best indicators of future performance for minor leaguers. I prefer to use the rate statistic over the strikeouts or walks per nine innings pitched (K/9; BB/9) because using innings pitched as a denominator can be misleading, particularly if a pitcher is either very efficient or allows a lot of baserunners. The longer the innings are, the more batters he faces and a high K/9 or BB/9 is mitigated by the number of batters a pitcher faces per inning. The K% or BB% gives us a much clearer picture of how a pitcher is doing overall. To figure it out for yourself, divide strikeouts or walks by batters faced (for pitchers) or plate appearances (for hitters).

On the hitting side, if a player is striking out a lot and not walking much, those tendencies tend to get amplified as he moves up the ladder towards the major leagues. On the pitching side, a low strikeout rate could mean that the pitcher isn’t fooling a lot of hitters which is something that frequently leads to hard contact and inflated numbers as the pitcher moves to higher levels. The caveat is that K% is not the only thing to look for and there are pitchers who don’t strike out a lot of batters who can still be successful at higher levels of the minors and even into the major leagues (Henderson Alvarez is a perfect example). The takeaway here is that strikeout and walk rates should be used as an important tool in getting an overall picture of a player but they can never give you the whole picture.

On occasion, you’ll see me cite BABIP or Batting Average on Balls In Play. This stat looks at how many balls that are put in play go for hits and the league average hovers around .300. The stat varies wildly for pitchers and is one factor in how we look at luck, following the logic that, once the ball leaves a pitcher’s hand, he has little control over what happens. If a pitcher has a high BABIP against in a particular year, we can generally say that other stats (like ERA and WHIP) that get inflated due to an above-average number of balls falling in for hits will regress towards the norm in subsequent years as the luck returns to average levels. For hitters, there is actually some correlation between BABIP and ability. Faster players will frequently have a higher BABIP thanks to their ability to beat out infield hits while players who consistently hit the ball hard will usually have a higher BABIP. While there can be fluctuation in BABIP from year to year, I’ve found that many hitters, once they reach their peak abilities, have a batting average that will hover around their BABIP from year to year, staying within a certain numerical range. For example, Jose Bautista’s batting average in a given year has tended to stay right around his  his BABIP, usually within about 15 points since 2011. If he’s getting a little luckier in a particular year, you’ll see a corresponding rise between his BABIP and his batting average.

The Ground-Out-to-Air-Out ratio (GO/AO) tells us how many of the outs that a pitcher gets (on balls in play) come via the ground or the air. Obviously, a pitcher wants to give up fewer fly balls because those turn into extra-base hits more often. The GO/AO ratio is frequently the stat I’ll look at, especially if a pitcher has relatively low strikeout rates. If he’s not striking out batters but is getting a lot of ground balls (and double plays), he will probably see some improvements in his numbers as he rises through the minor leagues, primarily because infield defense improves as you get closer to the major leagues, turning more of those ground balls into outs. A pitcher who gets a lot of ground balls will generally give up a lot of hits (like Casey Lawrence).

Stat Sources

I find Baseball Reference to be the best site in terms of the overall visual layout. It is particularly terrific if you want to see individual game stats for a player, even at the minor league level (going back to 2008). They have a game log and split the stats by month, against his opponents’ handedness and other fun things to know. Another feature is that you can go to the game log, highlight a selection of time between two individual games and it will calculate the stats from that time period for you. They are also including winter league stats now from the Arizona Fall League, Caribbean and Australian winter leagues. Baseball Reference is also at the leading edge when it comes to international playing and it includes stats from Japan, Korea, Italy, Mexico and other international leagues.Another perk to Baseball Reference is that they include stats from the professional independent leagues in the US.

Fangraphs is a more mathematically-based site and calculates BABIP, FIP, K% and BB% for you (if you’re not sure what any of those things mean, check out our Glossary). Its format isn’t always the easiest to read for minor league stats but it goes into more detail with the type of stats that normally require an extra level of calculation.

MiLB.com is usually the most accurate (there are occasionally some discrepancies between sites). MiLB.com has a call center in New York that the official scorekeeper from every minor league game calls in to between innings to report the results of the previous half inning of play. One of the most important stats that they carry that the others don’t is ground out/air out ratios for pitchers. The reason they can do this is because they are getting the eye-witness reports of the game’s results from the official scorers. MiLB.com has also been using live tracking from scorekeepers in the parks, using the Gameday feature that is used by MLB for some parks, parks, particularly in Double-A and Triple-A.

Another site that takes the MiLB information and puts it into handy graphic form is MLBfarm.com. In addition to compiling stats, they have created an incredible array of graphs, charts and diagrams from the MiLB.com information in a way that is similar to what Brooks Baseball provides for major leaguers. When searching players, make sure to enter his last name first or else the search feature doesn’t work.

