Okay, now we know about the months of preparation that went into this draft, the countless hours of scouting and meeting and analysis. So it's time to find out some more about exactly who the Blue Jays acquired in the 2004 draft. No waiting -- let's get to it!
The Top Ten
David Purcey, LHP (1st)
Going into the 2004 draft, left-handed pitching was generally thought to be one of the weaknesses of Toronto’s system. That’s not the case anymore. One of the most prized southpaws in the country, David Purcey, came to the Blue Jays with the 16th pick.
“Purcey’s a guy I was lucky enough to see in the Cape Cod League, and I got to see him again this spring,” says J.P. Ricciardi. “He’s a big guy [6’5”, 240 lbs.] with a power curveball and a power fastball.” Purcey struck out 121 batters in 100 innings at Oklahoma this year, surrendering just 84 hits in the process. “The best pure left-handed arm in the draft,” Baseball America called him, and his selection proves that the Jays like great talent just as much as they like “pitchability.”
Purcey, however, also walked 51 batters this past season, and there’s a sense that his mechanics could use some work. But he showed tremendous control and poise in the Cape Cod League, and Ricciardi is very upbeat about his upside. “If he’s able to get out over his front side a little bit more and get some extension, we think he’s going to be able to pound the strike zone,” he says. “He’s a guy that reminds us of [Jeremy] Affeldt, with that kind of power.”
Zach Jackson, LHP (1st supplemental)
In contrast to Purcey, who can already hit 95 mph with his heater, Jackson is a less overpowering but also a more polished product of Texas A&M. “Jackson’s not as hard velocity-wise, about 89 to 92,” Ricciardi says. “But he really gets the ball from the left side of the mound into right-handed hitters.
“He’s got a funky angle to him, and I think it’s going to be tough for guys to catch up with his fastball, because he hides it well,” he adds. “He’s a good competitor, he throws strikes, and he has a slurvy slider that’s got some life to it.” As tall as Purcey but not as heavy, Jackson also showed superior control to his fellow portsider, with a 24/110 BB/K rate in 104 IP (not to mention a 6-0, 1.88 showing at the Cape). Read more about Jackson in this article by Ryan Levy.
If the Blue Jays were delighted to get Purcey, they were simply thrilled to get Jackson, whom they never imagined would be available with the 32nd pick. Baseball America had estimated that Jackson would disappear by the middle of the first round, so as the selections ticked by and Jackson remained on the board, the excitement grew in Toronto’s draft room. “Tony LaCava was the first guy who called it,” Ricciardi recalls. “When he said, ‘We’ve got a shot at getting Jackson,’ I said, ‘I don’t think so, somebody’s going to pop him.’” Nobody did.
Accordingly, the Jays consider themselves to have unexpectedly gotten two of the draft’s premier southpaws. “Some of the teams I had talked to before had said they were interested in him, but as he kept dropping, we started to realize we did have a shot at him,” says Ricciardi. “When we got him, we were just ecstatic. We looked at it as a chance to get two of the better left-handers in the country, and we think we did.”
Once signed -- “We’re not far away; I think we’ll get Purcey done within the next two weeks, Jackson probably within the next week,” says Ricciardi -- the two pitchers will be assigned to Auburn, but they will be treated very carefully. “They’ve pitched a lot and we’re going to monitor their innings,” says Ricciardi. “They may be guys who pitch four or five innings at a time.
“We didn’t get them to win the NY-Penn League,” he adds. “If they come out next year, both pitching in Dunedin like [Josh] Banks did, we’ll be in good shape.”
Curtis Thigpen, C (2nd)
Toronto’s last two second-rounders -- David Bush and Josh Banks -- quickly became organizational favourites, and it’s looking like this year’s 2nd-rounder will be no exception. There were a lot of highly touted catchers considered to be early-round quality, but the Jays had their sights set on Curtis Thigpen of the University of Texas. “We liked [Landon] Powell, [Kurt] Suzuki, all those players, but the things that stuck out about Thigpen were his athleticism, versatility, and work ethic -- and the guy can swing the bat,” says Jon Lalonde.
“He plays in one of the toughest conferences; he’s faced Purcey, he’s faced Jackson, and he’s hit both those guys, so we really liked what he brought to the table in terms of a track record.” Even more promisingly, Thigpen’s work ethic and grasp of the fundamentals are “off the charts,” says Lalonde: “this is a guy who will take ground balls at first base, second base, the outfield.”
But Thigpen isn’t simply a slugger crammed into the tools of ignorance: he’s already had good success throwing out baserunners, and the Blue Jays think he can improve even more. “He has arm strength,” Lalonde agrees. “There’s some technique things we think we can work with him on to speed up his release and clean it up a little bit, but this is the kind of guy that’s going to work hard. The only reason he didn’t catch more this year was because they have [Taylor] Teagarden, who at this point looks like a top draft pick next year.
