Toronto Blue Jays Top 10 Fantasy Prospects

With the playoffs in full swing, that means it will be time for teams to assess their needs for next season and start planning for a longer than hoped offseason. We're at the same point for fantasy owners in dynasty leagues, and we're here to help you with the information you need as you prepare for your minor league drafts.

In previous years, we have done rather intensive top 10 prospect lists, including an organizational rundown, opportunities in the coming season, as well as the top fantasy prospects. However, we have found that a number of these topics are covered as we continue through the offseason, and specifically through profiles done as a part of our preseason redraft rankings. As a result, this year's top 10 lists will be primarily that: a list of the prospects with brief writeups rather than the 4000-8000 word opuses that have occurred in the past. We feel that this year's format will both suit the goal better (of providing fantasy relevant information and rankings) as well as allow us to move through them much more quickly so that they can be completed by the Christmas holiday.

The schedule itself is fairly basic: We cover a division, going in alphabetical order of city/location name. This post finishes up the AL East. Once we finish a division, we'll move to the next division to their west, (the AL Central in this case), then repeat for the AL West. Once we've finished one league, we start over on the East Coast in the National League and do the same.

Our Basis

With fantasy prospect rankings, the key to knowing the usefulness of a specific player is how large and deep of a league you would need to be in for them to end up as a fantasy starter. We will be ranking 10 prospects in each system, but that doesn't mean that every one of them is useful if you play in a 12-team mixed dynasty league. With that said, we're aiming to provide useful information whether you play in a 10-team mixed, a 15-team AL-only, or a 24-team mixed.

Prospect rankings also come with the same caveat I provide every year. They represent a snapshot of how we view the players at the time of publication. There will inherently be more information published throughout the offseason, and so it is very possible that by the end of the offseason, how we view a player may be very different from where we had them originally.  We're going to get some of these right, we're going to get some of these wrong, and in general my reminder is to find information you trust, and use it to your advantage. If that comes from us, that's great and we're happy you're here. If it doesn't, we'll continue to work and hope that you'll keep checking in to see how we're doing.

The Tiers

Something new I wanted to introduce this year is a tier system to help delineate where prospects are likely to fall on the overall top prospect list. We have not completed our top prospects lists yet, and will not likely do so until we are close to finishing all the prospect rankings. The tiers are here though to provide some clarity when comparing between different teams. It's by no means a perfect system, but the goal is to give you a general idea of which players we think are in a similar range in terms of value and ranking. Since the tiers are also expected to be relatively consistent across teams, there may be tiers which do not have prospects for certain teams.

Tier 1 - The Elite Prospects

These prospects are expected to be in the top 25-50 prospects overall, and have the potential to be among the top options at their position regardless of format or league size.

The Blue Jays don't currently have any player in this tier

Tier 2 - The Top 100 Candidates

These prospects are expected to be in the discussion for the top 100 prospects overall, and are expected to be starting options in all formats.

1. Dalton Pompey (OF)
Age on Opening Day: 23 years old
ETA: 2016

Pompey started 2015 as an intriguing prospect with some power/speed upside and a cup of coffee to his name back in 2014. He made most major publications falling inside the Top 30 for Baseball America and received a quick return to the major leagues to start the season. His brief stint did not go as planned as Pompey hit .203/.276/.354 in April and May. He returned to the upper minors and returned to his normal form, which is a great sign moving forward. Pompey has a profile that supports a solid AVG, excellent SB numbers, and some power to boot. He's exhibited impressive plate discipline in the minors, and will be able to figure it out at the major league level in due time. Currently, Kevin Pillar, Ben Revere and Jose Bautista occupy the Blue Jays outfield but a Bautista move to DH could open up some playing time for Blue Jays top fantasy prospect.

2. Max Pentecost (C)
Age on Opening Day: 23 years old
ETA: 2018

I am higher on Pentecost than the rest of our staff here on FakeTeams and even had to be talked off the ledge from putting him #1 overall in the system. He has all the normal measurements going against him - coming off major injury, missed a season, old for the league he competes in, a pure catcher who will move slowly through the system, but I can't ignore his bat. He's the only player in this system with Top 10 fantasy potential for his position, and that's worth the risk. For those starting dynasty leagues this off-season, his cost is the lowest it might ever be since he lost all of 2015 with an injury. Neither his power or hit tool project to be 60+, but each could be average and at the catcher position that's invaluable. I may have been aggressive with his 2018 ETA since he's never been past short-season ball, but given his age, I think he can move quicker than most catchers.

Tier 3 - The Next Group of Starters

These prospects would likely slot into the 100-200 range on an overall ranking list, and would be starters in mid-depth formats like 12 and 14 team leagues.