My go-to site for college stats is thebaseballcube.com. This site is a phenomenal tool for getting stats from a player’s career and it has stats for college (for most NCAA colleges) and even some summer, wood-bat leagues (like the Cape Cod League and Northwoods League).

There is no real equivalent for the type of pitch data that is available with major league players (at least publically: major league teams do track PitchF/x data for their own use at their minor league parks). If you look up individual game box scores for Double-A and Triple-A games via MiLB.com Gameday, you can see locations of pitches but pitch types and velocities aren’t kept.

When I give you velocity, pitch selection and general scouting information, I’m getting it either from my own legwork, watching radar guns of players or scouts in the ballpark (usually not the ballpark gun that is displayed on the scoreboard). I’ll also report scouting reports that I’ve seen online. Baseball America is a great source for players who are in the club’s Top 30 prospects from their Prospect Handbook that publishes every year. Lesser known players can sometimes have scouting reports online from their college days but usually for them, I’m getting that information myself.

How to Follow the Games

The internet has made following minor league baseball games much easier. By subscribing to MiLB.tv, you can get all Triple-A and most Double-A games on your computer (or other device) as live (or archived), streaming video. Some Class-A teams also broadcast video of their games. It’s getting more common for the lower levels to broadcast on MiLB.tv but camera angles and picture quality vary wildly.

All of the teams except for the GCL Blue Jays broadcast their games on terrestrial radio as well as over the internet. Bluefield doesn’t broadcast every home game on the radio but, in the past, has covered all road games. Check team websites for more up-to-date details. We’ll tell you more about the broadcasters involved in the sections on individual teams but they are all excellent and can really help you feel like you’re at the ballpark.

You can also follow Double-A and Triple-A games on MiLB.com’s Gameday. Just head to the MiLB.com website and click on the Gameday button instead of the boxscore button. This program works similarly to the same one that allows you to follow major league games online on MLB.com.

Live boxscores are available online at MiLB.com. They’re updated at least once every half inning (although if you’re listening and/or watching, there may be a delay with the box score) and are generally pretty good, even for the lower level games. Again, they’re updated from the office in New York after contact with the official scorekeeper at the actual location of the game.

Finally, you can go to the games! The section on each team includes information about the team’s ballpark, the local area and what you can expect when you go. This book isn’t a travel guide so we’re not going to give you the names of hotels or prices but if you’re looking for budget accommodations, I’ve been very successful with Priceline.com (particularly when I’ve traveled to games in Michigan, New Hampshire and Buffalo) as well as Airbnb.com (when I’ve gone down to Dunedin for Spring Training).

One of the things that I love the most about watching minor league baseball is that the sport has the largest gap between the skill level required at even the highest amateur levels and that needed in the major leagues of any of the major sports. You don’t see a Lebron James or Sidney Crosby stepping into the big leagues and making an impact immediately after being drafted. Even the best high school players can expect between three and five years of seasoning and a college player can expect between one and three years. The Ken Griffey Juniors, Bryce Harpers and Jose Fernandezes are very rare in this sport.

When we watch minor league games at the lowest levels, we’re seeing very raw players who will need a lot more work to reach the majors. They make a lot of mistakes in the field, take a lot of bad swings and have trouble finding the strike zone. The higher up you go, the closer the actual skill levels resemble that of the big league players but then the difference becomes more mental than physical. Consistency and ability to execute a game plan on the diamond are what separates players in Double-A and Triple-A from the major leagues more than actual skill level and if you listen to minor leaguers talk (like on the Blue Jays from Away Podcast), you'll frequently hear them speak about wanting to be more consistent. 

Minor league players are works in progress. One good or bad game doesn’t tell you everything about a player which is why scouts and writers like to get multiple opinions about players before they make up their minds. Boomer Collins had two three-for-four games in his final three games of the 2015 season. In each of the three-for-four games, he came within a triple of the cycle and yet, he was released after the season. That decision (while a little perplexing) would be mindblowing if all that you knew about Boomer Collins was from those last three games. You also wouldn't have seen the struggles he had early on in his stint in Dunedin. Players in the minor leagues need to be watched over a period of time to track both their skills and their progress, particularly in how they respond to adversity.

Players aren’t going to be the best version of themselves every game. Consistency and constant improvement are the ultimate prizes for minor leaguers making their way up the ladder. When you follow games (or go to them), it's as important to compare players to themselves at an earlier time as it is to compare them to each other and their competition.

Remember that player development is about process rather than product, especially in the lower minors. An oh-for-four day for a hitter can be a great step in the right direction if he’s making hard contact, laying off pitches out of the zone and working on improving his mechanics. A pitcher can be hitting his spots, getting good break on his offspeed pitches but gives up a lot of hits into holes and gaps. As Gerry McDonald wrote in his Foreward last year, defense in the minors isn’t nearly as good as it is in the majors and the decisions made by umpires and official scorers may hide what is actually going on in the game. They’re making judgement calls on the diamond and the further away you get from the action, the more the stats and results of a particular game may lie to us. You should also keep in mind that the umpires in the minor leagues are works in progress too! Especially in Rookie Ball, these umpires are just out of umpiring school and are going to make mistakes, just like the young players. By watching for little improvements in a player from inning to inning, game to game and season to season, you can get the most out of your minor league baseball experience.

