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Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan
I've been kind of out of it as a Blue Jays fan lately as I consider myself a very fair weather fan (sadly). Baseball can be very hard for me to completely pay attention to when we are losing. I know we were basically rebuilding last year, but I'd like to know any key information about the team, players, prospects, and the expectations on what you die hards think we should be accomplishing. I know a few players (like the 3 prodigal sons), but I don't know enough about my team. Would some of you like to enlighten me on the 2020 Jays? I'll be reading 19 pages that are already on here too but I do like to see your opinions.
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I was hoping for the Jays to be roughly a .500 team this year, which would be a step in the right direction.
They graduated 4 (what will hopefully be) key position players last year with Vladdy, Bo, Biggio and Jansen.
Vlad got moved to 1B this year already, which everybody expected to happen eventually, but not this quickly. So 1B and DH is locked up long term.
Bo is looking like a passable SS, so he might stay there long term.
Biggio is a utility type guy who is taking 2B for now, but there is a chance he moves to the OF and basically just moves around the diamond a bit.
Jansen was better defensively last year than expected, but his offense was way below expectations early. He did come on good later in the season. He is looking like a stud catcher for many years, but the Jays also have a couple of really good catchers coming up in the system in Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno, so seeing what happens in the future at this position will be fun to follow.
They also had catcher Reese Mcguire graduate as well, and he looks like he could be a solid back up catcher for a while. His strength is defense, but he actually hit pretty well too, it'll be interesting to see if he can keep that going.
Another guy is 1B/DH Rowdy Tellez. Big and slow and strikes out too much, but he has a ton of power and is making a case to stick around for a bit and see if there is anything there, although now it'd be most likely as a back up 1B and DH, so not a ton of value really. He also has a left hand bat which the Jays lack over all.
In the OF, Gurriel looks like a huge piece in LF if he can stay healthy. He had a slow start last year, but when he got going he was a very valuable player and actually looked decent in the OF despite still just learning the position. Again though, seems to be injury prone early on.
Teoscar Hernandez is another OF, and he's an enigma. The guy has huge power and plus speed, but he doesn't get on base nearly enough and strikes out waaay too much. However, after a terrible start last year he got sent to the minors, and when he came back he posted a .873 OPS in the last 86 games of the season, so there is still some hope I guess.
Grichuk is the other OF and he starts slow and finishes strong, but another guy who Ks too much and doesn't get on base enough.
Alford is a former top 50 prospect but isn't figuring it out and is nearing bust territory.
Mckinney is just not really good at anything. He's AAAA filler.
Fisher is a guy with plus speed and power, but just takes terrible at bats, KO's a ton, gets on base rarely and is a clown show in the OF most of the time.
Davis is really fast, OK defensively but not a threat at the plate in any way really.
Other than Gurriel though, I doubt those other OF's will have anything to do with this team if/when they turn the corner to contender.
Travis Shaw is a guy they just signed, a 1B/3B. He's was supposed to play 1B but has slid across the diamond with Vladdy getting moved to 1B. He had an .808 OPS in his forst 4 seasons but then fell apart last year, so he's a reclamation project and filler until some of the other prospects arrive.
Drury is a utility player who shows flashes and gives you hope once in a while, but most of the time is just crap.
Key prospects for position players are:
Jordan Groshans - SS - will probably end up the long term 3B. A great all round prospect ranked in the top 100 in all of baseball. He was tearing up the lower leagues ala Bichette until getting injured last season. Hopefully he arrives in the next two seasons and has an impact.
Austin Martin - SS - The guy the Jays just took 5th overall, and who many think was the best all round player in the draft. Many think he will eventually make the move to CF and be the Jays long term center fielder. Should arrive in the next couple of seasons as well.
Orelvis Martinez - SS - Another really high end all round player. Very young though still and hopefully won't be stunted too much by a lack playing time due to this COVID disaster. I'd say 3-4 seasons away, best guess.
As mentioned earlier, catchers Kirk and Moreno are high end guys who flirt with being top 100. Kirk 2-3 years away and Moreno maybe a year behind him.
There is a couple outfielder prospects but nobody high on any prospect lists yet, and most have warts of some kind. That's another big reason many want Martin converted to OF long term.
I think that covers most of the key position players in the org.
Pitchers though, some exciting arms in the Jays system, but I'm out of time for the moment.
