If the Jays are taking a tough sign in the first round it must mean that he was at the top of their board and that they're going to be spending money in the draft.

Here's an ESPN article on Beede: http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/columns/story?columnist=hall_brendan&id=6630530

Levi Michael still out there and may be available with the next pick which would be more palatable to me. Mahtook is still there as well, but I would think some team (TB?) will take him before the end of the round.

The compensation round is about to start and it's fast - 1 minute per pick. The Jays have 4 of the 27 picks. Here we go.

Thank goodness. Getting through the slow-as-molasses first round was painful.

Robbie Alomar, representing the Jays, announces the Jays take Jacob Anderson with the #35 pick. Info to follow.

Keith Law says the Jays pick, Jacob Anderson, HS OF, CA, is a tough sign. A quick clip makes him look similar to Shawn Green physically.

Go big or go home.

Sooo...... Is AA pulling yet another fast one on everyone else by picking a ton of next-to-impossible-to-sign guys?

Everyone expects that next year with the new CBA, compensation picks are eliminated, meaning, for the most part, each team picks once every 30 picks. However, unsigned picks are "protected", meaning if the player does not sign, you get another pick next year. Next year when? During the compensation round, after round 1, for those picks that were unsigned and need to be made up.

Today, Jays pick 21, 35, 46, 53, 57, 74, 78 and 108, etc...

Now, let's say we pick "really impossible" guys at 21, 35, 46, 53, 57, 74 and 78. With a little hard work and overspending, we sign 21 and 35, but not 46, 53 or 57. Those 3 unsigned picks (46, 53, 57) which are all compensation picks, might magically turn into picks 31, 32 and 33 next year (assuming every other teams signs all of their picks). Wishful thinking? Shrewdness? Lunacy? Would you trade picks 46, 53 and 5 in this draft for picks 31, 32 and 33 in 2012?

Well at the very least the system is getting taller... two 6'4 guys.

Well at the very least the system is getting taller... two 6'4 guys.

Nah, those are the shrimps.. Joe Musgrove at #46 is 6'5"!

Yankees just drafted Dante Bichette!

I'd take a gamble on Daniel Norris here.

pick 55 and still no Josh Bell. With their existing tough-sign choices, may not be in the cards for the Jays. They picked Dwight Smith ahead of him... and now RHP Kevin Comer for #57.

I very encouraging start to the draft for the Jays. It will be a challenge to get Beede and Comer signed. Smith Jr. was on my list of sleepers and I really like that pick. Can't complain about Anderson or Musgrove, either. Definitely not looking to cheap out.

Not that it matters a twit - but - I LOVE this draft - all these guys look like real high upside - BUT - at least three look like real difficult signs. As Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses would say, "Luvly, jubbly."

Beede's Twitter page is basically one huge Vanderbilt logo....

I'm not going to lie, I'm surprised they only took HS players on day one. I hope they get them signed quick and out on the field this season.

Beede's pitching line this season: 8-0/51 Innings/102 K's/8 Walks/ERA 0.69

He hit 95 on the gun in his final start. The Jays wouldn't have selected him if they didn't believe they could sign him.

posted this in the other thread unaware this one had been started:

Wish list for tomorrow (or at least guys who were highly ranked and still around):

Josh Bell - OF
Nick Delmonico - C
Daniel Norris - LHP
Dillon Howard - RHP
Rick Oropesa - 3B/1B
Matt Dean - 3B
Jorge Lopez - RHP
Dillon Maples - RHP

Though the way Day One went, i won't be expecting any of them. My initial gut reaction o nthe guys taken:

Beede - I like it
Anderson - meh.
Musgrove - seems intriguing
Smith - I'm a sucker for bloodlines
Comer - meh.

Scouting reports had Beede "sitting at 88-92". I'd take a hitter if that's what they're expecting. If he is hitting 95 and sitting 92-93 that sounds a lot better.

I'm fine so far with what's been done, I just hope there is another gem or two in the next days.

He's a high school guy, with a delivery like that and a body that is sure to fill out I'm sure he'll be sitting 91-94 and touching 96 97 when all is said and done.