About this Book

The 2017 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook is divided up into four main sections. The first is the one that you’re reading right now. In it, we have this introduction as well our annual essays that will hopefully whet your appetite for minor league baseball.

This essay is followed by a summary of the 2016 draft. You’ll get an overview followed by a blow by blow account of who the Blue Jays selected where in the 2016 draft and whether they did or didn’t sign (and for how much money). Our draft overview looks at trends to see what might come of the draft in a few years time.

The two most important sections of this book come next. The first is your guide to the Toronto Blue Jays’ minor league system with entries for each minor league affiliate. Each entry gives you a historical background on professional baseball in that particular city, the Blue Jays affiliation with the club and notable names from past seasons.

In the team sections we have also included the 2017 coaching staff, the 2017 schedule, as well as information about parking, directions, the stadium, broadcasts and the local area.

The third section shows our commitment to the democratization of minor league baseball. Instead of subjectively ranking players either by their prospect status or by level, we have included all of the players expected to play in the Blue Jays’ minor league system alphabetically. By using the Table of Contents, you can link to the letter of the player’s last name and find his entry quickly from there. We have entries for over 270 players, from Dominic Abbadessa to T.J. Zeuch.

That’s the big reason why this book is so big. To give you some perspective, some published prospect guides give you the top 100 prospects in the majors or 30 (or fewer) for each organization. The beauty of our digital-only format is that we don’t have to cut and trim. You don’t have to carry a big, heavy book around with you (unless you head to Lulu.com and purchase the print version of the book) and we’re able to include much more information about more players than anyone else. Blue Jays fans deserve nothing but the best.

Finally, we’ve added some extra content like the positional depth chart which will let you know who stands where among position players in the minor league system (at least in my opinion). As mentioned above, we’ve included a glossary which will help you with any acronyms or advanced stats that you might need to decipher. Our third appendix is where we link to top prospect lists. While we want this book to be as egalitarian as possible, we acknowledge that minor leaguers are categorized and ranked incessantly. While we’re not going to give you a list of our own, we do link to a selection of the many lists that are out there.

About the Blue Jays from Away Premium Content Section

When you subscribe to the Blue Jays from Away Premium Content Section, you’re doing a couple of things. The first, of course, is that you’re helping to support me as I travel throughout the spring and summer. If you’ve traveled anywhere, you know that it’s an expensive proposition and the more support we have in the sales of this book and subscriptions to the Premium Content Section, the more scouting trips we can do, the more interviews we can do and the more content we can bring you.

Another thing that you’re doing with a subscription to the Blue Jays from Away Premium Content Section is that you’re getting more coverage of the Blue Jays’ minor leagues and minor leaguers than anywhere else. We’re looking to add to our coverage this year and with your help, we’ll be able to provide more video, more photos and more scouting than ever before.

With a monthly or yearly subscription to the Premium Content Section, you’re getting access to our exclusive scouting reports, from spring training to the playoffs (if the Jays’ teams make the playoffs). We also will link to exclusive scouting video from our private collection (there’s still plently of video from last season that we have yet to upload) so you can see some of these players in action. Finally, we have players profiles just like in this book so that the two platforms complement each other. We can’t have photos and videos in the book, and we don’t put all of our content from the book on the website.

Your best value is by purchasing an annual subscription for $16.99 CDN. This gets you a full year of access to the Premium Content Section as well as a free copy of the 2017 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook. If you’d like to go month by month, you can subscribe for just $1.99 per month if you’ve already purchased the handbook.

I want to thank you for purchasing the 2017 Toronto Blue Jays Minor League Handbook. If you see me at a ballgame in 2017 (keep an eye on @JaysfromAway on Twitter) give me a tweet and say hello!

2016 Draft Review

This section looks at the most recent group of arrivals in the Toronto Blue Jays’ minor league system. The draft is the way that teams get most of their new players from year to year and it’s probably one of the most important times of the year for minor league baseball watchers. If you ask me, I think the Blue Jays had one of their best drafts in the last few years in 2016. While there are a couple of pitchers from the top of the 2015 draft that are exciting people as they move upwards through the system (Jon Harris and Justin Maese), 2016 boasts a talented top 10 with more exciting debut performances for the draftees than any other season I can remember.

In 2016, the Blue Jays changed direction in their drafting strategy, focusing more on college-age players than they might have under the Alex Anthopoulos regime. While they did select a few prominent high-school players, they were much more focused on players with longer track records. Additionally, the Blue Jays also must have identified a deficiency in their position playing prospects and, unlike in past years when the Jays drafted a lot of pitchers early, they focused on position players, particularly in the first five rounds with just two pitchers chosen out of six picks.

