TWAUronto Blue Jays Top 20 Prospects

Shifting back to the AL East in our Top Prospect series, let's take a look at what the new management is inheriting in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system.  Again, as a reminder: I'm posting a bare-bones list of rankings, with grades for individual players, and system commentary at the end.

Toronto Blue Jays Top 20 Prospects
Grade: A-
1.) Jason Kipnis, 2B, CLE

Grade: B+
2.) Hak-Ju Lee, SS, TAM
3.) Chris Sale, LHP, CWS

Grade: B
4.) Garrett Richards, RHP, LAA

Grade: B-
5.) Gary Brown, OF, SF
6.) Brandon Workman, RHP, BOS

Grade: C+
7.) Brooks Raley, RHP, CHC
8.) Cam Bedrosian, RHP, LAA
9.) Jared Mitchell, OF, CWS
10.) Jacob Petricka, RHP, CWS
11.) Brad Emaus, 2B, NYM
12.) Corban Joseph, 2B, NYY
13.) David Holmberg, RHP, ARI
14.) Yamaico Navarro, SS, BOS
15.) Marcus Knecht, OF, TOR

Grade: C
16.) AJ Morris, RHP, WAS
17.) Perci Garner, RHP, PHI
18.) Josh Lindblom, RHP, LAD
19.) Hunter Morris, 1B, MIL
20.) Daniel Moskos, RHP, PIT


System Commentary:
Probably an average system as a whole, the Blue Jays do have quite a bit of talent up the middle.  I like Kipnis and Lee more than most (though Kipnis has been overhyped lately), and I've always been a fan of Emaus and Joseph.  Emaus, in particular, will have a chance to carve out an everyday role with the real-life Mets this year after being taken in the Rule V draft.  On the other hand, I really strongly dislike Chris Sale.  He strikes me as a future reliever, and even then, his durability worries me.  He's rail thin, and I'm not sure how he'll handle a full season's workload.  Still, his 2010 was impressive, and I'm interested to see what Chicago does with him.  Gary Brown scares me, as a toolsy outfielder with questionable plate discipline, but as a college pick, the hope is that he'll have some polish.  His debut season will be telling.  Overall, the Blue Jays are inheriting a system with extremely good depth, though a bit back-heavy.  Brown and Mitchell are the wild-cards; they could either be Grade As or Grade Cs next year, and there's no real way of telling which way they'll go.  2011 is going to be an important year for this farm, more so than with most organizations.