Comer's stock was rising over the last few weeks, from what I heard. I would have taken Norris, as per my comment above, but I like the pick in comparison to the names that were coming off the board ahead of him (Austin, Boyd and Carter). From what I've read, I prefer him to Musgrove.

I wasn't sold on Anderson at first, but I like him the more I've read about him and the last high school outfielder the Jays took in the first few rounds looks to be turning into a good prospect (Marisnick, 2008, 3rd round).

I would say Musgrove is the most "boring" pick of the group, and I like Comer.  Dwight Smith...it's hard to know what to do with him.  He sounds like he'll be average in most respects, and it doesn't sound like he'd be a premium center fielder (which he likely can't even play).

Either way - 5 high school guys.  Intriguing.  Ready for round 2 tomorrow.

Kevin Comer RHP. Born August 1, 1992.

The elder statesman of our draft thus far.

Ok, having readthe above article on Comer, I'll upgrade "meh" to "I like it"

And having read this one on Beede:

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/columns/story?columnist=hall_brendan&id=6630530

I'm gonna upgrade "I like it" to "Heck yeah!"

Beyond all the natural abilities, picking the pocket of the Red Sox has got to be a big plus. I think I'd slot him in the prospect list ahead of any of the guys from last year except MAYBE Sanchez.

I don't have a problem with any of the selections -- I really don't know enough but it strikes me like a very risky pool.  If we look back in 5 years and none of them worked out, I would not be surprised.  Clearly there is a lot of upside but there is a lot of risk as well.

I'm also wondering whether it was necessary to draft some of them so high.  Most of them are considered tough to sign so there is a good chance they'd still be available today, like Bell or Norris.  Or, why not draft these two if you go for expensive and hard to sign?  I probably would have mixed in one or two safer picks (e.g. use 21 on someone who went 22-30) and hope that these guys are still available later, the safer picks are gone now.

the draft is kinda wierd so far. I might not have taken Beede at 21, but I like him better than all the other guys who went off the board before Anderson (albeit Swihart is tempting)

With the Anderson pick, I'd have loved to have gotten Hank Owens, but otherwise no one came off the board before Musgrove that I was hyped about.

And so forth. the one guy here who I'm not intrigued by is smith (bloodlines aside) and my guess is that before the Jays pick at 75, someone will come off the board that's i'd have much rather had.

BUT, despite agreeing in theory that you might have been able to wait on the "hard signs" - in practice, I don't have a lot of regret about the players we didn't take.

I don't know enough about the crop of draftees to say whether the Jays have been drafting well. But my first thought was that AA realizes that the Jays will get to pick again next year if they can't sign any of this year's draftees, so he's willing to take more risks. On last night's broadcast, Buck and Alan mentioned that the Jays have put aside lots of money to sign draft picks, so that won't be an issue. We'll see how it works out.

Goldstein at BP likes our first day.

Simon (Toronto): What do you think of the Jays' draft?

Kevin Goldstein II: First two picks in Beede and Anderson are very risky tough signs, but I like the risk and it's a great draft if they sign. I also like Dwight Smith in the first round, and Kevin Comer was a high school pitcher who was suddenly in some late first round mixes heading into the deal. Impressive haul.

From K. Law:  "Best players remaining"

1. Josh Bell, OF (ranked No. 15 overall)
2. Anthony Meo, RHP (25)
3. Andrew Susac, C (27)
4. Austin Hedges, C (31)
5. Daniel Norris, LHP (35)
6. Alex Dickerson, OF (37)
7. Charles Tilson, OF (38)
8. Nick Delmonico, C/1B (39)
9. Johnny Eierman, SS (44)
10. Josh Osich, LHP (49)

He liked Tampa's and Boston's draft, didn't mention the Jays (in that article).  I'm sure if they sign everyone, people will like the draft.  Hard to know what the bang for the buck is.  It's not always true that expensive=elite.

I'm not going to lie, I'm surprised they only took HS players on day one.

I'm a little surprised too, but it was a down year for college hitters, and really good college pitchers go early.  It's clear that they're going for upside over probability, but it takes a bit to get used to.