2016 was a year in which the Blue Jays had a pair of second round picks (thanks to Brady Singer not signing and going back into the draft) and appeared to have hit it big with their first five rounds. T.J. Zeuch was hailed as big righty with big league upside while the two second rounders, J.B. Woodman and Bo Bichette were excellent in their professional debuts. Zach Jackson, the Jays’ third round pick, has people talking about a fast rise for his outstanding curveball into a big league relief role and Josh Palacios (fourth round) is wowing people with his athleticism and advanced hitting ability. Finally, Cavan Biggio, the Jays’ fith rounder, boasts Hall of Fame bloodlines but was probably the least sexy pick of the top five rounds despite some solid performances in Vancouver.

Another player whom I was impressed with was eight-rounder Kyle Weatherly who has a lively fastball and good slider and could emerge as a sleeper in 2017. The lower rounds of the draft were a little bit hit and miss for the Blue Jays as they got a bunch of later-round high school picks to sign, like Dominic Abbadessa, Josh Winckowski and Travis Hosterman. The Blue Jays also drafted a service academy pitcher this year in Luke Gillingham out of the US Naval Academy. He was one of the top pitchers in the NCAA last year but his military commitment scared most teams away.

Drafted Players

Round 1 (21st overall): T.J. Zeuch, RHP - University of Pittsburgh -

Bonus: $2,175,000

The Blue Jays’ drafting of T.J. Zeuch is similar to that of Jonathan Harris the year before. Zeuch was drafted initially in the 31st round of the 2013 draft by Kansas City and was reported to have a strong physique (at 6-foot-7) as well as a plus fastball to go with a full arsenal of offspeed pitches. The Blue Jays were controlling Zeuch’s innings carefully and he had some very solid numbers in Vancouver before getting hit hard in a couple of outings in Lansing despite striking out 14 in just eight innings.

Round 2 (57th overall): J.B. Woodman, OF - University of Mississippi -

Bonus - $975,000

Woodman was a highly-touted player coming out of Mississippi with some very solid tools overall. He has above-average speed and throwing arm but the biggest thing for him will be recognizing offspeed pitches and maybe controlling his swing to cut down his strikeouts. He hit .272/.375/.421 in Vancouver while hitting over .400 for Lansing in nine games there.

Round 2 (66th overall): Bo Bichette, SS - Lakewood HS (FL) -

Bonus: $1,100,000

Bo Bichette is the son of major leaguer Dante Bichette and, while his swing mechanics might be a bit unorthodox, they paid dividends in his first professional season. Bichette put up video-game-like numbers in the GCL, hitting .427/.451/.732 with nine doubles, two triples and four home runs in just 91 plate appearances after going through a bout of appendicitis that cost him about a month.

Round 3 (102nd overall): Zach Jackson, RHP - University of Arkansas

Bonus: $275,000

For the second consecutive year, the Blue Jays selected a pitcher in the third round and signed him for well under slot value. Zach Jackson is a righty with an outstanding curveball who was a reliever in college and is projected to remain in the same role in the pros. He pitched mostly in Vancouver last year and, though he struck out 23 in 17 2/3 innings there, he also walked 12 batters, something that he’ll need to address.

Round 4 (132nd overall): Joshua Palacios, OF - Auburn University

Bonus: $438,100

The Jays have selected position players in the fourth round in the past three seasons but it’s looking early like Palacios might have the highest ceiling of the three. Palacios is a toolsy outfielder coming from Auburn University who dominated the Northwest League with a .355/.437/.473 slash line in just 28 games.

Round 5 (162nd overall): Cavan Biggio, 2B - University of Notre Dame

Bonus: $300,000

Biggio is another player the Blue Jays drafted early in 2016 who has major league bloodlines. The son of Craig Biggio has a lot of his dad’s intangibles but probably not the same quality of tools. Still, he hit .282/.386/.366 in 53 games for Vancouver and was one of the club’s top-of-the-order stalwarts.

Round 6 (192nd overall): D.J. Daniels, OF - Fike HS (NC)

Bonus: $300,000

Daniels was a rare high schooler that the Jays drafted in the first 10 rounds, coming from Fike High in North Carolina. Daniels can be thought of in the same way as Reggie Pruitt was when he was drafted a couple of years ago. He is very raw and performed as such in his first professional exposure, hitting just .100 in 131 plate appearances.

Round 7 (222th overal): Andy Ravel, RHP - Kent State University (OH)

Bonus: $186,900

Andy Ravel, a college righty out of Kent State, was a very solid pitcher in college. He was sheltered a bit from accumulating too many innings by piggybacking with fellow 2016 draftee Mike Ellenbest and he didn’t put the best numbers up, tossing 31 2/3 innings with a 5.12 ERA and 1.55 WHIP with low strikeout numbers in Vancouver.

