HOT STOVE LEAGUE 2K4/2K5

Vernon Wells
Alexis Rios (though he's still unproven)
Josh Phelps (jury's still out, of course)
Kelvim Escobar (?)

... and a lot more semi-notable folks than what I'm coming up with. Granted, none of those guys are Junior Felix, but who the hell is?

It's Bo b/c he plays both baseball and football, I take it. He's a Bermanism waiting to happen.

Also, if you REALLY want to push things, there's that would-be phenom SS currently on the Reds that's supposedly "washed up" at the ripe old age of 25. (Is his name Felipe Lopez?)

Rich Aurilia?

Ha ha! Lopez, forgot about him. If we're going to be reaching into the bargan bin why not mention Mr. Cesar Izturis!

I guess now my question is (re: the Jays) - who were their shit-hot prospects from the 80s & 90s?

70s / 80s: (I'm really not sure on any of these)
Tony Fernandez
Tom Henke
Dave Steib
Jesse Barfield (?)
Kelly Gruber (woo!)
Garth Iorg (?)

90s / early 00s:
Carlos Delgado
Shannon Stewart
Jeff Kent
Pat Hentgen (for a brief while)
Mike Timlin
Ed Sprague (woo woo!)

From what I can recall, the meat of their championship teams (Robbie Alomar / Joe Carter / Devon White / David Cone) (& Mitch Williams -ha!) came from other organizations.

Pat Borders
David Wells
Mark Whiten
George Bell (drafted by Phillies, came up as a Blue Jay)
Fred McGriff (drafted by Yanks, came up as a Blue Jay)
Juan Guzman (drafted by Dodgers, came up as a Blue Jay)
Jimmy Key
Todd Stottlemyre
John Olerud (came pretty much straight out of college)

Add in some of the players listed above and that is pretty good for a 8 to 10 year run (like 85 to 92) of player development.

as for 90s & aughts, don't forget...jay gibbons!

okay, you can forget him.

STRICKEN FROM THE RECORD (if we're talking strictly about players drafted by the Jays, which I was). Not that I'm knocking the front office's knack for recognizing talented players in other orgs and/or fleecing the Yankee farm system (which, in the '80s, was required by the Collective Bargaining Agreement).

But, yeah, I think the Jays' farm system now is comparable to what it was - the only problem is the guys they acquire from outside of their system (either through trade or through free-agent signage). And the lack of developed starting pitchers. And having to play in a division w/ the two most lucrative franchises in all of baseball, if not all of American professional sports. And Skydome doing double duty as a vacant lot between April & October. And the team's inability to stick w/ a uniform design & logo for more than 2 years before coming up w/ a worse design. Otherwise, thumbs up, Canada!

I would still give the Jays credit for getting that talent out of the other teams minor leagues as there are bunches of players traded around that never do much at all. Whatever they were doing in late 80s early 90s worked, they were a perennial contender and won two championships. Some teams seem to develop one or two positions pretty well but the Jays came up with players all over the diamond.

bo was the chicago sun-times high school athlete of the year a few years ago, he seems pumped at the opportunity to play for the cubs.

Pitchers and Catchers report today for about 1/3 of MLB (Astros, Braves, Devil Rays, Giants, Indians, Marlins, Phillies, Pirates, Redsox, Rockies and Tigers).