3. Vlad Guerrero Jr. (OF)
Age on Opening Day: 17 years old
ETA: Your guess is as good as mine

Widely considered the top prospect in this year's international free agent period, Vlad Guerrero Jr. has all the offensive tools you want to see, and prospect prognosticators ding him for his defense and speed. From a fantasy perspective, it's a profile worth investing in, even if standard prospect lists will knock him down a few spots. He will have just turned 17 when the season starts, so his development clock is going to be anyone's guess. The rest of our prospect staff was a lower on Guerrero Jr. than I was, and it's worth noting. It's partly philosophical as some aren't interested in occupying a minor league roster spot with a single player for the next 4+ years. I'll buy the upside of an offensive prospect regardless of age, especially if it's over some of the mid-rotation arms that follow in this list.

4. Sean Reid-Foley (RHP)
Age on Opening Day: 20 years old
ETA: 2018

A second round pick in the 2014 draft, Reid-Foley is a big, right-handed prospect coming straight out of high school. In his first full season of professional baseball, Reid-Foley reached Hi-A, which is impressive for a HS pitcher. Unfortunately, the results weren't as impressive as he might like. The stuff is nasty as evidenced by a 11.7 K/9 across Lo and Hi-A, but control is a serious concern with a 6.3 BB/9. It is not uncommon for fastball command to develop late in development, so I'm not worried about Reid-Foley's early numbers. There's a long road to travel with him, but the upside could be a #2 SP if everything breaks right. More likely Reid-Foley is a mid-rotation starter or a bullpen arm if the control doesn't take a big step forward.

5. Anthony Alford (OF)
Age on Opening Day: 21 years old
ETA: 2017

Anthony Alford decided to give up his two-sport career and focused only on baseball in 2015. The results were outstanding, and he's really put himself on the prospect radar. In a split season between Lo-A and Hi-A, Alford hit .298/.398/.421 with 4 HRs and 27 SBs. Contrary to what his line suggests, Alford actually projects for above-average power. He's built like a slugger and pairs it with off-the-charts athleticism. He lost a little development time early in his career by continuing to play football, but the early returns on his baseball-focused career are promising.

Tier 4 - Single League and Deep Format Plays

These prospects would likely slot into the 200-300 range on a ranking list, and would have the most value to mixed leagues with 16+ teams and single-league formats with 12+ teams.

6. Jon Harris (RHP)
Age on Opening Day: 22 years old
ETA: 2017

The Blue Jays 1st Round pick in the 2015 draft was college arm Jon Harris. He threw an uninspiring 36 innings in his brief debut in short-season ball but after a full college season and the small sample size, there isn't too much to take out of those results. Opinions of the Jays pick of Harris were positive as he was expected to go much earlier. He should develop into a solid major league rotation piece. He should move quickly through the system and a call-up in 2017 isn't out of the question.

7. Rowdy Tellez (1B)
Age on Opening Day: 21 years old
ETA: 2018

Tellez is working against a tough profile that puts him as 1B-only prospect early in his career. The bat still might be able to carry him to the majors given his plus power and patient approach at the plate. Like all 1B prospects that have come before him, he'll have to provide it on every single level and mash more than any other position prospect. If he does end up making it to the big leagues, I don't know that the AVG/HR combo will be enough to sustain any value in standard formats, but he has the defensive chops to stick at the position and so he'll hold value in AL-only formats. It could be a slow ride up the development curve for Tellez given his age and limited positional flexibility.

8. Richard Urena (SS)
Age on Opening Day: 20 years old
ETA: 2018

Urena signed back in 2012 as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic. He's a bigger kid for a shortstop prospect standing at 6'1" but with a 170 lb. frame and great athleticism, he's one of the best defensive shortstops in the Toronto organization. Prior to last year, there were some questions on how his bat will development, but Urena did a great job making improvements in 2015. Urena hit 16 HRs this year across Lo and Hi-A and proved that there is some pop in his swing. His approach could use some work, but a sure-fire SS prospect with pop is enough to have me interested.

9. Clinton Hollon (RHP)
Age on Opening Day: 21 years old
ETA: 2018

Hollon returned to the mound in 2015 after missing all of last year due to injury (TJS). At 6'1" he doesn't have the ideal size for a starting pitcher, and when paired with his injury history, he seems destined for a bullpen role in the long run. He does have a monster fastball and a slider to boot, so the bullpen profile seems even more apt. Hollon mixes in a changeup and curveball, but they currently lag behind the other two pitches. It will be interesting to see Hollon get a full season in next year and hopefully but the injury concerns behind him. Ultimately, he's probably a bullpen arm.

10. Conner Greene (RHP)
Age on Opening Day: 20 years old
ETA: 2019

Greene has a projectable frame and has consistently added some velocity on his fastball every year. There's a growing buzz about this kid, and while the upside isn't elite, he's a 7th round draft pick with legit #3 starter potential. His fastball and changeup are his two best pitches, but he mixes in a curveball as well. A lot has to go right for him to max out his potential, but all signs are pointing up for Conner Greene.