Round 8 (252nd overall): Kyle Weatherly, RHP - Grayson County College (TX)

Bonus: $250,000

Weatherly was one of the few 2016 draftees I saw play this year and he was impressive down in Bluefield. He throws two potential plus pitches (fastball in the mid-90s and a slider) and he’s working to develop his changeup as a starter. He was very effective in his pro debut, despite the 4.06 ERA, he had a 1.22 WHIP with a 3.67 strikeout-to-walk rate.

Round 9 (282nd overall): Nick Hartman, RHP - Old Dominion University (VA)

Bonus: $163,100

Hartman went to Vancouver after coming out of Old Dominion University as a junior. He had some solid numbers there, with a 3.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and just eight walks in 24 innings but his strikeout rate (6.4 K/9) was a little on the low side.

Round 10 (312th overall): Kirby Snead, LHP - University of Florida

Bonus: $125,000

Snead came out of Florida and was one of several Blue Jays draftees to come from that program in the past several years. Snead profiles as a left-handed relief specialist, with a sidewinding delivery that gets a ton of ground balls on a heavy sinking fastball while he also throws a slider that needs refinement. Snead spent much of his pro time in Lansing with some decent numbers with his very low walk rate standing out.

Round 11 (342nd overall): Travis Hosterman, LHP - Paul J. Haggerty HS (FL)

Bonus: $400,000

Hosterman had a tough time in his first year as a pro but he’s still a highly-regarded high school pitcher who might need a little more patience as he develops.

Round 12 (372nd overall): Ridge Smith, C - Austin Peay State University (TN)

Bonus: $80,000

Smith impressed me from what I could see in Bluefield, showing power and a strong arm behind the plate. I’m hoping that he gets more playing time this year because I’d like to see what he can do in a regular role.

Round 13 (402nd overall): Chris Lincoln, RHP - Rancho Verde HS (CA)

Did not sign

Round 14 (432nd overall): Chris Hall, RHP - Elon University (NC)

Bonus: $70,000

Hall had a very strong year as a reliever with the Bluefield Blue Jays after signing. He has a plus fastball and was hard to hit but his strikeout rate will probably need to go up as he moves up in the system.

Round 15 (462nd overall): Josh Winckowski, RHP - Estero HS (FL)

Bonus: $125,000

Like Travis Hosterman, Winckowski struggled a little bit in his professional debut but still posted a strong 13:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He signed late and only threw 13 2/3 innings, with the Blue Jays carefully controlling his innings.

Round 16 (492nd overall): Dominic Taccolini, RHP - University of Arkansas

Did not sign

Round 17 (522th overall): Clayton Keyes, OF - Bishop Carroll HS (Calgary, AB)

Did not sign

Round 18 (552nd overall): Bradley Jones, 3B/1B - College of Charleston (SC)

Bonus: $60,000

Jones was a big slugger for the College of Charleston and he took his power game to a new level with the Bluefield Blue Jays, leading the Appalachian League in home runs and doubling the power output of his nearest teammate, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

Round 19 (582nd overall): Spencer Van Scoyoc, LHP - Jefferson High School (IA)

Did not sign

Round 20 (612th overall): Angel Alicea, RHP - Alabama State University

Bonus: $100,000

Angel Alicea is a crafty righty who throws in the high 80s with a good curveball coming out of Alabama State. He was assigned to the Bluefield Blue Jays and tossed 32 2/3 innings of relief, striking out a whopping 45 batters while walking just 10.

Round 21 (642nd overall): Mitch McKown, RHP - Seminole Community College (FL)

Bonus: $75,000

McKown was sent to the Gulf Coast League after signing as a 20 year old and struggled to find his control, walking 18 batters in just 7 2/3 innings, throwing 13 wild pitches and four hit batters.

Round 22 (672nd overall): Connor Eller, RHP - Oachita Baptist University (AR)

Bonus: unknown

Eller was sent to the Bluefield Blue Jays as a 22 year old and was among the club's best bullpen arms, throwing 34 2/3 innings with a 0.92 WHIP and 2.60 ERA, striking out 33 and walking nine.

Round 23 (702nd overall): Dominic Abbadessa, OF - Huntington Beach HS (CA)

Bonus: $150,000

Dominic Abbadessa came to the Blue Jays from the same town as Christian Lopes but didn't perform particularly well in his first exposure to pro ball in the GCL, playing sparingly, going 5/26.

Round 24 (732nd overall): Mike Ellenbest, RHP - Saginaw Valley State University (MI)

Bonus: $75,000

Ellenbest was sent to Vancouver in his Age-21 year and had a 5.04 ERA and 1.61 WHIP, striking out 21 and walking nine in 30 1/3 innings.

