I don't have access to the free audio at work. Does anyone know a site (Baseball America?) that will be posting the picks as they happen?

Is anyone here going to listen to the draft conference call?

Apparently there's 60 seconds between picks in round 1 and 30 seconds in rounds 2-5 so we should know the Jays first pick by 1:15, and the second pick by 1:40.

I'm stuck without audio as well. Perhaps someone can relay the picks on this thread please?

At MLB.com draft central, the picks should be updated (in writing) in real time.

Curiously, Brad Sullivan is not among those listed.

Curious, indeed. According to the final Baseball America projections by Jim Callis, the Jays like Sullivan a lot, preferring him to Paul Maholm. My guess is, if the lefty is still on the board, he's Toronto's guy.

BA also has a draft blog set up for the day; their staff will be posting frequent updates.

Aaron Hill, SS, LSU.

According to JP a top pitcher is as likely to come out of the later rounds as the first round. So if a position player is available he will take him.

BaseballAmerica has the final word that Delmon Young will go #1. Just announced for anyone interested. Dimitri maybe?

Here’s how I would pick if I were JP:

1. RHP BRAD SULLIVAN, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
R-R 6-1 205, Nederland TX, 9/12/81
2003 (6-6 2.58 ERA, 115 IP, 78 H, 41 R, 33 ER, 10 HR, 39 BB, 149 SO)
2002 (13-1 1.82, 128.2 IP, 49 BB, 157 SO).

11.7 K/9 innings and a 1.00:1 WHIP vaults him ahead of Maholm in my book (even if Maholm is probably going to go higher). I think his 2002 season shows that he’s better than he’s showing this year and he could possibly be at least a #2 starter, and maybe more. 10 HRs allowed this year do worry me a bit.

2. SS/3B AARON HILL, LOUISIANA STATE
R-R 6-0 200, Visalia CA, 3/21/82
(223 AB; .372/.474/.623; 8 HR, 53 RBI, 9 SB, 38 BB, 16 SO)

If he can play SS in the majors I think this should be the pick, assuming Sullivan is taken. 38 walks and 16 strikeouts, with a SLG% over .600 – sounds like a JP player to me. I think he could be a .300/.380/.520 which would put him just below the elite SS’s. Adams would have to move to 2B, but he might do that anyway. My guess, by process of elimination, is this is the position player JP was referring to in his quote in the paper today – the other college position players are Ofs (which isn’t a need), and Connor Jackson at 3B who has a bad arm.

3. RF BRAD SNYDER, BALL STATE
L-L 6-2 200, Bellevue OH, 5/25/82
(200 AB; .405/.522/.770; 14 HR, 61 RBI, 20 SB, 49 BB, 45 SO)

While the Jays have a good supply of OFs in the minors he’d be too good to pass up if the top 2 are gone. I’d take him over Hill if Hill doesn’t project as a SS.

4. LHP PAUL MAHOLM, MISSISSIPPI STATE
L-L 6-2 214, Holly Springs MS, 6/25/82
(8-2 2.53 ERA, 13 GS, 92.2 IP, 87 H, 31 R, 26 ER, 3 HR, 33 BB, 92 SO)

It sounds like he’ll be gone by the time the Jays pick. I’m probably not as high on him as I should be. I think a college pitcher taken in the first round should have a better K rate than 9.0 K/9 innings. Even his WHIP isn’t great at 1.30:1.

I’d be really happy if the Jays ended up with one of my first 2, satisfied with Snyder, and mildly disappointed with Maholm.

Contrary to earlier reports, audio coverage for the draft (click on the link on the front page) is available for free. I'm listening to the pre-draft show right now and I will attempt to post the picks as they come (probably in groups of 5 or so).

Delmon Young goes first.

Now that the Rangers have picked Danks, Sullivan will fall to Toronto.

Sorry... The feed broke down and I've been unable to connect.

Indians and Mets could still take Sullivan. What's the order so far?

I lost my connection too. Stupid MLB!

Stolen from Primer:

1. TBD: Young, Delmon, Camarillo HS
2. Mil: Weeks, Rickie, Southern Univ.
3. Det: Sleeth, Kyle, Wake Forest
4. SDP: Stauffer, Timothy, Univ. Richmond
5. KCR: Lubanski, Christopher
6. Cubs - Ryan Harvey OF
Orioles:Nick Markakis, LHP
Pirates: Paul Maholm, LHP
Rangers: John Danks, LHP
Rockies: Ian Stewart, 3B

Aubrey is falling!

Aaron Hill!

Aubrey to Cleveland.

1 of Sullivan and Hill will be there.

Hmmmm. Hill? Does he pitch now.

Mets: Lastings Milledge, OF

The draft went as planned for the Jays

Blue Jays:
AARON HILL LOUISIANA ST U SS R/R 5'11" 195 1982-03-21 4YR 56K 300K
COMMENT: Compact build. Quick bat. Enough pop for future average power. Drives ball to all fields. Quiet approach, stays back on off speed pitches well. Average arm, on-line throws. Sure hands. Quick strides. Solid prospect

I really like Hill, but am a little surprised that the Jays passed on Sullivan to take him. Interesting.....

