Around the Winter Leagues: Blue Jays

It's hot stove season, but there's still plenty of baseball action going on around the world. Below, we'll take a look at how Blue Jays prospects are doing in various Winter leagues.


In the Venezuelan League-

Outfielder Darin Mastroianni posted a .365 batting average with 1 homerun, 18 RBI and 11 steals in 37 games for the Aguilas. Mastroianni batted .301 with a .788 OPS in 132 games for Double A New Hampshire during the 2010 regular season.

Ronald Uviendo, who the Blue Jays acquired from the Pirates in exchange for Dana Eveland this year, is pitching for the Leones. In 17 games (10 starts), the 24-year-old Uviendo has a 4-2 record with a 2.39 ERA. With Double A New Hampshire, after the trade, Uviendo went 5-3 with a 5.31 ERA in 25 games.

20-year-old first base prospect Roan Salas, a native of Venezuela, has played in just two games with the Aguilas. In those games he is 1-for-4 with a run scored.

Righty hurler Nestor Molina is 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA and has struck out 25 batters in 26 relief innings for the Cardenales. Right-handed opponents are batting .196 against Molina, while left-handers have hit at a .343 clip against him. Molina was signed as a free agent out of Venezuela in 2006 at age 17.

Also on the Cardenales roster is catcher Jonathan Jaspe. The switch-hitting 25-year-old has a .244 average with 2 homers and 5 RBI in 19 games. Jaspe batted .238 in 61 games for Double A New Hampshire in 2010.

David Cooper, a lefty hitting first baseman that also played with New Hampshire in 2010, struggled in 6 games as a member of the Bravos. Cooper went 3-for-17 (.176 avg.) with no extra base hits.

Right-handed pitcher Wes Etheridge, acquired by Toronto this off-season, posted a 1-2 record and a 2.76 ERA in 6 games (3 starts) with the Caribes. Etheridge, a 12th round draft pick by Milwaukee in 2007, spent the 2010 regular season pitching for Maui in the independent Golden Baseball League.

The man with the best name of the bunch, Balbino Fuenmayor, has a .268 average with 1 homerun and 5 RBI in 18 games. Fuenmayor is a 21-year-old first baseman who resides in Venezuela.

Jesus Merchan, a 29-year-old infielder, has posted a .308 average with 2 doubles and 3 RBI in 14 games for the Navegantes. The former Phillies prospect batted .310 in 44 games at two levels of the Toronto system in 2010.

Henderson Alvarez, who pitched with the High A Level Dunedin Blue Jays this year, has looked good in 10 starts, despite not earning a win for the Tiburones. Alvarez has a 0-1 record with a 2.13 ERA with just 1 homerun allowed. The 20-year-old is a native of Venezuela. 

In the Puerto Rican League-

Willie Collazo, a 31-year-old lefty pitcher, has posted solid number for the Gigantes. In 7 games, Collazo is 2-2 with a 3.70 ERA and has held opponents to a .213 batting average. Collazo, a native of Puerto Rico, also pitched 2 relief outings in the Venezuelan League this year.

In the Dominican League-

Joel Carreno, a 23-year-old righty pitcher, posted a 2-1 record with a 3.25 ERA and 24 strike outs in 27 2/3 innings for the Leones. Carreno went 9-6 with a 3.73 ERA at High A Dunedin in 2010.

Starting pitcher Luis Perez is 2-5 with a 4.23 in 11 games for the Leones. Perez, a lefty, has an unimpressive 21/17 strike out/walk ratio. In 28 combined games between Double A and Triple A this year, Perez had a 10-11 record with a 5.40 ERA.

Ivan Contreras, a 23-year-old second baseman, is just 0-for-2 with 6 runs scored and 5 steals, appearing primarily as a pinch runner in 21 games for the Gigantes. Contreras played in the Angels system during the 2010 regular season.

Right-handed hitting outfielder Moises Sierra has a .273 average and a .909 OPS in 18 games for the Gigantes. The 22-year-old has been appearing as a reserve player lately. Sierra batted .211 in 20 combined games for the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays and High A level Dunedin during 2010.

Jonthan Diaz went hitless in 11 games with 1 RBI for the Gigantes. Diaz, a 25-year-old infielder, batted .239 with 2 HR and 43 RBI in 127 combined games at Double A and Triple A during the 2010 regular season.

Edwin Encarnacion who batted .244 with 21 homers in 96 games with the Blue Jays in 2010 is on the Aguilas roster. In 15 Dominican League games, Encarnacion is batting .246 with 3 homeruns and 11 RBI. The righty hitting Encarnacion is also just 1-for-12 (.083 avg) against lefty pitchers...the lone hit was a homer.

Adam Loewen has a .355 batting average with 2 homeruns and 7 RBI in 9 games with the Toros. Loewen also batted .333 with 5 homeruns and 19 in 14 games in the Arizona Fall League. The left-handed hitting Canadian was once a Major League pitcher, but is on his way back up through the ranks as an outfielder, after injuries ended his pitching career.