Round 25 (762nd overall): Casey Legumina, RHP - Basha HS (AZ)

Did not sign

Round 26 (792nd overall): Ben Anderson, RHP - Shenendehowa HS (NY)

Did not sign

Round 27 (822nd overall): Ryan Gold, C - Carolina Forest HS (SC)

Bonus: $100,000

Gold came to the Blue Jays out of his South Carolina High School and had a strong year in his professional debut, hitting .280/.359/.402 in the Gulf Coast League.

Round 28 (852nd overall): Blake Ebo, OF - Trenton Catholic HS (NJ)

Did not sign

Round 29 (882nd overall): Andrew Deramo, RHP - University of Central Florida

Bonus: $60,000

As a 21 year old, Deramo pitched with Bluefield, getting hit to the tune of a 7.71 ERA and 2.14 WHIP, allowing five home runs in 23 1/3 innings.

Round 30 (912th overall): Jake Fishman, LHP - Union College (NY)

Bonus: unknown

Fishman went to the GCL after signing and had a decent debut, giving up eight earned runs in 15 innings but having a strong, 13:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Round 31 (942nd overall): Marcus Still, CF - Scottsdale Community College (AZ)

Did not sign

Round 32 (972nd overall): David Jacob, 1B - Quincy University (IL)

Bonus: unknown

Jacob spent his first professional year mostly with the Gulf Coast League, hitting .304/.392/.472 with the GCL Blue Jays, hitting six home runs.

Round 33 (1002nd overall): Brayden Bouchey, RHP - University of Louisiana at Monroe

Bonus: unknown

Bouchey, a Canadian-born pitcher, spent most of his season in Bluefield, striking out 32 in 21 innings but walking 15.

Round 34 (1032nd overall): Shea Langeliers, C - Keller HS (TX)

Did not sign

Round 35 (1062nd overall): Jared Carkuff, RHP - Austin Peay State University (TN)

Bonus: unknown

Carkuff spent his Age-22 season in the GCL, impressing with 35 strikeouts and just three walks in 25 1/3 innings.

Round 36 (1092nd overall): Dustin Skelton, C - Magnolia Heights HS (MS)

Did not sign

Round 37 (1122nd overall): Luke Gillingham, LHP - US Naval Academy (MD)

Bonus: unknown

Gillingham was very good in four games, allowing three runs in 9 2/3 innings, striking out 11 and walking three before reported for his duty in the US Navy.

Round 38 (1152nd overall): Alex Segal, LHP - Chaparral HS (AZ)

Did not sign

Round 39 (1182nd overall): Chavez Young, OF - Faith Baptist Christian Academy (GA)

Bonus: $250,000

Young didn't play much in his pro debut but the Bahamian-born outfielder heated up at the end of the year, hitting .274/.346/.438 with eight doubles, two triples and six stolen bases in just 73 at bats.

Round 40 (1212th overall): Carter Loewen, RHP - Yale SS (BC)

Did not sign

Non-Drafted Free Agents

William Ouellette, RHP

Ouellette was signed out of Cal State Bernadino and pitched 22 1/3 innings for the GCL Blue Jays as a 23 year old with a 3.22 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, seven walks and 15 strikeouts.

Alfredo Bohorquez, IF

Bohorquez was 25 when he signed a minor league free agent deal with the Blue Jays, coming out of St. Catharine College. He hit .216/.345/.289 in 117 plate appearances.

Bobby Eveld, RHP

At the age of 24, Eveld, a former college football player for the University of South Florida, got back into baseball and signed a minor league free agent deal with the Blue Jays, throwing 1 1/3 innings in the GCL.

Tyler Olander, LHP

A 6-foot-9 lefty, Olander retired from professional basketball in Europe after a foot injury and returned to baseball, signing with the Blue Jays. A national championship winner in basketball at UConn, Olander threw 10 1/3 innings with out giving up a run but walked six and struck out six.

International Free Agents

Thanks to the Vladimir Guerrero signing in 2015, the Blue Jays were limited to maximum bonuses of $300,000 for individual players. They only signed four players to six-figure bonuses in last year’s signing period and got around the restrictions by signing Cuban defector Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. only after he turned 23. Players listed are only those who signed after July 2, 2016 and did not play in the Blue Jays’ system in 2016.