Sullivan threw a lot of innings in College, so maybe that was a detractor?

Do you think that Snyder will fall to the second round?

From BA:

1:24 PM ET
Blue Jays select Hill over Sullivan
The Blue Jays changed course on the morning of the draft, going away from their top choice all along Brad Sullivan because they believe they can land the college pitching they want in the following rounds. Instead the opted for a polished college bat in LSU shortstop Aaron Hill.
-- Josh Boyd

Just as Gerry said earlier.

The Indians took Synder after taking Aubrey - I like those picks. Sullivan is still out there.

Apparently JP believes there will be lots of pitching available in later rounds, according to Baseball America.

Wow, Allison is really sliding.

Oakland just took Sullivan.

Well, the A's took Sullivan and Brian Snyder. JP reportedly liked Snyder as well.

The rapid nature of the baseball draft is pretty cool, especially compared to football.

The Jays second pick will be coming up in about 15 minutes.

Damn. Those are two pretty good picks for Oakland.

Can anyone help me out? Where can I find a text listing of the picks? Sorry...

I've been picking the picks up off of Primer. Apparently the audio is back up.

Good god. Draft day is so chaotic.

I guess i've been pretty fortunate, i've had the BaseballAmerica/MLB audio feed since 12:00pm eastern, with no problems. This has to be very frustrating.

Here's the LSU stats for 2003. Hill, the SEC Player of the Year, leads the team with 44 walks and has struck out just 16 times.

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/draft/drafttracker
The entire 1st round. Apparently they are breaking and starting up again at 2.

1 Delmon Young Camirillo HS RF TB
2 Rickie Weeks Southern U. 2B MIL
3 Kyle Sleeth Wake Forest U. RHP DET
4 Tim Stauffer U. of Richmond RHP SD
5 Chris Lubanski Kennedy-Kenrick HS OF KC
6 Ryan Harvey Dunedin HS CF CUBS
7 Nick Markasis Young Harris (Ga.) JC LHP BAL
8 Paul Maholm PIT
9 John Danks Round Rock HS LHP TEX
10 Ian Stewart COL
11 Michael Aubrey CLE
12 Lastings Milledge METS
13 Aaron Hill Louisiana State U. SS TOR
14 Ryan Wagner U. of Houston RHP CIN
15 Brian Anderson U. of Arizona CF WSOX
16 Jeffery Allison FLO
17 David Murphy Baylor U. CF BOS
18 Bradley Snyder Ball State U. OF CLE
19 Jackson Conner U. of California 3B ARI
20 Chad Cordero California State U. RHP MON
21 Matthew Moses Mills Godwinn HS 3B MIN
22 David Aardsma, RP Rice SF
23 Richard Wood Horizon HS (AZ) SS ANA
24 Chad Billingsley Defiant Senior HS (OH) RHP LAD
25 Bradley Sullivan U. of Houston RHP OAK
26 Bryan Snyder Stetson U. 3B OAK
27 Eric Duncan Seton Hall Prep (NJ) 3B NYY
28 Derrick Barton Marina HS (CA) C STL
29 OF Carlos Quentin, Stanford ARZ
30 KC Mitch Maier C, Toledo

Click on the link for CBS draft tracker

Here is the first round (accuracy may not be 100%)

1. TB Delmon Young
2. MIL Rickie Weeks
3. DET Kyle Sleeth
4. SD Tim Stauffer
5. KC Chris Lubanski
6. CUBS Ryan HArvey
7. BAL Nick Markakis
8. PIT Paul Maholm
9. TEX John Danks
10. COL Ian Stewart
11. CLE Michael Aubrey
12. NYM Lastings Milledge
13. TOR Aaron Hill
14. CIN Ryan Wagner
15. CWS Brian Anderson
16. FLA Jeffrey Allison
17. BOS David Murphy
18. CLE Bradley Snyder
19. ARZ Connor Jackson
20. MON Chad Cordero
21. MIN Matt Moses
22. SF David Ardejma
23. ANA Dick Wood
24. LA Chad Billingsley
25. OAK Brad Sullivan
26. OAK Brian Snyder
27. NYY Eric Duncan
28. STL Derek Barton
29. ARZ Carlos Quentin
30. KC Mitch Maier

Gerry you home? Where'd the early report on selecting Aaron Hill come from you scoop'ster?

Hill is a solid, safe pick for the Jays. The A's really prosper with Sullivan falling all the way to them...he certainly seems to fit the profile of Oakland's power starters. If he's unable to stay at short that could dampen his value considerably but he should be a solid bat at just about any position except 1B.

The Jays haven't had the luxury of extra early picks under JP's scouting staff so I think more often then not they'll take bats early and depend on college pitching depth in the later rounds as they did last season. They didn't take big name arms last year but they did alright.