"Thigpen was a guy we felt very strongly about,” Lalonde concludes. “We think he is going to catch, and we expect him to provide some offensive production at a premium position. We liked him because of his bat; it just so happens that he’s a catcher and, we think, a darn good one. We were delighted to get him in the second round, and I really don’t think he would have been there for us a round later. … He’ll be a major-league catcher or die trying, and we think he can make it.”
Thigpen was indeed a hot commodity at the draft. “A number of other teams have indicated to us since the draft that Thigpen was going to be their next pick had he reached them,” says Keith Law. “Granted, they may say that to all the boys, but it’s nice to know we took him in the right spot.”
And Ricciardi adds: “We see Thigpen like a Craig Biggio; you might be able to bounce him around and take advantage of his athleticism. We look at guys like him, [Aaron] Hill, [Russ] Adams and [Ryan] Roberts -- we’re starting to get some tough dirtbag guys who really like to play and grind it out. [Thigpen’s] been tearing up the College World Series, and that’s been fun to watch.”
Adam Lind, OF/1B (3rd)
You might not immediately recognize the University of South Alabama as a baseball hotspot -- but you’re probably more familiar with its alumni, such as Luis Gonzalez, Juan Pierre, Jon Lieber and Marlon Anderson. A rare combination of athletic skill and admirable character, USA alums in the majors are looking forward to being joined someday by Adam Lind.
“He can hit,” says Ricciardi (.392/.456/.659 in Lind’s senior year, if you’re wondering). “He can flat-out hit, and he’s off to a good start already [he cranked a three-run homer last night for Auburn, by coincidence]. You know, guys from South Alabama find a way to play in the big leagues. That’s a tough program; they’re tough on their guys.
“We think Lind is going to be like a [Frank] Catalanotto with more power, so we’re excited about him,” he adds. “We think [he’s] going to be able to play the outfield. We see him as an offensive left fielder.”
Danny Hill, RHP (3rd supp.)
By the end of the third round, there were a lot of intriguing Division I pitchers still on the board — James Happ, Jason Windsor and Andrew Dobies, to name a few. But the Jays set their sights on Hill, not least because of his competitiveness. “He’s a bulldog type,” says Lalonde. “He’s not real tall -- about 5’11” -- but he’s strong, about 205 pounds, and our guys have seen him look very good this spring.
“We’ve seen him up to 94 mph, with a very good sinking fastball that he can run in on right-handed hitters very well,” he continues. “He also has a good hard slider and a split-finger pitch. We think his ultimate role might be as a bullpen type, but compared to those other guys, it was really a differential of stuff. Happ is a pitcher we had some interest in, but he’ll pitch in the 86-90 range, as a very deceptive lefthander. Dobies is similar in terms of velocity, and the righty, Windsor, will usually top around 90 or 91.”
Lalonde adds an interesting point: “They all had great years, we had all of them up on our boards, and we might have considered taking them. But there are 30 teams shopping at the same mall, and as much as you want some of these guys to be invisible, they’re not.”
Casey Janssen, RHP (4th)
The Blue Jays returned to the mound with their next pick, taking Janssen from the much-admired UCLA baseball program, where he posted a 10-4, 3.16, 116 IP, 87 H, 30 BB, 103 K line in his final year. Not particularly overpowering in his offerings, Janssen is a four-pitch guy who commands the strike zone.
“He’s probably a guy who can be a fourth or fifth starter in the big leagues,” Ricciardi says. “He throws strikes and he pitched at a great program, so if he’s going to come, he’s going to come quick. We’ll start him in the NY-Penn League; if he pitches well enough, we’ll get him up to Dunedin and he may just take off from there.”
Ryan Klosterman, SS (5th)
After choosing shortstops with their first-round picks the previous two years, the Blue Jays decided to take a breather this draft, such that Vanderbilt’s Klosterman was the first infielder they selected this time around. Ricciardi expects Klosterman to be a big-leaguer, but doesn’t think he’ll necessarily challenge Russ Adams and Aaron Hill.
“Klosterman’s more along the lines of a steady guy who’s going to catch the ball. He’s a solid guy with a chance to play in the big leagues, but I don’t think his upside is as big as those other guys,” he says. “He may be a Rich Aurilia someday, or he may be a Chris Woodward.”
Cory Patton, OF (6th)
Patton is out with a broken foot at the moment and unable to play, so there’s not much to report on this former Texas A&M outfielder at the moment (more details on the slugger, again from Ryan Levy, can be found here). “He looks a lot like Matt Stairs at the plate,” says Law, “and he probably has the second-most power of anyone we took.” Which 2004 draftee has the most power? Check in again when we get to the 9th round.