Luis Alvarez, RHP - Venezuela

Steward Berroa, IF - Dominican Republic

Elixon Caballero, RHP, Venezuela

Hugo Cardona, SS - Venezuela, $300,000

Felipe Castaneda, RHP - Mexico

Joi Concepcion, RHP - Dominican Republic

Jeison Contreras, P - Dominican Republic

Moises De La Cruz, P - Dominican Republic

Alvery De Los Santos, P - Dominican Republic

Juan Diaz, LHP, Dominican Republic

Hector Guerrero, SS, Mexico

Loudes Gurriel, Jr., IF/OF - Cuba, $22 million/7 years

Roither Hernandez, RHP - Dominican Republic, $150,000

Yunior Hinojosa, RHP - Dominican Republic

Geremy Jimenez, RHP - Dominican Republic

Juan Jimenez, RHP - Dominican Republic

Alejandro Kirk, RHP - Mexico

Rafael Lantigua, IF - Dominican Republic

Otto Lopez, SS - Dominican Republic

Ronald Magdaniel, RHP - Venezuela

Andres Martinez, RF - Dominican Republic

Yohandy Martir, RHP - Dominican Republic

Kenny Mauricio, SS - Dominican Republic, $110,000

Nicolas Medina, LHP - Venezuela

Elieser Medrano, RHP - Dominican Republic

Brayan Mejia, RHP - Dominican Republic

Adolfo Molina, RHP - Dominican Republic

Alexander Molina, RHP - Venezuela

Rafael Monsion, LHP - Venezuela

Naswell Paulino, LHP - Dominican Republic

Nathanael Perez, RHP - Dominican Republic

Yhon Perez, SS - Venezuela

Joseph Reyes, OF - Dominican Republic/New York, $300,000

Gaudy Ramirez, RHP - Dominican Republic

William Saavedra, C - Panama

Warnel Valdez, OF - Dominican Republic

Jhon Victorino, RHP - Dominican Republic

Emanuel Vizcaino, RHP - Dominican Republic

Toronto Blue Jays 2017 Minor League Affiliates

Triple-A: Buffalo Bisons (International League) - affiliated since 2013

Double-A: New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Eastern League) - affiliated since 2004

Class-A-Advanced (High-A): Dunedin Blue Jays (Florida State League) - affiliated since 1978

Class-A: Lansing Lugnuts (Midwest League) - affiliated since 2005

Short-Season A: Vancouver Canadians (Northwest League) - affiliated since 2011

Advanced-Rookie: Bluefield Blue Jays (Appalachian League) - affiliated since 2011

Rookie League: GCL Blue Jays (Gulf Coast League) - affiliated 1981-1985, 1991-1995, since 2007

Foreign Rookie: DSL Blue Jays (Dominican Summer League) - affiliated since 1989

Toronto Blue Jays 2017 Minor League Staff

2016 was a year of change for the Toronto Blue Jays as the first full season after the front office transition. The Blue Jays created a division of high performance, handed the minor league office over to Gil Kim, and Mark Shapiro began to bring in some people to take over for departed staff members like Doug Davis and Sal Fasano. Replacing Davis as the minor league field coordinator going into 2017 is veteran big league manager Eric Wedge while Jeff Ware, the Lansing Lugnuts’ former pitching coach, takes over as the minor league pitching coordinator. While Fasano also served as a roving catching coach, the Blue Jays have assigned Ken Huckaby to be the catching instructor in the minors.

Here’s what the general minor league/player development staff looks like in the Blue Jays’ system looks like heading into the 2017 season. At the senior levels, I’m noting personnel who have had a role in the past in either scouting or player development and check out the chapters for the individual teams for the player developement personnel assigned to each club.

Executive VP, Baseball Operations and GM: Ross Atkins

Senior VP, Baseball Operations and Asst. GM: Tony LaCava

Asst. GM: Andrew Tinnish

VP, Baseball Operations: Ben Cherington

Director, Player Development: Gil Kim

Director, Minor League Operations: Charlie Wilson

Field Coordinator: Eric Wedge

Asst. Field Coordinator: Mike Mordecai

Pitching Coordinator: Jeff Ware

Senior Pitching Advisor: Rick Langford

Rehab Pitching Coach: Darold Knowles

Catching Coordinator: Ken Huckaby

Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator: Tim Raines

Infield Coordinator: Danny Solano

Latin America Player Advisor: Omar Malave

Senior Advisor to Player Development: Mel Didier

Director, Amateur Scouting: Steve Sanders

Director, Latin American Operations: Sandy Rosario

Buffalo Bisons

Buffalo, New York has been the home of professional baseball since 1877, the Bisons team name has been in continuous use since 1878 (aside from an eight year gap from 1971 to 1978) and the Bisons were included into the National League in 1879. That year, Buffalo finished third in the National League with a 46-32 record under manager John Clapp and were led by their third baseman Hardy Richardson who hit .283/.315/.396 (128 OPS+) with 18 doubles and 10 triples. The club used two pitchers: Pud Galvin and Bill McGunnigle. Galvin was the main starter, starting 66 games and finishing with a record of 37-27 with a 2.28 ERA in 593 innings.