It was a guess. About a week ago I saw BA say the Jays were looking at Hill or Maholm. I also heard JP on the radio. The announcer assumed the Jays would pick a college pitcher in the first round but JP said that he might take a position player round one because many good pitchers were not round one selections. I also heard JP say he had been down south scouting and there were a lot of good players 'down there'.

Hitters are more predictable than pitchers. Most first round hitters make the majors. Pitchers are less predictable.

Elementary Watson

Not that JP is looking to give out huge signing bonus or anything, but Vince Sinisi has slipped through the 1st round. He would be an attractive 1B prospect for a team with a heavier wallet.

The Jays haven't had the luxury of extra early picks under JP's scouting staff[...]

Which is mainly due to the intransigence and perfidy of the other 29 teams, who wilfully refused to sign any of the Jays' free agents to major league contracts.

http://economics.about.com
Who represents Hill? Does anyone have any ideas how easy/difficult he'll be to sign?

I don't follow college ball at all, so I can't really add much to the discussion.

Mike

I think Hill is a 3rd or 4th year player so he wouldn't have much leverage. His signability shouldn't be an issue and knowing JP they've already talked to him to get an idea of his demands.

With their second-rounder, 50th overall, the Jays select Josh Banks, RHP, Florida International.

More on him!!!

JOSHUA BANKS FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL U RHP R/R 6'3" 195 1982-07-18 4YR 56K 300K

COMMENT: Medium build, athletic frame. Similar to Bret Saberhagen. Smooth delivery. Fastball explodes out of hand with life. Controls both sides of plate. Solid sink on split-finger. Throws three pitches for strikes.

from MLB.com

JOSHUA BANKS FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL U RHP R/R 6'3" 195 1982-07-18

COMMENT: Medium build, athletic frame. Similar to Bret Saberhagen. Smooth delivery. Fastball explodes out of hand with life. Controls both sides of plate. Solid sink on split-finger. Throws three pitches for strikes.

The MLB.com radio guys say Banks has a good slider and splitter to complement a decent fastball. Here's the FIU stats page: 114 strikeouts and 25 walks in 105.1 IP is respectable, but 12 HR might be a concern.

http://www.fiu.edu/~athletic/basestat03/teamcume.htm
Josh Banks (hit link for stats) 3.50 ERA, 105.1 innings, 114 Ks, 25 BBs, 12 HRs

He actually doesn't look much different than Maholm, except he gives up more HRs (and is a righty), but even that is only 1 HR/9 innings.

Gotch'ya Gerry. BA radio had John Manuel speaking about Hill last friday during it's mock draft, the Aaron Hill tip was in print too? --Man, there's been a lot of coverage this year. Blows away any prior years for a joke.

Ricciardi on the radio? Was that something he'd done on THEFAN590? I haven't prowled around enough. Nice job.

Find his page:
6'3" front line pitcher with an elbow problem in 2002
70 innings 84 SO 22 BB 70 hits
Both starter and closer

JP loves taking the SS in the 1st round.

Gerry, your draft guru status is tarnished just a bit by admitting it was a guess; you should have just taken bows for a year. Good call. A nod to Pistol, who had Hill on top among position players; there must have been something about Sullivan that worried everyone but Beane.

Best available player ( college only ).

I'm cheesed that MLB.com is so glitchy this morning. Anyway, here's the CBS Sportsline writeups on the Jays' selections:

Aaron Hill LSU Junior 6-0 200
Selected 2003 SEC Player of the Year by the Coaches ... Led the SEC in doubles (24) and on-base-percentage (.473) ... Named a 2003 third-team preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball magazine ... College shortstop who is expected to play 2B or 3B at the pro level ... Steady defensive player that posted a 95 percent fielding percentage in 2003 ... Has excellent power to the gaps ... Hit .371 with eight homers and 56 RBI in 2003 ... Helped lead the U.S. National Team to the silver medal at the 2002 World University Baseball Championship in Messina, Italy ... Was selected in the seventh round of the 2000 major league draft by the Anaheim Angels.

Josh Banks Florida International Junior 6-3 195
A right-hander with a strong frame whose stock is rising ... Throws his fastball consistently in the low 90s ... Mixes in a good curveball and changeup ... Great command ... Posted an 8-3 record and a 3.50 ERA in 17 appearances -- 15 starts -- this season ... Struck out 114 batters and walked just 25 in 105 1/3 innings, with opponents hitting just .232 against him ... Started the season by setting a Sun Belt conference record with 30 consecutive scoreless innings pitched ... Named to All-Sun Belt Conference first team ... Has also been used as a closer.

Indulge me a second, boys. Imagine if you will, Jerry Howarth but with his voice sounding 3 or so years older.

"Ground ball to the shortstop Adams, flip to Hill, over to Phelps at first. Call it two! Double play! The inning is over, and Jason Arnold runs off the field with high fives all around. He's pitching a whale of a game!"

