Toronto Blue Jays: Two Players on Baseball Prospectus Top 101 List

Baseball Prospectus has released their list of the top 101 prospects for the 2016 season, which includes just two Toronto Blue Jays players.

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As the Toronto Blue Jays gear up for spring training, fans will be looking for as much information as possible. As such, the Baseball Prospectus guide to the upcoming season makes for essential reading. (Their words, not ours.)

The annual guide will provide projections and commentary on almost 2,000 players. To whet our appetite, they have released a list of their top 101 prospects for the 2016 season.

However, before Blue Jays fans get too excited, they should know Toronto only has two players on the list. Anthony Alford is ranked 44th, while Conner Greene just makes the list at 100.

Alford was drafted by the Blue Jays in the third round of the 2012 Amateur Draft. He was rated as the number two prospect in the Toronto organization in 2015, behind pitcher Jonathan Harris.

The outfielder, who was one of the best athletes in the 2012 draft, completed his first full season in the minor leagues last year. Here is what Baseball Prospectus had to say about him:

"Alford cost the Jays almost twice the third-round slot on a two-sport deal out of the 2012 draft (he was a highly regarded quarterback prospect at Southern Miss), and it started to pay off in 2015. He always had five-tool potential, and it showed up at the plate in a big way in his first extended taste of full-season ball. Alford displayed above-average bat speed and an improving approach, and his athleticism already plays well in center. Although he lost some development time due to his dalliance with college football, he will find himself in 2016 a level-appropriate 22-year-old in the Eastern League."

Meanwhile, Greene was drafted by the Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2013 Amateur Draft. In 2015, he was ranked as the number eight prospect in the Toronto organization.

The pitcher, who has been a model and actor since he was a youngster, took a significant step forward with his velocity and control while making his full-season debut last year. Baseball Prospectus had this to say about him:

"The Jays nabbed Greene as a projectable Southern California prep arm in the seventh round of the 2013 draft. He, uh, projected, climbing three levels of the minors in his full-season debut. The skinny 6-foot-3 right-hander can run his fastball up to 98 and sits comfortably at 92-94. The curveball and changeup will both flash average, but are in need of further development. Greene got all the way to Double-A, but he is still a bit of a raw athlete on the mound. The stuff is good enough that with more development time he could round into a mid-rotation starter, although the top-end velocity he showed last year would also be alluring in a late-inning role"

Regardless of your thoughts on the list, it is interesting to compare the Blue Jays to their AL East rivals. The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays each have five players in the top 101, the New York Yankees have three and the Baltimore Orioles have two.

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What are your thoughts on the Baseball Prospectus top 101 list? Do the rankings for the Blue Jays players seem reasonable? Let us know in the comments section below.