Scoop from Altoona

On Saturday I took my final trip for the season to Altoona to take in the Curve against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. While there I noticed that Kyle Stark was in attendance and was talking to the Curve's General Manager, Todd Parnell. I thought nothing of it but was curious as to who he might be up there taking a look at.

As I talked to my brothers about it, our conversation moved to Jose Bautista's recent trade and I started to think that he might be there looking at not only our guys but also Blue Jays prospects on New Hampshire.

My thought seemed to be confirmed as in the section next to mine, behind home plate, sat not only Kyle Stark but Greg Smith, the Director of Scouting. It is then not much of a leap to think that they are looking for someone from the AA roster to be the infamous PTBNL in the Bautista trade.

Neither Stark, Smith, or another scout who was with them had a radar gun, so I would guess that they were not looking at pitchers. Instead all three had stop watches and were routinely checking with each other on their times. I tried to see who they may have been focusing on, but it seemed to be a mix of scouting our own guys as well as the other team. But I can say that we had all of the heavy hitters there watching a Blue Jays team, that could very well have that PTBNL.

I am not versed in the Blue Jays system, but there seemed to be a handful of guys on that AA team that could fit what they would be looking for.

Also Jose Tabata looked much more comfortable as a Curve player, as opposed to when I saw him earlier this year with Trenton. He played an excellent game and you really can see why he is highly thought of as a player. Jamie Romak also stood out as he seemingly slaughtered the ball every time at the plate, including a home run.

Anyway the scoop is that it looks as though the Pirates are looking for a AA player from the Blue Jays for Jose Bautista. That is something you won't hear anywhere else.