How's that sound?

The line on Banks ( 70 innings and so ) is from 2002 and 2001. So is pretty regular.
Again a SS not expected to play SS!!!

Third Round, 80th overall, Jays take righty Shaun Marcum, the closer for Southwest Missouri State, a surprise team this year. Here's the stats -- he's a strikeout machine with decent control.

MLB.com comment on the 6'1", 180 pound Marcum: "Medium, athletic frame. Quick arm, proper action. Three average pitches. 3/4 slider tight, sharp break in zone, out pitch. Flashes average, 12-6 curve. Maintains arm speed with change. Stuff gives player chance."

Shaun Marcum, eh? That 1 balk is worrisome. Did he not come to a complete stop? Did he fake to first? Even worse, did he drop the ball while touching the rubber?

I don't know, JP. For a third-rounder, this kid has more questions than answers.

More Shaun Marcum sites:

Here. Also, I think I know why he wasn't drafted as a SS. Look at the form!

Another SS that does not project!
And he started as starter!

Maybe the idea behind drafting these SS's, besides SS's having to be athletic, is the fact that if you can play SS there is a good chance you can play a couple other infield positions as well.

http://economics.about.com
Maybe the idea behind drafting these SS's, besides SS's having to be athletic, is the fact that if you can play SS there is a good chance you can play a couple other infield positions as well.

Pretty much. If you look at any draft, there's always a disproportionate amount of SS's and CF's who get drafted, generally because that's where the best athletes play. Not surprisingly, those two positions (and catcher) were the positions I played least frequently in highschool. :)

Mike

Isn't it nice that so many picks go for HS catchers?
Cornell RHP and Stonard IF are still available

Jays take a college lefty in the 4th round in Kurt Isenberg.

Potential as a power arm, didn't have good performance this year but his flaws are believed to be correctable.

Fourth round, #110 overall -- Jays select Kurt Isenberg, LHP, James Madison. This one is a stretch; he's a two-way player (see stats) who didn't have a great year on the mound.

Unless he went before the Jays 4th round pick I would have liked to see them take a chance on Marc Cornell. He was thought to be a top 10 pick a month or 2 ago before having some shoulder issues. At this point I would think it'd be worth the risk (unless it's a signability issue).

Here's everything you might want to know about Isenberg.

Is there a Keith Law influence here in the pitchers selected so far
ie: high s/o to walk ratio /

Ouch. 43 K's in 62 IP? Did I just see a red flag?

Supposedly he had solid Cape Cod stats. Anyone know his numbers?

Found 'em.

Isenberg, Kurt 0/ 1 W/L, 3.03 ERA, 14 G, 3 GS, 0 SV, 35.2 IP, 36 H, 16 R, 12 ER, 9 BB 32 K

In this BA Chat, they refer to Isenberg as a possible second-rounder. So perhaps JP got a deal? Those Cape Cod numbers don't look too bad.

Ricciardi on Aaron Hill...just caught a J.P. clip on TheFan, says they see Hill/Biggio camparisons, and he & Russ Adams could be "flip flopped".

Unlike last year, with two Canadians in the top ten, there wasn't a stud from the Great White North. A couple of Canucks were chosen late in the fourth round: 6'5" RHP Brooks McNiven from UBC, and London, ON high school 3B Jamie Romak, who I haven't seen, but some of my kids know from national team tryouts.

Toronto's fifth rounder is RHP Justin James, Missouri.

5th round

Justin James RHP U of Missouri

"COMMENT: Strong athletic frame. Solid, compact build. Works fast. Throws strikes. Attacks hitters, not afraid to pitch inside. Most fastballs 88-89. Flashes quality curveball, proper velocity and rotation. Has an idea on mound. Competes."

http://economics.about.com
Hey Coach: Do you know if Brock Kjeldgaard is eligible for the draft this year? I was always more impressed with him than with Romak. I haven't seen any of these guys since they were about 15 or so, so there's been a lot of development time I haven't seen.

Mike

http://mutigers.ocsn.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/teamcume.html
Justin James - 114 innings, 4.03 ERA, 92 Ks, 26 BBs, 14 HRs

Here are the 2003 Mizzou numbers, and James' preseason bio. He's the biggest kid the Jays have taken yet; size isn't a primary concern for this organization.

Birthdates of the 5 Jay picks so far...

Aaron Hill ----- March 21, 1982
Josh Banks ----- July 18, 1982
Shaun Marcum --- December 14, 1981
Kurt Isenberg -- January 15, 1982
Justin James --- September 13, 1981

This draft is looking real similar to last year; college middle infielder in the first round followed by lots of college pitching.

Similar pattern to last year, a first round college bat followed by four straight college pitchers, including one lefty.

From Baseball Prospectus - "touring the minors"

The Pitcher is Josh Banks.