Here is the reaction of Beede's family/friends to being drafted::

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PoqmJa4Y06c

That's an interesting reaction from a guy who apparently was hoping to go to Boston based on the "don't pick me" letters he sent around. I'm not sure his agent will be so happy this was posted on youtube. Looks a little more optimistic for Jays now.

Via Frank Piliere:

http://sbb.scout.com/2/1077649.html

Sleepers

Jacob Anderson, OF, Chino H.S. (Calif.) | Picked By: Toronto Blue Jays

Anderson was a player I've thought very highly of since last summer, but the consensus seemed to have him somewhere later in the draft. But, it turned out there were other clubs, particularly the Toronto Blue Jays, that valued what he brings to the table. Anderson is a picture of projection, standing at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds. His right-handed swing produces massive raw power and he’s capable of driving the ball out to the middle of the park. He creates outstanding leverage and has plus bat speed. Toronto clearly is drafting with upside in mind, and they are on the right track picking a player like Anderson at 35th overall. This is potential 30 home run, above average athlete at the big league level.

I agree.  I'd imagine though he'll command Kaleb Cowart type money. 

Beede that is. 

So far, very happy with the draft because of the approach - projectable high up side guys which is what you need to win in this division & not afraid of the risk that most will fail to reach that potential - Also, with the Jays having quality talent in the upper minors & the security of a new FO , there wasn't a need to grab players who could reach the ML quickly early in the draft. Initially,with tough to sign Beede, I was thinking maybe the Jays could have grabbed Stephenson at 21 & then Beede at 35, but probably a good chance that Boston would have grabbed the local guy with their 2nd pick.Hoping the Jays select Brad Miller of Clemson later today as Aaron Hill's future replacement.  

The only thing that makes me nervous about Beede is that he is Red Sox fan.  Hopefully, he takes a cue from his high school years and wants to be challenged.

I like what AA has done.  I like the high risk/high return.  Statistically speaking, most of them are not going to make the majors(Assuming he signs all of them).   But,  if the one that makes it turns out to be grade AAA meat, that is much better.  I want a Roy Holladay, not a Danny Darwin.  I want a Roberto Alomar, not a Manny Lee.  (I know it is a bad example, because they were not drafted...but you get the drift).  The big thing is that you need to trust your player development system.  Assuming that our system is grade A, you want the athletes that have a higher ceiling and hopefully your system can help them find that ceiling.

I liked how they had Roberto Alomar involved.  When they go down to Latin America with Roberto and Jose Batista,Escobar, etc, this is only going to help get those good young hispanic players.

Last note.  I have to admit, Tampa's draft was impressive.  They are kind of like the Expos of 2011.

Here's John Sickels take the the Jays supplemental picks:

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/6/7/2211224/2011-mlb-draft-compensation-round-analysis-and-opinion


1-35) Blue Jays: Jacob Anderson, OF, Chino HS, Chino CA: Somewhat raw, but the Blue Jays are sold on his power bat from the left side of the plate. Signable away from Pepperdine here. An overdraft by about a round on my board, but the Blue Jays know more about him than I do, and his ceiling is high.

1-46) Blue Jays: Joe Musgrove, RHP, Grossmont HS, El Cajon, CA: Big 6-5 guy with 90+ sinker and strong curve, should be signable away from San Diego State in this spot. This reminds me of how the Jays picked up a bunch of high-ceiling right-handers in the draft last year. Solid choice.

1-53) Blue Jays: Dwight Smith, Jr., OF, McIntosh HS, Georgia; Pure hitter who is similar to his father but should be/could be better overall. Buyable out of Georgia Tech in this spot. I like Smith a lot and this is a great pick.

1-57) Blue Jays: Kevin Comer, RHP, Seneca HS, Tabernacle, NJ: Somewhat raw and has a Vanderbilt commitment, but low-90s fastball, promising curve, and high ceiling make him interesting gamble. I'm not wild about him, but he fits well into the Blue Jays development program.

