Minor league rosrters!

Thanks to Gerry at Batter's Box, we can comment on the make-up of the opening rosters of the four full-season minor league teams in the Jays farm system. without a lot of fluff - here they are with my comments:

(top 25 most important names - according to me - bolded)

Las Vegas:

SP- Aaron Laffey, Scott Richmond, Jim Hoey, Tim Redding, Bill Murphy

Bullpen - Chad Beck, Andrew Carpenter, Jesse Chavez, Jerry Gil, Bobby Korecky, Ryan Igarashi, Robert Coello, Clint Everts

DL - Randy Boone, Stephen Marek

Thoughts - Watch Beck, Carpenter, and Gil. Everything else here is filler.

Catcher - Travis d'Arnaud, Yan Gomes

Infield - David Cooper, Ricardo Nanita, Ruban Gotay, Adeniy Hechevarria, Chris Woodward, Mike McCoy

Outfield - Travis Snider, Anthony Gose, Mosies Seirra, Danny Perales

DL - Brian Bocock, Gabriel Jacabo

Thoughts - an unusually solid squad for Vegas, which is really faint praise but still, there are four star-quality guys in the starting line-up and two more who should be solid contributors. The question is why is there so little in the way of a good option at 3B?

New Hampshire:

SP - Drew Hutchenson, Deck McGuire, Chad Jenkins, Joel Carreno, Ryan Tepera

Bullpen - Evan Crawford, Danny Farquhar, Trystan Magnuson, Ronald Uviedo, Aaron Loup, Matt Daly, Yohan Pino, Fernando Hernandez

DL - Alan Farina, Wes Ethridge

Thoughts - It's striking that Carreno is back at AA, which he handled easily in 2011. One can only assume this is the most glaring signal yet that any pitcher the team thinks highly of as a prospect won't be tortured in Las Vegas barring some unusual circumstance. it wouldn't be shocking to see Drabek, if he's squeezed out in Toronto, pitching here instead of in AAA. further evidence might be noted by the presence of the first three names listed among the relievers, any of whom might easily be in AAA in another organization.

Beyond that logistical stuff, this looks to be one helluva rotation - among the best in the minors if Jenkin's reported improvements are for real.

Catcher - Antonio Jimminez, Brian Jeroloman

Infield - Mike McDade, Koby Clemens, Jon Diaz, Ryan Goins, Mark Sobolewski, Kevin Howard

Outfield - John Tolisano, Justin Jackson, Brad Glenn, Brad McElroy, Brian Van Kirk

Thoughts - Jimenez and McDade are the only guys with real promise here, though it would be a fun story-line if Clemens made something of himself (beware the temptation to get hooked on him, remember the cautionary tale of Dopirak). Goins might be a fringy prospect at best, the rest are basically OP at this point. That's not to say there won't be some offense. Glenn, McElroy and Van Kirk are all guys who are likely to hit well, but they are too old to be actual prospects.

Dunedin:

SP - Asher Wojciechowski, John Stilson, Sean Nolin, Casey Lawrence, Egan Smith

Bullpen - Matt Wright, Dan Barnes, Dustin Antolin, Sam Dyson, Scott Gracey, Dayton Marze, Shawn Griffith, Steve Turnbull, Boomer Potts

Thoughts - The top three in this rotation is only a little behind the AA crew in terms of potential, and likewise, the first 3-4 relievers are worthy of your notice. if Dyson's fragile health can sustain starting, then the rotation has that much more upside (he has a higher ceiling than lawrence or smith by far).

Catcher - Sean Ochinko, Jack Murphy

Infield - Jon Talley, Ryan Scimpf, Ivan Contreras, Kevin Nolan, Oliver Dominguez, Kevin Aherns

Outfield - Marcus Knecht, Jake Marisnick, Mike Crouse, Kenen Bailli, Jon Jones

Thoughts - It's no secret that this offense will be driven almost entirely by the starting outfield, but WHAT an outfield! The only other guy here worth your notice is Ochinko, who will be looking to rebound from his first off year. Some thing Jon Talley still profiles as a sleeper but, IMO, he's a DEEP sleeper.

Lansing:

SP - Justin Nicolino, Noah Syndergaard, Aaron Sanchez, Tyler Ybarra, Tony DeSclafini

Bullpen - Marcus Walden, Brandon Berl, Kramer Champlin, Dave Rollins, Javiar Avendano, Jesse Hernandez, Blake McFarland, Ajay Meyer

Thoughts - and again, this is potentially one of the best rotations in the minors. The top 3 guys here are all consensus members of the Blue Jays Top 10 prospects club. lansing fans have to love that. Not only that, but Rollins isn't a bad starter (so far) and Ajay Meyer, though he has no real pedigree, was darned good last year starting in short-season ball. On the other hand, there's no notable names among the career relievers here.

Catcher - Carlos Perez, Peirce Rankin, Chris Schaffer

Infield - K.C. Hobson, Kevin Patterson, Jorge Vega-Rosado, Jon Berti, Andrew Burns, Kelin Sweeney, Bryson Namba

Outfield - Chris Hawkins, Kenny Wilson, Kevin Pillar, Marcus Brisker

Thoughts - Two potential stars here - Hawkins and Perez, two more who have a chance to establish their prospect status after lost years - Sweeney and Hobson, and don't neglect to keep one eye on Pillar. Not an all-star lineup, but certainly enough offense to support such a great rotation.

Overall, the ability to boast at least nine (and potentially as many as twelve) future major league pitchers among three minor league rotations out of the top four is simply insane. Add to that 10 top shelf position player prospects and another 8-10 interesting guys and this is a system that very much lives up to it's clippings.