According to Baseball America, the best college prospect in Florida is a right-handed college pitcher who has a fastball in the low 90s, a splitter, changeup and hard slider. He struck out more than a batter per inning and had a strikeout/walk ratio of better than 4-to-1. You prefer strikeout pitchers and you need pitchers who can advance quickly, so this guy looks like an early pick. He's from a Division II program, but it's one of the better ones of its kind, and has a strength of schedule that ranks in the nation's top 40 percent. A more serious problem is that he developed a blister this year. It's keeping him from throwing his best secondary pitch, and you're worried that blisters tend to recur. You have to downgrade him, too.

Mike, I think Kjeldgaard is only 17. I rarely see kids from outside the GTA, unless they make the Prentice Cup (provincial high school finals at SkyDome) which happens to be next week.

MLB.com on James: "Strong athletic frame. Solid, compact build. Works fast. Throws strikes. Attacks hitters, not afraid to pitch inside. Most fastballs 88-89. Flashes quality curveball, proper velocity and rotation. Has an idea on mound. Competes."

Justin was drafted by the Red Sox out of high school two years ago in the sixth round, so he's another very reasonable pick as #5 with two more years of experience.

Man, they are flying through the sixth round, picks every 30 seconds. Jays get Christian Snavely, OF, Ohio State.

The one word I hate to see on a pitchers evaluation is "blisters"(re: Al Leiter)

Snavely is 6'2", 200 and has plenty of power. Here are the 2003 Buckeyes' stats -- 335/483/675 with 16 HR in 194 AB isn't bad. According to his OSU bio, he was a middle infielder, which projects to an athletic outfielder; team captain as a junior says something about his character.

Beckett seemed to be able to overcome his blisters, although he went down with an elbow injury. Not sure if this is from being overworked or from trying to compensate for his blister. Zach Day the same deal. He was suspended for gluing over his blister then went down with shoulder problems.

Let's hope it doesn't hold back Banks. Brad Sullivan also suffered a blister problem this year.

6th round

Daniel Core - RHP - Florida Atlantic (July 17, 1981)

Jays take RHP Daniel Core from Florida Atlantic.

COMMENT: Medium build. Round shoulders. Solid, durable pitcher. Gives you quality innings. Pitched well this year. Works fast. Good competitor. Knows how to pitch. Goes after hitters.

Is Langdon Powell still available?

I wonder what happens if a team isn't ready for their turn? They are whipping through the selections at an incredible pace. The Jays #7 is Daniel Core, RHP, Florida Atlantic University. Danny had excellent numbers this season. Another quality college arm -- any guesses when J.P. will take a high schooler?

This is the speed at which they did the whole draft last year. This year they made the change of allowing one minute between first round picks and 30 seconds between picks in rounds 2 through 5. The rest of the draft teams are just expected to pick from their draft boards.

In round eight, Toronto gets RHP Chad Mulholland, Southwest Missouri State.

I'm guessing round 11 (J.P. takes a high schooler).

Updated birthday list:

Aaron Hill ----3B/SS - March 21, 1982
Josh Banks ----RHP --- July 18, 1982
Shaun Marcum --RHP --- December 14, 1981
Kurt Isenberg -LHP --- January 15, 1982
Justin James --RHP --- September 13, 1981
Christian Snavely -LF- May 7, 1982
Daniel Core ----RHP--- July 17, 1981
Chad Mulholland -RHP-- January 14, 1982

The SMS Bears are quite a story, and Mulholland is the second pitcher the Jays have taken from the squad. His stats are very good, but we'll see if he can get Snavely out when they meet in the Super Regional next week.

Descriptions are rather similar. Maybe Keith just search for " medium build, pitches agresively..." and made his list

Round nine: Jays select 6'4" RHP James Vermilyea, New Mexico. MLB.com says, "Large, lean frame. Medium leg kick. Average arm speed through 3/4 slot. Loose, easy arm action. Fastball mostly 88-89 with plus life. Late, arm side run and sink, will break bats. Good feel for slider, sharp tilt with late bite. SL thrown in any count, solid out pitch. Solid competitor with pitchability and feel for strike zone."

Eric, Landon Powell (S. Carolina C) is still available.

9th round pick:

Jays take RHP JAMES VERMILYEA from the University of New Mexico.

COMMENT: Large, lean frame. Medium leg kick. Average arm speed through 3/4 slot. Loose, easy arm action. Fastball mostly 88-89 with plus life. Late, arm side run and sink, will break bats. Good feel for slider, sharp tilt with late bite. SL thrown in any count, solid out pitch. Solid competitor with pitchability and feel for strike zone.

Texas took Matt Farnum in the 7th round.

Here are Jamie Vermilyea's stats (well, all of the Lobos) but don't be dismayed by the 4+ ERA -- it's obvious there are some high-scoring games in the Albuquerque altitude.

I don't expect many pitchers from here on out to have eye popping stats. What's important is their tools and their makeup.