Lylemcr, Danny Darwin is a terrible example. He pitched in the majors for 20 years. He's no HOF'er, but that's more than an acceptable return for a 1st round pick.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/darwida01.shtml
I understand your general point, though.

There is Norris!

Jays take Daniel Norris, thought to be a mid-first rounder.

When the Jays can get a guy at #74 that most expected to go in the first round (and some suggested in the top half of it), that's an excellent pick.

Andrew Susac is still on the board for #79.

Kevin Goldstein:

#BlueJays have an incredible draft if they can figure out how to sign these kids. Norris had some scouts drooling this spring. Wants $3.9M

I watched more video of Anderson, and the more I watched, the more I liked his swing.  I can see the pop (more so than for Smith Jr.), and I can definitely see him as a classic power-hitting first baseman in 5 years.   I've got dreams, dreams to remember...

Yet another HS pitcher...

I'm almost certain we're going to have the best GCL pitching staff ever

Gabryszwyski? Rzepczynski must be pissed.

I hope the Jays make efforts to sign all these HS players, but I wonder whether selecting Norris isn't a form of first round insurance in case they can't sign Beede...

Wojciechowski, Syndergaard, and Gabryszwski and with Rzepczynski

Rzep still has the highest Scrabble score at 40.

Throw in Sanchez and Stewart and you've got some rotatio....... Oh, I get it.

Third round pick is John Stilson who was rated much higher before having labrum surgery this spring.  Risky!

Gabryszwski must have lost an "e" somewhere in his family's history.  I speak Polish and I can barely pronounce his name in this form.  I believe it was originally Gabryszewski.

Love the Norris pick.

I wonder why Law thinks so highly of Tampa's draft. The quantity is great, but after the first two picks (and Harris) I wasn't particularly impressed with what they did with their plethora of picks. Of course, they may have internal budgetary limitations that affected who they could select.  The Red Sox, as usual, seem to have done quite well.

John Stilson - Love this pick - I don't  he had surgery, Doctors recommended rest.

It looks like Stilson injured his labrum but surgery wasn't necessary, yet.

Goldstein - "if the Blue Jays were any more aggressive in the draft they'd be punching someone with every pick."

I'm amused by the tweets by Beede and Norris about coming to Toronto. This is either good news or just good politics for the young players, but they don't seem adverse to signing.

Beede:

shoutout to all my #jays fans out there i really appreciate the instant support! im really honored that the jays picked me! loving #canada

Beede to singer Drake:
@youngbeedah
tyler beede

@drakkardnoir ayy man last night i was drafted by toronto your home town team! just wanted let you know your the best in the game! #canada

Beede to Norris and back:

by johnmanuelba
@youngbeedah so does this mean we are the 'Blues Brothers' now?

DanielNorris18 Daniel Norris

@DanielNorris18 jays fans be ready for me and d-no better known as the “blues brothers” 4 minutes ago via Mobile Web

Shout out to my Canadian peeps, Jays select Tom Robson in the 4th round.

As Gerry previously posted but I accidentally deleted as I was trying to delete my previous post screw ups, Delta, B.C. RHP Thomas Robson was taken at 139 by the Jays.  Here is an article from <a href-"http://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/articles/no-first-rounder-but-canada-should-impact-early-rounds/">CanadianBaseballNetwork.com</a> about Robson and other Canadians prospects from the draft.

Robson’s fastball was generally in the 88-90 mph range, touching 91, for Team Canada on its trips this spring to Florida and the Dominican Republic, though reached 93 in Arizona in March, while pitching for the Blaze. With natural development, scouts expect Robson to reach the mid-90s in time.

I am now backing away from the internet very slowly...;O

David Rawnsley:
Toronto selects the first Canadian, RHP Tom Robson from British Columbia. Inconsistent stuff but has touched 94-95 mph in the past.

Allan Simpson:
Robson is first Canadian. Was ++ vs Cuba at World JR tournament last summer, velo down this spring to 89-91.

Allan Simpson:
Robson taken by Blue Jays, who will emphasize Canadians this year because of new short-season A club in Vancouver. Jays took 9 Canadians in 2009, 7 last year, may reach double digits this year.

