Scott Campbell blogs, plays third, appreciates Roddy McDowell

As part of his Arizona Fall League apprenticeship, Jays prospect Scott Campbell has been assigned a monumental task: He's been asked to blog.

(Oh, and he's also been asked to play third as well, but we leave it up to you to decide which is more difficult.)

In addition to documenting his travails at the hot corner (six errors and a ground ball in the face), Campbell has also discussed his appreciation for the Planet of the Apes franchise, and his father's curious advice on hydration:

"I'm not used to this heat, so I'm learning to hydrate myself. My dad always taught me that one beer after a game will hydrate you better than water. We'll see..."

A few other Jays prospects have hopped on as well, with J.P. Arencibia posting this week about hanging with Travis Snider in Arizona. Apparently, The Great Big Giant Pasty White Hope^TM is spending his time this offseason eating barbecue (No!) and playing Rock Band (Double No!!).

If Snider comes to camp 20 pounds heavier with acute wrist tendinitis, there's going to be hell to pay.

Hey! It's the Fall Leagues!

Sure, we could focus on the Fall Classic, but seeing as how we've already established that every victory or success for the Rays is like a dagger in our heart, we figured we'd divert our attention to the developmental Fall Leagues for a bit of solace.

Say "hi" to Thomas Magnum if you see him
While many of the higher-level prospects are congregating under the Arizona sun to play before a crowd of mid-western retirees, Jays prospect Bradley Emaus (picture above) got the call to play for the Honolulu Sharks of the Hawaii Winter Baseball League. (We guess that isn't a Fall League per se...) Major League Bastian has the write up on the 22 year-old infielder who played with Single-A Dunedin last year. Bastian also catches up with some of the other Jays in the Fall Leagues.

Emaus is currently hitting .342 (with a .960 OPS) in 13 games so far this year with a double, a triple and a homer to go with his 9 RsBI.

A cool thing about the Hawaii League: it combines North American minor leaguers with players from Japan and Korea. In fact, a quick look at the league's Japanese alumni shows just how many current MLBers made a name for themselves in this circuit. Ichiro, Tadahito Iguchi, Kaz Matsui, and So Taguchi all suited up at one point or another.

And how can you not love a league with a team named the Waikiki Beach Boys.

The other J.P. puts on a show for the high-waisted shuffleboard sharks
Once again, the tireless Major League Bastian reports that after a slow start, the Jays' other great minor league hope J.P. Arencibia has started to hit for the Pheonix Desert Dogs. Over a six game hitting streak this past week, the other J.P. has a homer and eight driven in.

Another relevant prospect in Phoenix is Scott Campbell, who is getting on base at a .500 clip through 10 games thus far. Perhaps more interesting is the fact that New Zealand's finest baseball product has been playing some games at third base. Does this mean that the Jays may be looking at him to replace Scott Rolen in 2010?

Random thoughts on a shakey video of Travis Snider

Someone's got their ReggieVision Handicam down at the Arizona Fall League, documenting the prospects with a cinematographic skill that can onle be described as "Zapruderesque" . Among them was this one of Travis Snider cranking out a double.




The Good: Didja hear the beautiful sound of the crack of the bat? Niiiiiice.

The Bad: Not that we want to ponder this for too long...but doesn't Snider's body look a bit "Hinske-esque"?

Snider is one of the few players in the AFL who hasn't played above the single-A level, and he's still ripping it up. In 21 games, he's rocking a 1.025 OPS with five doubles, four homers and 11 RsBI. (And a .342 AVG, for those of you who are into that sort of thing.)

He's still only 20 (which is a few years younger than most of the top prospect in 'zona), but his performance bodes well for a possible 2009 appearance with the Jays. (Maybe...)

Other Futuer Blue Jays in the AFL

• Sergio Santos has 4 HRs and 14 RsBI along with an .823 OPS, and is playing a lot of third. In case the Jays should need new body at the hot corner sometime soon. Just sayin'.
• David Purcey's got a wicked 1.59 ERA in five starts and 17 innings. He's struck out 17 and walked 8.
• Ricky Romero's been pitching primarily in relief, and has a 4.22 ERA in 10-plus innings. He got off to a rocky start, but hasn't allowed a run in his last 7 innings of work, spanning four appearances.