How will Alex Anthopoulos handle the prospects he now has available to him? Maybe we can take a gander at those he already handled while with the Blue Jays.
One of the biggest questions about the hiring of Alex Anthopoulos was about how his style might translate to the Atlanta Braves. Lessons from his 6-year tenure in Toronto might prove to be instructive.
I have (finally) gotten around to compiling a list of the Top 10 prospects (as seen by Baseball America) over 5 consecutive years (2010-2015). These are the years in which AA had the Bat Phone in Toronto.
The instructive things to observe/evaluate here will be the following:
- Seeing what kinds of trades were made involving top prospects
- Seeing how those prospects fared later
- Seeing how many prospects generally busted
- Seeing how the prospects not traded have fared
The Lists…
2010 Baseball America / Blue Jays’ Top 10
- RHP Zach Stewart – acquired in 2009, bounced around after that, 103 ML innings
- C J.P. Arencibia – non-tendered after 2013
- RHP Chad Jenkins – was still in Blue Jays organization through 2016
- 1B David Cooper – released in mid-Spring Training, 2013
- RHP Henderson Alvarez – part of huge deal with Miami, Nov 2012
- OF Jake Marisnick – part of huge deal with Miami, Nov 2012
- LHP Brad Mills – was traded to Angels after 2011 (kind of AAAA player; 79 ML innings)
- SS Justin Jackson – never got past AA
- C Carlos Perez – part of huge deal with Houston, July 2012
2011 Baseball America / Blue Jays’ Top 10
- RHP Kyle Drabek – main return in the Roy Halladay trade of 2009; waived in 2015 by Toronto
- RHP Deck McGuire – drafted 2010, traded 2014 to Oakland for cash considerations.
- OF Anthony Gose – traded to Detroit in Nov 2014 for 2B Devon Travis. Bounced around thereafter.
- C Travis d’Arnaud – part of huge trade to get R.A. Dickey from Mets. Noah Syndergaard was included. Dec 2012
- (Stewart)
- RHP Asher Wojciechowski – part of huge deal with Houston, July 2012
- (Arencibia)
- RHP Aaron Sanchez – still with Blue Jays
- (Marisnick)
2012 Baseball America / Blue Jays’ Top 10
- (d’Arnaud)… (sort of makes a statement seeing him in this position)
- (Gose)
- (Marisnick)
- LHP Daniel Norris – once very highly regarded (Jan 2015), but traded to Detroit with 2 others for David Price. July 2015. Still active, 237 ML innings.
- LHP Justin Nicolino – part of huge deal with Miami, Nov 2012. Still active, 201 ML innings.
- (Sanchez)
- RHP Noah Syndergaard – part of huge trade to get R.A. Dickey from Mets. Noah Syndergaard was included. Dec 2012
- (McGuire)
- RHP Drew Hutchinson – part of Aug 2016 trade to Pirates for Francisco Liriano, Reese McGuire, Harold Ramiez. 417 ML innings, never really was terribly effective.
- (Wojciechowski)
2013 Baseball America / Blue Jays’ Top 100 (released before Dec. 2012 trade)
- (d’Arnaud)… which sort of makes a statement seeing him in this position
- (Marisnick)
- (Syndergaard)
- (Sanchez)
- (Nicolino)
- RHP Roberto Osuna – still with Blue Jays (ML since 2015)
- SS Adeiny Hechavarria – part of huge deal with Miami, Nov 2012. Still active, traded to Rays in June 2017
- OF D.J. Davis – still in Blue Jays’ system (A+)
- RHP John Stilson – still in Blue Jays’ system (AAA)
2014 Baseball America / Blue Jays’ Top 100
- (Sanchez)
- RHP Marcus Stroman – still with the Blue Jays
- (Davis)
- 3B Mitch Nay – was still in Jays system, but was Reds’ Rule 5 selection this month
- SS Franklin Barreto – was headliner return along with 3 others (Brett Lawrie included) for Josh Donaldson in blockbuster trade with Oakland. Nov 2014. Debuted in majors in 2017, hitting just .190. Still early.
- (Norris)
- (Osuna)
- SS Dawel Lugo – slow progression; bouncing around lower minors; now AA with Tigers
- LHP Sean Nolin – was included in return along with 3 others (Barreto, Brett Lawrie included) for Josh Donaldson in blockbuster trade with Oakland. Nov 2014.
2015 Baseball America / Blue Jays’ Top 100
- (Norris)
- (Sanchez)
- RHP Jeff Hoffman – included as centerpiece in blockbuster deal with Colorado for Troy Tulowitski. July 2015. 4 other players were involved, including Jose Reyes and LaTroy Hawkins. Was optioned to AAA in Aug 2017.
- OF Dalton Pompey – still with the Blue Jays; having trouble sticking with the big club despite having big promise.
- (Barreto)
- C Max Pentecost – still in the organization; shoulder injuries have all but killed his career.
- (Osuna)
- RHP Miguel Castro – ML debut at 20 years, 103 days old. Included in aformentioned Colorado blockbuster. DFA’d by Colorado April 2017.
- RHP Sean Reid-Foley – still in the Blue Jays organization (AA).
The Outcomes
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- Atlanta Braves 2023 Preseason Top 30 Prospects List: 16-20
- Braves News: Reacting to Dansby’s departure, Michael Brantley, more
- Atlanta Braves: Best Option at Shortstop Now That Dansby Swanson is Gone
Again, here are the general grading criteria… but this time with added commentary.
- Seeing what kinds of trades were made involving top prospects. The part that perhaps should be eye-opening is in just how many huge deals there were: separate trades with the Phillies, Mets, Marlins, Tigers, A’s, Astros, and Rockies… averaging more than one per season.
Of note, each one of these brought in an impact player. Donaldson is most of those notable.
- Seeing how those prospects fared later. The jury is still out on a couple, but thus far, the only one truly to ‘hit’ has been Noah Syndergaard. Seeing Hechavarria as an everyday shortstop would also rank him highly.
- Seeing how many prospects generally busted. Honestly, there are several. A lot of them, even. AAA seems to be a major wall over which only few can overcome quickly.
- Seeing how the prospects not traded have fared. Easily the best at this time would be Stroman, followed by Sanchez and Osuna.
One major trade per year… not afraid to use a single top prospect in each one. Your mileage may vary, but it does appear that Anthopoulos is not afraid to dive into the trade waters.
Next: Speaking of those prospects...
And generally speaking… he’s done fairly well.