Tenth round (they hope to complete 20 today): Toronto picks tiny (5'7", 153) Missouri CF Jayce Tingler, who had the best OBP in the Cape Cod league and was almost impossible to strike out in college (48 BB, 9 K) while hitting .395 -- interesting pick!

Looks like a Jason Tyner clone. I suppose there are worse picks for a 10th rounder.

I like Tingler already. He wrote a diary on the Tigers' Web site for the 2001 and 2002 seasons, and he seems like a bright young man. If the same player (superb in walks, hits, steals, defence) came in a six-foot package, he wouldn't have fallen to the Jays, who value results over stature.

A utility man or trade bait for a team looking for a leadoff man down the road? It doesn't seem to me there is room in the OF picture for him in Toronto. He seems very likely to give the Jays some value out of the 10th round though.

If some teams like Alex Sanchez and Dave Roberts as leadoff men, there's probably a job out there for Tingler if he can prove himself in the minors.

looks like JP was reading baseball prospectus. From the same article (Touring the Minors) that gave us the Josh Banks breakdown, here is one for Jayce Tingler....

If you were a general manager and free to make 50 draft selections over the next 48 hours, would you spend one on a college senior who scored 68 runs in 58 games? Let's say this player is an outfielder who drew 48 walks, was hit by 14 pitches, and had a .525 on-base percentage. Assume he managed 19 steals, committed no errors, and registered four assists. And say he did all this against strong competition, and did nearly as well last summer using a wooden bat in the Cape Cod League. If you imagine yourself as Billy Beane or J.P. Ricciardi, and you care about performance, you might take this kid based on this data alone--but where? This player has warts: he's smaller than David Eckstein. You're worried that major league pitchers will knock the bat out of his hands. So if you take him, you don't take him high, but maybe he's someone you take a flyer on, later, thinking that at worst he would be an organizational soldier who can play an entertaining role for your minor league affiliates for a few years.

Round 11: Jays pick 6'5" RHP Tom Mastny of that noted baseball powerhouse Furman had sensational 2003 numbers. How he adapts to tougher competition remains to be seen, but this is another guy with a big upside for this late in the draft.

12th round: Toronto selects Jayson Rodriguez, RHP, Indian River C.C., about whom MLB.com says, "Slender, medium frame. Built similar to Pedro Martinez. Fair mechanics with good arm action. Solid average fastball velocity, tailing life. Challenges hitters. Moves ball around. Also throws short slider, effective pitch when down in the zone. 2-pitch guy now."

MLB.com doesn't even have Mastny on its list, let alone a scouting report.

Coach... they've added him to the list now.

Still no high schoolers.

Birthday list...

Aaron Hill ----3B/SS - March 21, 1982
Josh Banks ----RHP --- July 18, 1982
Shaun Marcum --RHP --- December 14, 1981
Kurt Isenberg -LHP --- January 15, 1982
Justin James --RHP --- September 13, 1981
Christian Snavely -LF- May 7, 1982
Daniel Core ----RHP--- July 17, 1981
Chad Mulholland -RHP-- January 14, 1982
Jamie Vermilyea -RHP-- February 10, 1982
Jayce Tingler----CF--- November 28, 1980
Tom Mastney------RHP-- February 4, 1981
Jayson Rodriguez-RHP-- May 1, 1983
Matthew Foster---LHP-- September 4, 1981

10 pitchers of 13.

Lucky #13 is LHP Matt Foster from (of all places) the Naval Academy. Check out this feature. I'm not sure what kind of service commitment he has before starting a pro baseball career, but this is evidence that the Jays are looking everywhere for talent -- I don't think a Navy player has ever been drafted.

Maintaining the military theme, #14 is RHP Jeremy Harper from Virginia Military Institute. The pickings are getting slim.

Isn't there a need of 8 position players to go with your pitcher?

I'm a little surprised at how much emphasis the Jays are placing on pitching. I realize that's their big weakness right now, but between Arnold, Thurman, and a handful of starters at A ball the Jays aren't as bad in pitching as this draft would seem to indicate. (I know, there's no such thing as a pitching prospect).

I suppose the thinking is that they have a number of OF prospects in the minors, catcher is set with Cash & Quiroz, 2B and SS are covered by the last 2 1st round picks, and Phelps & Hinske will handle the CI for the next 5 years. By throwing a ton of pitchers at the problem maybe you turn out a couple great ones.

Obviously, if the Jays have a surplus at a position JP can flip them for needs and it's hard to have too much pitching, but I just hope they're not passing up superior hitters to fix the pitching.

Listening to Tommy Lasorda announce the Dodgers picks is an amusement in itself.

http://economics.about.com
Obviously, if the Jays have a surplus at a position JP can flip them for needs and it's hard to have too much pitching, but I just hope they're not passing up superior hitters to fix the pitching.

Maybe JP and Keith have figured out that the best rounds to draft position players are in the first couple rounds and then draft pitchers until the 30th round or so. It seems to me that you tend to hear about more position players who were drafted in the 48th round and made the show rather than pitchers. We can only guess at what kind of modelling the front office has done.