Gabryszwski must have lost an "e" somewhere in his family's history.  I speak Polish and I can barely pronounce his name in this form.  I believe it was originally Gabryszewski.

Total guesses here:

Gab-re-zee -wis-key?
Gab-ra-zee -wis-key?
Gab-re-zues-key?

My entry in the pool: "Gabreshevski"

That's an interesting reaction from a guy who apparently was hoping to go to Boston based on the "don't pick me" letters he sent around. I'm not sure his agent will be so happy this was posted on youtube. Looks a little more optimistic for Jays now.

I'm supposing that he wanted to go to Boston at 19 - and when they had their chance and passed, that whole "holding out for Boston" vibe kinda faded.

On a seperate point, I'm seeing more praise for Smith today than i expected. He was the one i was most "meh" about last night in looking back over the selections.

Glad to know he, too, is praise-worthy

Regarding the headline on this thread:  I hope everyone knows Who it refers to?

Our 5th round pick Andrew Chin has to undergo TJ Surgery (according to the first thing I found on google trying to find his scouting report).

Chin has already had his TJ surgery.

China fan... I dunno... Who?

:-)

Andrew Chin writeup per Baseball America:

After showing solid stuff on the showcase circuit for the last two summers, Chin was in discussion to be a top-15 rounds pick, but he had Tommy John surgery in late April. When healthy, Chin sat at 86-90 mph and touched 92 with his fastball, threw a fringe-average curveball and showed feel for a changeup. He had a deceptive delivery with a three-quarters release point and impressed talent evaluators with his ability to compete. Chin won't be able to throw for about 10-12 months, and it would be surprising if a team took him and tried to nurse him through the recovery process. He could develop into a top-flight college arm in a few years.

you know, a LOT of "organizational player" pitchers in the low minors have to be looking over their shoulder right now.

There were enough well regarded holdover guys from last year's draft to fill out 8 of 15 potential starting slots on the three short season teams(at least as starters) and now the other seven have been drafted. And then there's Cardona.

IIRC they were using tandem starters on the GCL Jays last year and that will aleviate some of the pressure, but it's pretty impressive, and of course some of these guys won't sign in time to play.

But that's still mighty impressive depth at that level.

Pure speculation ensues:

(I'm assuming Beede, Norris and Comer sign so late they don't get to play)

Vancouver:
Sanchez / Syndergaard / Murphy / Nicolino / Stilson* / Hernandez
(Hernandez until Stilson signs)

Bluefield:
Estrada / Jaye / Purdy / Musgrove / Vargas

GCL:
Cardona / Taylor / Adams / Kelly / Robson / Gabryszwski / Chin

What's gong to be interesting is figuring out how to thin the heard when it's time to move up to Lansing and Dunedin next year. Guys like Diaz, Tepera, Smith, and Lawrence are going to be under a lot of pressure to prove they deserve a slot.

oops - missed that re Chin's injury

My entry in the pool: "Gabreshevski"

How about Grabovski and say he is related to the Leafs forward?

Or how about Lebowsky, Dude, Duder or El Duderino if you're not into that whole brevity thing.

Having already had the Surgery, Chin should be ready for the 2012 short season if the Jays manage to sign him - good gamble

I love the Jay's aggressiveness with this draft, but Tinnish really needs to draft more high-ceiling hitters.

I think this speaks to a couple things:  really going with the top rated player, and not worrying about imbalances, and thinking it's easier to find hitting than pitching.  Teams are allowed to make trades and AA is more than willing to trade anyone.

I agree with the above, and there are still a lot of bats on the board.

Anyone know if historically later (5+) round bats have better turnouts than later round arms? I'm guessing it's completely random, but I'm also assuming it's tough to find guys who have electric arms in the later rounds as well, especially when one considers guys like Deck McGuire go in the first round.

We have a middle infielder sighting.  Christian Lopes, high school SS,  in the 7th round.

Last year the Blue Jays picked 10 pitchers over their first 14 selections. This year they've picked 11.

Love the Suarez pick at this point in the draft.  He was a top high school player last year who fell off a bit this year but still made the BA Top 200.  Good getting players like that this late.

