Two Blue Jays Make Keith Law's Top 100 List Plus Other Notes

After Baseball Prospectus had three Blue Jays in their top 101 list yesterday, ESPN writer Keith Law ranked only Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman in the top 100 prospects in baseball in his list today. The article is behind a paywall so we'll only quote small sections of it to avoid the wrath of the Worldwide Leader in Sports. Sanchez, the lanky right hander, slotted in at #30 after being ranked #19 last year due to a unimpressive year in Law's eyes. The quote that basically sums up the year for Sanchez is:

The gap between Sanchez's ability and his results grew a little this year, a season when the latter should have been catching up to the former as he gained experience and his body matured.

As numerous scouts have noted, his delivery has gotten worse, which has resulted in wild control and possible injury concerns. The abbreviated finish has also reduced the effectiveness of his breaking ball, which has all led to a step back for the top Blue Jays prospect. As everyone knows, 2014 is a big chance for Sanchez to take a step forward and become the pitcher everyone thinks he can be or else he runs the risk of wasting some seriously good stuff.

The other Blue Jay on the list is of course Marucs Stroman and the former Blue Devil slots in at #58, which is a lot lower than he was on the Baseball Prospectus list (#27). Law isn't sold on his future as a starter saying:

He's either a top-tier reliever, up in the Craig Kimbrel/Aroldis Chapman stratosphere, or a midrotation starter if he can keep the ball from leaving the park more than 25 to 30 times a year.

That's not a horrible ceiling obviously, but the height seems to worry Keith Law more than other evaluators.

Former Blue Jays are all over the list including Noah Syndergaard at #24, Travis d'Arnaud at #36, Jake Marisnick at #84, and Justin Nicolino at #93. That R.A. Dickey trade is sure going to be fun to re-examine in five years depending on how those top prospects end up playing in the major leagues.

As an aside, Ken Rosenthal has an article up reiterating that the Blue Jays are very interested in Ubaldo Jimenez and are doing a lot of background work on the righty. It's also equally as likely that the Blue Jays will make a run to sign Ervin Santana:

The team’s background work on Jimenez and the likelihood he will require a less expensive contract than Santana does not necessarily mean that he is the club’s preferred choice, sources said.

Also, the Blue Jays "State of the Franchise" is currently streaming on Sportsnet.ca if watching the team make vague statements about the future is your idea of a good time.