Buffalo has been an important city for professional baseball from the first days the game’s popularity as it spread from New York City in the second half of the 19th century. The Bisons became a minor league team in 1886, moving into the International League and Buffalo continued to show its strength as a baseball market by being targeted for teams by short-lived rival major leagues like the Players’ League (1890), the American League (1900) and the Federal League (1914-15). Buffalo even had an independent negro team in 1922 called the Buffalo Stars. In 1970, the Bisons moved to Winnipeg, becoming the Winnipeg Whips and struggled through stops there and in Hampton, Virginia before the club was suspended. The Bisons name was reinstated in 1979 when it came back as a Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Eastern League. In 1985, the Bisons returned to Triple-A ball, joining the American Association as an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. In 1998, the Bisons returned to its first minor league home, the International League, after the American Association folded, and the IL incorporated the remaining clubs.

The Bisons have had modern era affiliations with the Cleveland Indians (1983-1984, 1987, 1995-2008), Chicago White Sox (1985-1986), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1979-1982, 1988- 1994). Affiliated with the New York Mets from 2009 to 2012, the Bisons were heavily courted by the Toronto Blue Jays in a high-stakes game of Triple-A musical chairs following the 2012 season to form what is probably the most natural affiliation for Canada's only major league baseball team. While the Mets were technically in the same state as the Bisons, the two cities were an eight-hour drive apart and the club hadn't made good on a promise to either send high-level prospects to Buffalo or to bring a winner to the Queen City.

The Blue Jays, on the other hand, were looking to bring their Triple-A affiliate a little bit closer after the game of musical chairs at the end of the 2008 season left the Jays on the outs with their 30-year dance partner: the Syracuse Chiefs. Signing a deal with the Las Vegas 51s, the Blue Jays were stuck sending their near-major leaguers all the way to Las Vegas where the poor field and thin, desert air haunted pitchers and inflated batting numbers. The extra cost of the trips probably didn't help either.

Buffalo, which sits just down the QEW from Toronto, is a perfect fit for the Toronto Blue Jays. It allows the fan base to go and see the minor league talent just two hours away and Coca-Cola Field is just minutes from the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. Additionally, players can be recalled on short notice and be in Toronto soon after getting the call.

The relationship between Buffalo and Toronto has paid some dividends when it comes to attendance. The 2012 attendance figures came in at just under 516,000 spectators while that number jumped to almost 538,000 in 2013, the first year of the Blue Jays’ affiliation. That number sagged a bit to 535,275 in 2014 but the Bisons are doing robust business, ranking eighth in affiliated minor league baseball in total attendance in 2014. In 2015, the club was more successful in drawing fans, totalling 551,303 in attendance with 67 home dates. In 2016, the Bisons brought in 562,755 fans in 70 dates, averaging 8,039 fans per game, down a couple hundred fans per game on average from 2015.

The Bisons had International League MVP Matt Hague anchoring the lineup in 2015 but 2016 didn’t feature nearly as much power in the offense. Wade LeBlanc was the Blue Jays from Away Pitcher of the Year despite his limited time with the Bisons before being traded to the Mariners while Darrell Ceciliani was the BJfA Player of the Year. Dustin Antolin was the Reliever of the Year and, of the three award winners, just Ceciliani remains with the Blue Jays’ organization.

Under manager Gary Allenson, the Buffalo Bisons finsihed with a 66-78 record and were a whopping 25.5 games behind the division winners Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. They also finished a solid 19.5 games behind the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs for the IL Wild Card spot, meaning that the Bisons were not really anywhere near a playoff spot last year. The club did outperform their 61-83 Pythagorean record by five games, meaning that they were getting more out of their players than their run differential would suggest. The Bisons had the league’s worst offense, scoring just 3.47 runs per game while only the Syracuse Chiefs had a worse team OPS than they did. On the pitching side, they were 10th-best in runs allowed per game, giving up 4.07 runs per game.

While the 2016 edition of the Buffalo Bisons featured such future stars as Jio Mier, David Adams and Junior Lake, there were also some solid players with MLB experience like Matt Dominguez, Casey Kotchman and Jesus Montero. There were usually two homegrown players in the field in Andy Burns (who has since been released to allow him to sign a contract in Korea) and Dalton Pompey (who is poised to return), while catcher A.J. Jimenez (also released) would also play when healthy. On the mound, the bullpen was the real story, with Danny Barnes, Matt Dermody, Chad Girodo and Ryan Tepera all making major league appearances after spending their careers with the Blue Jays. The Jays also called up Chris Smith in September but he never got into a game. Still, the rotation featured veterans Chris Leroux, Scott Diamond, Wade Leblanc, Casey Lawrence and Drew Hutchison while Roberto Hernandez also made 13 starts and Scott Copeland made nine starts after returning from Korea.

In 2016, you can expect a much bigger emphasis on the homegrown player. Jon Berti will likely be around all season and two of the Blue Jays’ up-and-coming position prospects, Rowdy Tellez and Reese McGuire will probably be on the field. Dalton Pompey is expected to return and Darrell Ceciliani, while not drafted or originally signed by the Blue Jays, could be an exciting player. One of the bigger names to sign this