Randy Dicken, RHP (7th)
Randy Dicken was a source of mild controversy when he was drafted, because although he posted stellar numbers, he did so at Division II Shippensburg University, where the opposing batters were something less than Ruthian. But the reason behind his selection reveals a clue to the true nature of the Blue Jays organization: much as some people would like to believe the Jays are just computerized number-crunching geeks, the club’s scouting staff is crammed with baseball people who know their stuff.
“This is where having a quality area scout makes all the difference,” Lalonde says. “We brought in Tom Burns this year from the Anaheim Angels, and Tom locked into Randy early when he saw him pitch. He made sure we had a number of looks at him throughout the spring. He’s a young man with a very good arm -- we’ve seen him up to 93 mph -- and he also has a very good breaking ball.”
As a seventh-rounder, Dicken clearly is not yet a finished product. “He has a few things he can work on; we’d like to sharpen his command up a little bit,” Lalonde notes. “But he brings a lot of tools to the table, and we think he has some definite upside as a starting pitcher. As he gets in the professional baseball atmosphere, and gets around professional instruction, we think he’s the kind of guy who might really take off. You have to trust your area scout, and he did a great job identifying him for us this spring.”
Chip Cannon, 1B (8th)
Some guys are born to be folk heroes, and Chip Cannon has already become one at Batter’s Box, whose denizens were calling for him to be drafted well before Toronto took him in the 8th round.
And why not? How can you not root for a guy who’s a five-time Dean’s List honouree, plans to be a dentist if baseball doesn’t work out, was born with two club feet, and best of all, posted an utterly unreal .362 /.529/.686 line in his senior year? Rhame (Chip) Cannon has “fan favourite” written all over him.
“Corner bats are valuable,” observes Lalonde, “and we think that with Cannon and [Joey] Metropoulos, we got a couple of quality corner bats, guys who can control the strike zone and can -- when they do get into a hitter’s count -- put the ball in the seats.”
The Blue Jays must have a certain liking for military regimens. A year after choosing Navy’s Matt Foster and the Virginia Military Institute’s Jeremy Harper in successive rounds, Toronto came back this year and snagged Cannon from United States Marine college The Citadel, quite possibly the toughest institute of higher learning in the U.S. We imagine that pitchers will be very reluctant to come too far inside on Chip Cannon
Joey Metropoulos, 1B (9th)
Metropolous, the runner-up in the Cape Cod League Home Run contest last summer, has power to spare in his powerful 6’1, 230-lb frame. “If the draft had been held last Labour Day, he would have gone a lot higher,” says Law. “He has the most power of anyone we took, so we’re particularly jazzed about getting him signed.”
“Our scouts like him,” Ricciardi adds. “They think he can move around a little bit. He’s not exactly our type of guy, but we went for the power at that point.” Lalonde adds: “Joey Metropoulos hit 11 home runs last year in the Cape Cod League, and Chris Buckley can’t remember anybody ever doing that — all those wood-bat summer leagues tend to be dominated by pitchers.”
Brian Hall, 2B (10th)
From Cardinal red to Blue Jay grey, former Stanford infielder Brian Hall rounds out the Top Ten. “Hall didn’t play much second base in college because Stanford’s regular second baseman, Jed Lowrie, is one of the best underclassmen out there and is almost a lock to make Team USA this year,” says Law. Accordingly, Hall was operating under the radar, and the Jays are very pleased to have him in the fold.
Later-round sleepers
Kyle Yates, RHP (13th)
Bauxites reacted very favourably to the drafting of Kyle Yates, a superior arm who was overlooked and effectively buried in an extremely strong University of Texas bullpen and didn’t get many innings. Lalonde confirms that “Yates has really good stuff. We really like what he brings to the table, and we got him in our spot.
“He’s got a good breaking ball, average velocity, and he’s competitive, having pitched in big games under the bright lights in Texas,” he continues. “We saw him against Texas A & M in a rivalry game, and he certainly wasn’t in awe; he came in and fired strikes, and we’re hoping he can do the same thing for us. We’re excited about him.” With the Longhorns still in the NCAA playoff hunt, however, fans may have to wait a little longer to see Yates (along with his battery mate, Curtis Thigpen).
Joey McLauglin Jr., RHP (18th)
Blue Jays fans of a certain age remember Joey McLaughlin Senior, who worked in tandem with Roy Lee Jackson to provide a lot of nervous ninth innings for the early ‘80s Jays. So fans might be forgiven if they greeted with trepidation the announcement that McLaughlin fils had been drafted. But Lalonde speaks highly of the 18th-rounder.