It's hard to find good hitters this late but it's easy to find college hitters to fill out a roster.

Trevor Gretzky drafted by the Cubs in the 7th round.

The Star predicts that Trevor Gretzky will likely opt to play for Tony Gwynn at San Diego State University.

http://thestar.blogs.com/baseball/

All but one are high school players through 15 rounds. This really shows a lot of faith in the minor league development teams.  I like it.

We have 2 college players.  We drafted DeSclafani, the reliever out of Florida to go along with Stilson.

My entry in the pool: "Gabreshevski" That's a good attempt but now try and pronounce it without the missing second "e".

Andy Burns didn't even play this year as he transferred from Kentucky to Arizona (after two uninspiring seasons in Kentucky).  A lot of projection with him and will likely be moving to 3B. 

From ProspectWire...

John Norwood is a wiry 6’0”, 190 lb righty with plus speed and good athleticism.   His bat is not as far along as his peripheral tools, but Norwood has a chance to hit which makes him all the more intriguing to pro scouts...

I don't know any of these kids but I take it as a good sign that mlb.com has scouting videos for most of the Jays draft picks.  Not that common for the 14th round.  If they sign all of these guys.  And pitchers come on coming...

A lot of these later guys are signability fallers who aren't that likely to sign.  Dean is a Texas commitment, and Wiper is an Oregon commit.

I believe it was originally Gabryszewski.

So that would be pronounced "Gab--rye--effski", wouldn’t  it?

Perhaps some of the high end guys from last year will see some time in a warmer Lansing

Historically, most of these HS kids don't sign.  Does anyone know whether that's a matter of thousands (say 40k vs. 60k) or more hundreds of thousands? 

A good college education (e.g. Vanderbilt) costs 200-250k, so I understand why it can make sense for some of them to go to college, or at least ask for 1m+.  However, a lot of these kids are mot that academically inclined and won't get much out of college, so 100-200k should do the trick. So why do they go unsigned?  For a team like the Jays, 2m (or 10-20 picks @ 100-200k) is small money.  Are they really asking for 1m+ to buy out a 2nd rate college?

I think for all the top end high schoolers with strong commits  after Norris they'll show them $800,000 and it'll be a take it or leave it situation.  It seemed like that was the magic number last draft with people like Ehrlers and co. 

 

Those high schoolers in the first two rounds will all be look at 1m plus. 

It will be interesting to see if the possibility of "hard slotting" in the next cba changes the decision of some prep players.

A part of the approach the Jays have is to draft a lot of pitchers, with the thinking that it is much easier to trade pitching to get hitting.  Wiht the dropoff we are seeing in offense in mlb, I am wondering if it might become more difficult in the future to make such deals,  Perhaps, if this trend continues, we might see it become easier to trade for pitching, and top hitters could become a rarer commodity.

I like the approach of drafting high ceiling guys with signability or injury issues. 

Nice to get Robson - was he the top rated Canadian in the draft?

John Lott's twitter page has a link to his NP article on the Beede conference call and his assessment. Lott's reports on the major and minor league teams, on twitter and in the National Post, are by so far the best that it's a joke.

Historically, most of these HS kids don't sign.  Does anyone know whether that's a matter of thousands (say 40k vs. 60k) or more hundreds of thousands? 

A good college education (e.g. Vanderbilt) costs 200-250k, so I understand why it can make sense for some of them to go to college, or at least ask for 1m+.  However, a lot of these kids are mot that academically inclined and won't get much out of college, so 100-200k should do the trick. So why do they go unsigned?  For a team like the Jays, 2m (or 10-20 picks @ 100-200k) is small money.  Are they really asking for 1m+ to buy out a 2nd rate college?

It's fairly common for teams to include college tuition when drafting high school kids, as a way to ease that potential burden. It's something that isn't generally included as part of their listed bonus (which is usually just up-front cash)...there were several guys that we took last year whose deal included tuition, should they go back to school.

Just looked it up...only ones that I can find from last year where tuition was disclosed as part of the bonus were Kellen Sweeney (69th overall) and Shane Opitz (336th overall).