Do the Jays even scout highschool players any more? It seems to me you could save yourself a whole lot of time and money by only looking at college players.

Mike

I enjoyed reading Sickel's article about the 1998 draft, partly because it exposed a concept to me that I may have overlooked: not all these guys will turn out. My immediate reaction to the picks so far was shock. Slowly yet surely, I'm finding the logic behind the moves. We have had two solid pitching drafts the past couple of years and the Jays could have two waves of pitching that go through the filter process. If we get a couple starters and a couple decent bullpen guys, is it worth it? Plus, as Pistol pointed out, a surplus of pitchers could equate into great trade bait.

Mike,

I read somewhere recently that JP told his scouts that if they wanted to scout some high school games they would have to cover the expenses themselves. I'm sure that convinces the scouts not to bother.

http://economics.about.com
I read somewhere recently that JP told his scouts that if they wanted to scout some high school games they would have to cover the expenses themselves. I'm sure that convinces the scouts not to bother.

Wow... I hadn't heard this at all. It makes sense, given current sabremetric thinking and the fact the Jays got rid of a bunch of scouts. I wonder if the Jays or A's will draft any highschool players this year?

Mike

In the 19th round, the Blue Jays draft RHP Adrian Martin out of **High School**. Don't remember which one though.

http://economics.about.com
Since Coach seems to be gone, I'll post the next three picks:

#15 VITO CHIARAVALLOTI, 1B, U RICHMOND
#16 JOSEPH REIMAN, C, GRAND CANYON U
#17 JORDY TEMPLET, RHP, U LOUISIANA

Mike

I read somewhere recently that JP told his scouts that if they wanted to scout some high school games they would have to cover the expenses themselves.

Wrong.

Vito - .306/.398/.528 34 BB/37 Ks
Reiman - .395 ave, 215 ABs, 25 2B, 5 HR, 28 BBs, 20 Ks, 13 HBP!
Templet - 4.02 ERA, 96.1 Innings, 83 Ks, 30 BBs, 5 HRs

Is that a Jason Kendall clone getting hit that much as a catcher?

Hey factman,

Don't shoot the messenger. I only said I read it somewhere. Whether or not the source was correct isn't my problem. I'm only repeating what I read by one of the Toronto writers that try to pass themselves off as journalists. Or maybe it was Gammons? I can't remember.

If you know it to be false, factman, what is the percentage of time and resources allocated to following high school players? Uninformed minds would like to know.

What I read was that JP said to only scout top level high school talent, otherwise the scouts were better off spending their time at a mall. In other words, they weren't encouraged to scour high schools looking for hidden gems.

That could have been it. I think I may have read it second hand from someone else's comments that construed it as being that way. I guess too much info leads to misinformation sometimes.

Toronto's latest picks:

18. RYAN ROBERTS, U TEXAS, 3B R/R 5'10" 190 1980-09-19
19. ADRIAN MARTIN, SOUTH FORK HS, RHP R/R 6'2" 175 1984-09-02
20. BRADLEY DEPOY, THE WOODLANDS HS, RHP R/R 6'1" 205 1984-09-14
21. MARK SOPKO, ARIZONA ST U, RHP R/R 6'0" 200 1981-12-16
22. VINCENT ESPOSITO, ST U NJ RUTGERS, 3B L/R 6'0" 195 1980-08-22
23. JERMY ACEY, SKYLINE COL, 2B S/R 5'11" 180 1981-05-24
24. NICHOLAS EVANGELISTA, U PITTSBURGH RHP, R/R 6'3" 230 1982-03-17
25. BRIAN PATRICK, DUKE U, 2B S/R 5'10" 180 1980-11-29
26. KYLE THOUSAND, U IOWA, OF R/R 0'0" 0 1980-10-02
27. BRIAN REED, U ALABAMA, RHP R/R 6'1" 205 1981-03-06
28. PATRICK BREEN, CALIFORNIA POLY ST U, OF L/L 6'3" 190
29. CHRISTOPHER NIETO, RIVERSIDE CC, LHP L/L 5'11" 225 1984-04-04
30. WILLIAM WHEELER, SOUTH SUBURBAN JC, RHP R/R 5'9" 175 1981-02-20

Apparently, Kyle Thousand has no height or weight. Which makes him very fast in the outfield but unfortunately every ball goes over his head.

Breen is an interesting pick. Very athletic, good tools, decent hitting stats. Could be a 4th outfielder with an outside chance of being more.