33-year-old righty pitcher Winston Abreu, signed by Toronto in late November, has looked excellent in 16 games for the Toros. The former Major Leaguer has not allowed an earned run in 14 2/3 innings while holding opponents to a .143 batting average.

In the Mexican League-

22-year-old outfielder Jon Del Campo, who played in 28 games with High-A level Dunedin in 2010, went hitless in 3 games with the Venados. The switch-hitter Del Campo is a native of Mexico and was a 20th round draft pick in 2006.

In the Australian League-

24-year-old pitcher Shane Benson allowed 2 earned runs in 2 innings for the Blue Sox. Benson only appeared in one game back in November.
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Weekly Round Up: Oct. 11 - 17

Consider this your required reading for the week.

Consider this your required listening for the week.

Courtesy of MLBTR:

Thanks to the average fastball velocity data available at FanGraphs, we can make all kinds of fun lists.  Today we'll compile the hardest-throwing free agent relievers (minimum 20 innings in 2010).

1.  Kyle Farnsworth - 94.9
2.  Jesse Crain - 94.8
3.  Kerry Wood - 94.4
4.  J.J. Putz - 94.0
5.  Jose Contreras - 94.0
6.  Joaquin Benoit - 94.0
7.  Guillermo Mota - 93.9
8.  Frank Francisco - 93.4
9.  Rafael Soriano - 92.9
10.  Jason Frasor - 92.8

Looks like Frasor got over his "dead arm" phase from early on in the season. He's a type A free agent. Can you say: sign and trade?

Courtesy of Fuck Yeah The Maple Leafs:

Even Leaf fans hate Damien "Suck My" Cox. Perfect.

Courtesy of Bobby Elliott:

While Roy, his father also named Roy and Linda, spent hours at the park, taking turns throwing batting practice to their son as Miranda and Heather tracked down fly balls. Heather remembers her brother taking her fishing at the Arvada reservoir.
They were pals. Roy caught a fish, named it Mr. Blue Gills and made the fish talk to Heather, age 7, before tossing it back.

Bob really digs deep for some quotes in this piece. 

Courtesy of King Jordan:

With his incredible Major League debut aside, how does J.P. Arencibia's less-than-inspiring performance impact the direction of the team with regards to the catching situation for 2011?
--Trevor P., Mississauga, Ontario
To be honest, Arencibia's production down the stretch this season probably will not impact Toronto's plans too much. He received very little playing time over the final month of the season, making it difficult for him to show much in the batter's box or behind the plate.
Beyond that, the fact remains that Arencibia has nothing left to prove in the Minor Leagues. It is time for the Blue Jays to give him a shot in the Majors. Whether that means he will be the starting catcher or part of a tandem when 2011 opens is the big question.
All-Star John Buck can be a free agent and he has earned a full-time job as well as a long-term contract. Veteran backup Jose Molina's contract with the Jays includes a $1 million club option for 2011. Exercising that option would appear to make more sense if Arencibia is in the plans as the starter or if a shared role is in the young catcher's immediate future.

Our boy LastRow500's gets his question answered by King Jordan! To follow him on Twitter click here.

Courtesy of Beyond The Boxscore:

I read this article at least three times and still don't quite have my head around it.

Courtesy of Baseball America:

Pacific Coast League Top 20 Prospects

1. Buster Posey, c/1b, Fresno Grizzlies (Giants)
2. Mike Moustakas, 3b, Omaha Royals
3. Michael Pineda, rhp, Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners)
4. Madison Bumgarner, lhp, Fresno Grizzlies (Giants)
5. Dustin Ackley, 2b, Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners)
6. Logan Morrison, 1b/of, New Orleans Zephyrs (Marlins)
7. Tanner Scheppers, rhp, Oklahoma City RedHawks (Rangers)
8. J.P. Arencibia, c, Las Vegas 51s (Blue Jays)
9. Justin Smoak, 1b, Oklahoma City (Rangers)/Tacoma (Mariners)
10. Brett Wallace, 1b, Las Vegas 51s (Blue Jays)

Some pretty impressive names on this list. Nice to see J.P. getting some love. You could argue that the PCL MVP should be higher on the list but.....

Courtesy of Bobby Elliott:

After the draft, the Jays asked Sweeney not play high school baseball.
“They didn’t want me to get hurt, but I wasn’t going to sign before Aug. 15, so we figured if I got hurt there was time for me to get healthy,” said Sweeney, who hit the first pitch he swung at for a home run down the right field line against the Waterloo West WarHawks.
The infielder found out — yes, found out — he’d agreed to terms in mid-August after his Thomas Jefferson High Jayhawks lost 3-2 to top-ranked Mason City, a game in which he was walked intentionally four times.
“My parents came over ‘sorry you lost, but congratulations, you just agreed to terms with Toronto,’ ” Sweeney said. “The Jays phoned after I’d left for the game two hours away and told me not to play. But my parents didn’t want to let the team down.”
Gary and Lori Sweeney kept the news secret, although they told Kellen’s coaches. Gary is a production planner on the Quaker Oats assembly line, so he knows all about timing.
“All the girls back home ask when I’m going to Toronto,” Sweeney says with a smile. “I tell them it doesn’t work that way.