“Young Joey is a real competitive guy, and Ty Nichols, our area scout, liked him a lot,” he says. “[Oklahoma City University] had another pitcher who went in the third round of the draft named Matt Hansen, but Joey actually got a lot of the big starts, even though everyone had Hansen rated higher. He loves to pitch, loves to compete, and we’re glad to be the ones giving him a shot to go out there and see what he can do.”
Eighteenth-rounders have a tougher road than higher-drafted players, of course, so McLaughlin will face challenges -- “there’s no free ride,” says Lalonde. “But we think he’s going to excel. Our area scout has spoken to him and his father on numerous occasions, and they really wanted him to be a Blue Jay, so we’re excited to be able to make it happen for them.”
Aaron Mathews, OF (19th)
The Blue Jays don’t have the unlimited budgets that some teams take into Draft Day, but they do have money, and more importantly, they spend it wisely. That was part of the reason they were able to snap up Oregon State’s Aaron Mathews, a prize prospect and superb defender who fell much farther in the draft than his talent would indicate.
“One of the things we were able to do this year was get creative financially,” explains Lalonde. “By taking a couple of seniors early on, that gave us the flexibility to try to do some things in the later rounds. [Mathews] was valued much higher than the 19th round, but because of signability concerns, he began to slide a little and became our first pick of the second day. We think he can come in and contribute for us.”
The Canadians
The Jays selected three Canadians in this draft, but not for sentimental reasons -- they think these guys can play. “All three of them are from the west coast,” says Lalonde, “so Kevin Briand, our director of Canadian scouting, and Don Cowan, who works for us out in B.C., really did a great job in identifying these players.
“The first one is Bobby Scott (20th), a very athletic right-handed pitcher, one of those diamond-in-the-rough types,” Lalonde says. “He’s got a very good arm and is also a good hitter. I didn’t see him play this spring, but Kevin and Don liked his upside and potential. He’s going to go to a junior college for us, so we’ll be able to follow him, and the same with the other two.
“Jonathan Hesketh (42nd)” he continues, “is a left-handed pitcher, again very athletic -- he runs a 6.7 in the 60-yard dash -- who pitches with below-average velocity right now, and we need to firm up his command. And Jordan Lennerton (50th and last) is a first baseman who can swing the bat a little bit.
“All these guys just need to keep playing, and we need to see how they adapt to instruction and see what kind of progress they make,” Lalonde says. “We’re going to follow them closely, and hopefully one or two of them will step up.”
In the later rounds and especially on the second day of the draft, the Jays are looking for raw talent that still needs some time to mature -- the draft-and-follow brigade. “You’re looking to tie up some high-ceiling draft-and-follow players that may have the one big tool -- maybe a big arm in terms of velocity, or big power -- something you hope that maybe they can refine,” says Lalonde. “After you follow them for a year, you might get something special out of it.”
The Undrafted
Okay, so what about Ryan Jones? One of the controversies at Batter’s Box during and after the draft was that the Blue Jays effectively passed up the opportunity to draft the slugging outfielder. It wasn’t because they didn’t like him, Lalonde says: “He was on our board, absolutely. … He had an unbelievable offensive year. I saw him, and he did nothing but hit and have tough at-bats. We really liked him as a hitter
“The big concern we had was health-related … our information indicated he’ll need Tommy John ligament transplantation surgery as soon as the season is over,” he reports. “He’s a centerfielder who really didn’t play centerfield this year.”
And there were additional warning signs unrelated to health. “Not to discredit what he did, but you don’t see a lot of 5’7” big leaguers hit for tremendous power,” Lalonde points out. “And the numbers might be due in part to the competition and an aluminum bat. If you take him, he has the surgery and can’t play for a year. And he’s already a year older, being a college senior, so that was another factor that limited our interest. But we wish him the best of luck.”
Looking forward and back
There’s no rest for the weary; Lalonde and his crew are already getting ready for the 2005 Draft. “I’m already looking at numbers, and my two baseball rats down the hall are already lining me up for next year,” he laughs, referring to Andrew Tinnish and Alex Anthopoulos. “We go down to the Cape Cod League towards the end of the month, and spend a couple of weeks there; you always see a lot of good players in that league.”
So how did the Jays do? Was this a strong draft? “I think the [available] everyday players were okay, and for what was out there, we had a pretty successful draft,” Ricciardi observes. Lalonde elaborates: “Every team is excited about their draft right now, and we’re no exception. We think we got a lot of quality athletes to bring into the system.
“We really felt that there were two areas of strength: college pitchers and college catchers, specifically left-handed pitching, which is not commonplace. Normally those are two scarce resources, but as we were putting our board together, we saw some depth there and we began to get excited, especially in our situation, with a couple of extra picks. … We’re pleased with what we got accomplished, and we think we did pretty well.”
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040629103557999