Toronto's latest picks:

18. RYAN ROBERTS, U TEXAS, 3B R/R 5'10" 190 1980-09-19
19. ADRIAN MARTIN, SOUTH FORK HS, RHP R/R 6'2" 175 1984-09-02
20. BRADLEY DEPOY, THE WOODLANDS HS, RHP R/R 6'1" 205 1984-09-14
21. MARK SOPKO, ARIZONA ST U, RHP R/R 6'0" 200 1981-12-16
22. VINCENT ESPOSITO, ST U NJ RUTGERS, 3B L/R 6'0" 195 1980-08-22
23. JERMY ACEY, SKYLINE COL, 2B S/R 5'11" 180 1981-05-24
24. NICHOLAS EVANGELISTA, U PITTSBURGH RHP, R/R 6'3" 230 1982-03-17
25. BRIAN PATRICK, DUKE U, 2B S/R 5'10" 180 1980-11-29
26. KYLE THOUSAND, U IOWA, OF R/R 0'0" 0 1980-10-02
27. BRIAN REED, U ALABAMA, RHP R/R 6'1" 205 1981-03-06
28. PATRICK BREEN, CALIFORNIA POLY ST U, OF L/L 6'3" 190
29. CHRISTOPHER NIETO, RIVERSIDE CC, LHP L/L 5'11" 225 1984-04-04
30. WILLIAM WHEELER, SOUTH SUBURBAN JC, RHP R/R 5'9" 175 1981-02-20

Apparently, Kyle Thousand has no height or weight. Which makes him very fast in the outfield but unfortunately every ball goes over his head.

Breen is an interesting pick. Very athletic, good tools, decent hitting stats. Could be a 4th outfielder with an outside chance of being more.

http://economics.about.com
How many of these guys do you figure the Jays will sign? How many will be draft and follows?

Out of the 50? draft picks the Jays made last year, how many were signed?

Mike

The Jays just drafted their own Spanky LaValliere in the round.

JOSEPH WOLFE U LOUISIANA C L/R 5'9" 205 1980-10-10 4YR

A 5'9 catcher. Heh.

Out of the 50? draft picks the Jays made last year, how many were signed?

BA is telling me 29 out of 50 signed with the Jays last year and none from Round 37 on.

I should edit my posts more. Re: Spanky, Wolfe was the 33rd round pick.

The Jays just re-selected 6'6" lefty Aric Van Gaalen, a guy they took in the 16th round last year but were unable to sign. Given how late he was taken this year, the Jays probably figure they don't have much of a chance to sign him this time around, either.

http://economics.about.com
Thanks for the link Spicol! It seems the Jays have a similar pattern to a lot of other teams. I checked out 5 or 6 other teams, and nobody seemed to sign more than a couple of guys after round 35 or so.

Mike

A lot of late picks are for guys that had off-years or are draft-and-follows or are very raw players with a higher ceiling than they've shown so far.

Unless they are seniors with no bargaining power, many of these players will attend (or return to) junior college or university rather than accept late round signing bonuses. Even seniors might elect to take their chances becoming free agents rather than take a minimal bonus in rounds 40 or later.

Van Gaalen must not have had a good first JuCo year so the Jays are taking a chance that he'll compromise. The Jays also took another towering Canadian pitcher late, 6'7" Paul Marlow out of high school.

Apparently, Kyle Thousand has no height or weight. Which makes him very fast in the outfield but unfortunately every ball goes over his head.

Kyle "Photon" Thousand. No mass, no dimension.

A 5'9 catcher. Heh.

You mean like 5-8 Yogi Berra? Or 5-9 Ivan Rodriguez?

You mean like 5-8 Yogi Berra? Or 5-9 Ivan Rodriguez?

It's just not that common is all.

Brock Kjeldgaard is pretty good, he will probably be drafted. There is also a catcher named Joel Collins and a pitcher named Mike Saunders for the 2004 draft. They are two very good specimens and should be drafted below the 5th round. There are also three players who largely standout for the 2005 draft. Chris Valeriote and Rob Mancini, both from Ontario are two very talented catchers. Also a left handed pitcher from Quebec named A.P. Valiquette. These are probably the few best prospects coming out of Canada in the next few years.

mike wilson should be #1draft coming out of canada in 2005 chris valeriote is also highly touted as a catcher rob mancini impressed major league scouting bureau at a fall camp in 2004 also as a catcher
canada is making big srides in baseball

http://www.mlb.com
Brock (Riley) Kjeldgaard is a great player. I follow him around the GTA and he has made wonderful strides lately with his game. An all around great player, should be drafted for sure!!

http://www.mlb.com
Brock (Riley) Kjeldgaard is a great player. I follow him around the GTA and he has made wonderful strides lately with his game. An all around great player, should be drafted for sure!!

B-rock is the man.....should have gone #1.....OVERALL

qquestion to all baseball scouts why did joel collins get drafted in the 50th round and not sooner

I don't know any specifics about Joel's case but there has been some trouble this year obtaining work visa's for foreign draftees due to tightened security in the US. Essentially any Canadians drafted may not be able to start playing pro ball until next year. There was speculation that teams would avoid drafting Canadians because of this. If he's committed to going to college teams may have considered him difficult to sign as well.

The reason why no Canadian got drafted high is because that the USA are not giving any work visas to Canadians for the rest of this fiscal year. No one can get a job in the US now.