'Gary is a production planner on the Quaker Oats assembly line, so he knows all about timing.' Ah, what?

Courtesy of MLBTR:

The problem is, few careers resemble Bautista’s. He played for four teams in 2004, played five positions in 2006 and seemed destined for a career as a utility man when the Blue Jays acquired him in 2008. And in 2010? He made the All-Star team and led the major leagues in extra base hits and home runs.
If your head is spinning, imagine how arbitrators - the decision-makers responsible for settling salary disagreements between teams and players -  would feel after considering Bautista’s case for a few hours. The Blue Jays have a history of avoiding arbitration, so there seems to be a good chance that they don’t go to a hearing this time, but the potential for one will shape the sides’ discussions.
The Blue Jays can argue that Bautista deserves a limited raise, but they have to be careful, according to one longtime arbitration consultant.
“You lose a lot of credibility with an arbitrator if you have a guy who had a monster year and you start pissing all over him,” says Michael Vlessides, who has faced most leading baseball agents on behalf of various MLB teams over the course of the past two decades.
 
Anybody that gets quoted as saying "pissing all over him" in an article, is cool in my books. I included the comments thread in the link because there really are some drastically different points of view on J-Bau.

Courtesy of Morgan Campbell:

Technically, Bautista can play with Licey if he chooses. As a native Dominican he’s free to play for his hometown team according to both the Winter League Agreement — a rulebook ratified last winter between MLB and four Caribbean leagues — and the Jays.
“We’ll address all the players the same way,” Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos wrote in an email to the Star. “It’s up to the players if they choose to participate in winter ball.”
But the Winter League Agreement’s “extreme fatigue clause” allows teams to curtail winter league action for players with more than 503 plate appearances. This season Bautista totalled 683 plate appearances and 569 at-bats.
Whether or not the Jays ask him to sit out the Dominican season, Bautista’s top baseball priority is still the team that pays him the most.

I wonder how they settled on the number 503? Why not a cool 500?

Courtesy of Rob Cribb:

About 70,000 samples from football, hockey, basketball and baseball — from amateur to professional levels — were submitted to WADA-accredited laboratories last year.
North American testing was conducted in WADA labs in Montreal, Salt Lake City and Los Angeles.
Of more than 6,000 tests on hockey players, which included both professionals and amateurs, 1.3 per cent came back positive. In baseball, the figure was 2.5 per cent for nearly 20,000 tests. Basketball had 2 per cent positives in about 11,000 tests. And football’s 42,000 tests produced 0.77 per cent positives.
The findings come with caveats, Howman said, including the fact that some leagues test for fewer substances than WADA and conduct testing when the likelihood of catching cheaters is low.

Interesting read.

Courtesy of Nick Cafardo:

Source: Sox bench coach Demarlo Hale getting second interview with Blue Jays

Second interviews = legit interest. It's tough keeping up to date with the manager search and realistically by the time anything is published, it's old news. 

Snow Birds

I was thinking about how your Toronto Blue Jays players are doing in the winter leagues when I came across this link.  Every player we have doing the winter ball thing can be found there.

Some highlights from the guys currently on the 40 man roster:

Jose Bautista played only three games and went 5 for 8 good for a .625 average.  Classic example of a small sample size.  No doubt this will be Cito's justification for hitting him lead off.

Randy Ruiz is killing both righties and lefties to the tune of a .341 batting average with 6 bombs in 88 at bats.  He also has a stolen base.  Must have been the back end of a double steal.....

Mike McCoy has a .413 on base percentage with 26 steals in 227 at bats.     

For all the Lyle haters:  Brian Dopirak has 7 homers and 32 RBI, but his 40 strikeouts in only 137 at bats worries me a little.

Projected back up catcher Raul Chavez is hitting .238 and has grounded into 10 double plays in just 105 at bats.  That's about one twin killing every 2 games.....

Let's not talk about the pitching.  It's just better that way.

The guy I'm most excited for on this list BY FAR is named Darin Mastroianni.  He was selected in the 16th round (505th overall) of the 2007 amateur entry Draft.  Last season he split time between High A and Double A.  Darin managed to swipe 70 bases with a .398 on base percentage.  According to the team over at Jays Journal, he is our second best outfield prospect and is a legit defensive centre fielder.  I doubt he is ready to contribute in 2010 but he should start the year in Double A.  Keep an eye on him.