Music: {allcanada} BLUE JAYS BOAST DEEP PROSPECT POOL

Thursday, March 1, 2012

{allcanada} BLUE JAYS BOAST DEEP PROSPECT POOL

The future looks bright for the Toronto Blue Jays.

While much has been made of general manager Alex Anthopoulos' ability to add quality young players to the major league roster, the 34-year-old has quickly amassed one of the deepest and most talented prospect pools in the majors.

The 2011 Jays featured a pair of breakout rookie performances with J.P. Arencibia breaking the club's single-season record for home runs by a catcher and Brett Lawrie earning a mention on the Topps All-Star Rookie Team on the strength of just 43 games with the club.

But the best may be yet to come.

The Jays boast a talented young roster highlighted by the likes of Lawrie and Arencibia alongside talented acquisitions like Colby Rasmus and Yunel Escobar. But the team's young roster incumbents may eventually find themselves pushed for jobs by the bright lights of the Jays future.

Catcher Travis d'Arnaud was a key piece to the package Toronto received from Philadelphia for franchise cornerstone Roy Halladay in late 2010. Ranked 17th among all major league prospects by Baseball America, d'Arnaud was also named MVP of the Eastern League (AA) for 2011.

He's the type of player that has gotten noticed by a lot of big league scouts, not just within the organization.

"When you have that kind of complete package offensively and defensively at the catching position, he is in very high demand," said Jays manager John Farrell. "He is a very bright young player for us."

For d'Arnaud, though, this Spring Training is more about learning what he can from the guys holding things down behind the plate for the Jays.

"I want to become a better baseball player," he said. "I want to learn as much as I can from every coach and learn a lot from Jeff [Mathis] and J.P. [Arencibia] and go out there and have fun."

At just 21 years old, Anthony Gose may still be a couple years away from an everyday big league job and the acquisition of Colby Rasmus last July may have further delayed Gose's MLB debut.

Gose, however, is taking a patient approach.

"I'm really hungry for the spot and I want to be out there," said Gose, "but I know I still have some developing to do in the minor leagues. Until I'm ready and the organization feels I'm ready I can just go down to the minor leagues and play hard."

The former Phillies prospect added power to his game in 2011. In addition to swiping 70 bags in 137 games with New Hampshire (AA), Gose also hit 16 home runs and drove in 59 runs despite spending much of his time in the lead-off spot.

"Anthony has what I refer to as Kenny Lofton-type tools," Farrell said. "[He has] 70-plus stolen base-potential, he's got probably more power than Kenny did and an above-average throwing arm."

But Farrell preached patience with Gose as well as d'Arnaud, tempering Jays fans' expectations for when the pair might reach the Rogers Centre on a regular basis.

"He's going to be humbled along the way and how he handles those ups and downs at the plate is probably going to determine and define when he ultimately gets to Toronto."

Meanwhile, another young Jay is making strides to become the latest in a line of great young arms to come out of Toronto's farm system.

With young arms like Kyle Drabek and Henderson Alvarez already seeing time in the Jays rotation in 2011, many would think the odds would be long for 21-year-old Drew Hutchison. But like Alvarez before him, Farrell thinks Hutchison may be closer to major league-ready than his age might dictate.

"Drew is a guy that might be right there with Kyle Drabek in being able to provide the innings-pitched," Farrell said. "He's a young pitcher that's got very good poise and demeanor, can control his fastball and get outs with his fastball."

Hutchison may still have to wait for a job in Toronto, but wherever he winds up, he's focused on getting the job done.

"I'm looking forward to competing again this year," the righty said "and hopefully playing for another winning team."