We are breaking down the top five prospects for each organization for 2009, taking into consideration: games, at-bats, innings and major-league service time. We expect these players to have rookie status remaining heading into next year.

According to MLB rules: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list)."

Note: Statistics are those at each stop in the minors this season and age represents how old they will be on opening day 2009.

Toronto Blue Jays

Other than Travis Snider, we didn't get much right about the Blue Jays in our report this time a year ago. The reason -- read: our excuse -- is a lot of their impact prospects were 2007 draftees. But, now we see the light. They have some real gems on the way. It will be interesting to see which ones can rise up in spring training, especially since the Blue Jays are an organization that seemingly will need to rely on up-and-comers.

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1. OF Travis Snider, 21

If you have been tortured by Adam Lind the past few years, don't worry about it with Snider. This is one of the elite outfield prospects in baseball and he proved down the stretch he is capable of holding a starting job in the majors right now. You cannot expect the .300-30-100-100 he can eventually be, but he is a nice rookie sleeper in deeper formats on Draft Day 2009. The Blue Jays have a starting spot he can call his own at this point.

Level AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLUG OPS
High A .279 17 61 15 17 5 0 4 7 34 5 22 1 0 .333 .557 .891
Double-A .262 98 362 65 95 21 0 17 67 167 52 116 1 1 .357 .461 .818
Triple-A .344 18 64 9 22 5 0 2 17 33 4 16 1 0 .386 .516 .901
Totals .275 133 487 89 134 31 0 23 91 234 61 154 3 1 .358 .480 .838
Majors .301 24 73 9 22 6 0 2 13 34 5 23 0 0 .338 .466 .803

2. C J.P. Arencibia, 23

If you tie Alex Rodriguez's high school career homer record at a Miami high school, you definitely come with some hype. When you then get picked in Round 1 and then post the year he did in his first full pro season, you have a monster prospect. This slugger catcher can arrive in 2009 and impact any Fantasy league immediately. We don't see him getting a real look in spring training, but he is certainly someone to watch very closely. This kind of bat at that position doesn't come around often -- and usually it moves out from behind the plate. Right now there are no plans to move him. You might need to root for him to stop swinging with this much power, if you want him to remain a catcher.

Team AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLUG OPS
High A .315 59 248 38 78 22 0 13 62 139 11 46 0 0 .344 .560 .904
Double-A .282 67 262 32 74 14 0 14 43 130 7 55 0 0 .302 .496 .798
Totals .298 126 510 70 152 36 0 27 105 269 18 101 0 0 .322 .527 .850

3. LH SP Brett Cecil, 22

This 2007 first-rounder, who was picked in the supplemental round after Arencibia, didn't figure to be able to rise as soon as 2009, but the losses of Dustin McGowan (shoulder) and Shaun Marcum (elbow) late in the year opens up some opportunities. Cecil is the best of the bunch and the one with the highest ceiling long term. He should be a sleeper in AL-only formats next season and might even make the quick rise into all-Fantasy consideration.

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Team W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO GO/AO AVG
High A 0 0 1.74 4 4 0 0 0 10 1/3 6 2 2 1 2 11 5.33 .167
Double-A 6 2 2.55 18 18 0 0 0 77 2/3 66 24 22 4 23 87 2.07 .227
Triple-A 2 3 4.11 6 6 0 0 0 30 2/3 28 17 14 1 16 31 2.33 .237
Totals 8 5 2.88 28 28 0 0 0 118 2/3 100 43 38 6 41 129 2.28 .225

4. SP Brad Mills, 24

Yet another 2007 draftee, Mills went in the fourth round and has proven to be far more than scouts thought. Unlike Cecil, Mills won't be ready at the beginning of the year because he finished in Class A, but if he continues to improve at the same rate, he will be a factor by the end of the season. The scouts said back-end starter long term, but he sure looked like more than that in 2008.

Team W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO GO/AO AVG
Low A 6 3 2.55 15 15 0 0 0 81 1/3 71 30 23 3 28 92 1.52 .233
Double-A 3 2 1.10 6 6 0 0 0 32 2/3 24 11 4 2 12 32 0.59 .205
High A 4 0 1.35 6 6 0 0 0 33 1/3 25 9 5 2 12 35 0.64 .210
Totals 13 5 1.95 27 27 0 0 0 147 1/3 120 50 32 7 52 159 1.01 .222

5. 1B David Cooper, 22

Following up a nice haul in the '07 draft, they picked Cooper last June out of California. He showed well in his brief pro debut in the second half and should be able to rise quickly through the system -- especially in an organization short on impact bats. We don't seem him making a Fantasy impact in 2009.

Team AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS
Low A .341 21 85 10 29 10 1 2 21 47 10 16 0 1 .411 .553 .963
Low A .354 24 96 15 34 10 0 2 17 50 10 14 0 0 .415 .521 .936
High A .304 24 92 10 28 9 0 1 13 40 10 16 0 0 .373 .435 .807
Totals .333 69 273 35 91 29 1 5 51 137 30 46 0 1 .399 .502 .901

Best of the rest: SS Justin Jackson, SP Scott Richmond, 3B Anthony Hatch, 2B Kevin Melillo, RP Danny Farquhar, OF Ryan Patterson, SP Marc Rzepczynski, 2B Brad Emaus, 3B Kevin Ahrens, 2B Scott Campbell, C Brian Jeroloman, SP Ricky Romero, 2B John Tolisano, SP Joel Carreno, SP Kenny Rodriguez, OF Kenny Wilson, SP Andrew Liebel, 3B Mark Sobolewski, OF Kenny Wilson, SP Chad Beck, SP Trystan Magnuson, OF Aaron Matthews, RP Zach Dials, SP Kyle Ginley, RP Alan Farina, OF Johermyn Chavez, OF Eric Eiland, SP Brandon Magee, 3B Balbino Fuenmayor, SP Chase Lirette, OF Moises Alou and OF Buck Coats.

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2008 rookies to exhaust eligibility: SP David Purcey and RP Jesse Carlson.

Last year's top five here: Snider, Sergio Santos (now with the Twins), Patterson, John-Ford Griffin (now with Dodgers) and Tolisano.

You can e-mail Emack your Fantasy Baseball prospect questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Blue Jays prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.

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