Not only is it farily common, it's required. Every high-school kid that signs has the ability to later pursue an education. MLB requires that teams set up college escrow funds for these purposes.

Klaw from his chat today:
If Anthopoulos can sign BOTH Beede and Norris, along with even one of Anderson or Comer.... that's a big draft, yes?
Klaw (2:12 PM)
Yes, but I'll say he doesn't. Norris seems like Beede insurance to me.

Great draft, let's hope they can sign most of these guys

I hope that Norris isn't Beede insurance as I'd be very excited if we could get both of them signed.  Beede looks like he has the best delivery of these guys especially since Norris appears to throw cross body a bit while Comer's arm action reminds me a bit of Jack Morris, and I haven't seen any pitcher other than Morris succeed with that arm angle, but I have to say that they all still sound like the sort of intriguing high-ceiling prospects that AA and Tanish promised to target. 

I am also very hopeful that the Jays somehow sign Christian Lopes and Matt Dean who look like two of our most exciting position prospects.  John Norwood also sounds intriguing but I know very little about him and I couldn't find any video on him. 

I'm also very intrigued by the fact that the Jays once again drafted Eric Arce who was a highly thought of prospect before some legal issues derailed his college career (I don't remember the details but I don't think he played for any school this year).  Here is a scouting report on him from 2010
http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/2010/02/20/mlb-draft-notebook-excerpt-eric-arce/

Toronto is making some enemies in the college world. After annoying the U of San Diego with nabbing key players from its draft class, Toronto took three of Vanderbilt's key recruits: Beede, Comer, and Norwood.

Vandy shouldn`t complain, they just saw 11 players drafted.  They`ve done okay in recruiting.

'"Toronto is making some enemies in the college world. After annoying the U of San Diego with nabbing key players from its draft class, Toronto took three of Vanderbilt's key recruits: Beede, Comer, and Norwood."   :(   Pity poor them.

Very, very interesting draft!! WOW, WOW, WOW.

Step 2 is going to require great negotiating skills.

I would say AA has put his unique stamp on this team.

Jays just drafted Jake Eliopolous in the 43rd round. Got drafted in the 2nd round by the Jays in 2009 and the 15th round by the Dodgers last year. Once the Jays sit down with Beede et al., Elioplous' name better come up as the cautionary tale.

Wow. Wonder if Jake Eliopolous has a good solid degree in something that pays a ton of money. To go from 2nd to 15th to 43rd round says something and it isn't a nice something.

Still, it would be nice to sign him and see if he develops. He should also be a reminder to the Jays that guys don't always develop as hoped thus be careful about handing out multi-million dollar bonuses.

Guys usually don't develop as hoped.

Even when these things work out eventually, they don't necessarily do so for the benefit of the club which drafted the player (see, for instance, Chris Carpenter, Randy Johnson...).

Eliopolous case won't affect Beede at all - Those guys are cocky & don't believe they will fail. Jays had to get permission from Eliopolous to redraft him, so I would envision him signing this time .

John Farrell and Don Wakamatsu have both had their kids selected in the supplemental nepotism rounds, but more interesting to me is that we drafted the son of Chuck LaMar. 

The Jays drafted LSU brothers Aaron (freshman RHP) and Austin Nola (jr. SS) in the 22nd and 31st rounds. They had indicated a preference to play together.

Lawrie's hand is broken.  Fortunately, it's a non-displaced fracture, and he doesn't need a cast.  Will be out another 2-3 weeks.  Won't be with the Jays until after the all-star break.  From the Fan 590.

From Baseball Newshound:

Toronto Blue Jays (Tyler Beede (21), Jacob Anderson (35), Joe Musgrove (46), Dwight Smith (53), Kevin Comer (57)):

With their first five picks in the books, The Blue Jays look like one of (or the) this draft’s biggest disappointments. Outside of Dwight Smith at 53 (who isn’t a great fit for the club anyway), their picks were all stretches. Making matters worse, the Blue Jays don’t seem to be simply passing on a stocked draft class in order to save money. Tyler Beede  and Jacob Anderson have commitments to Vanderbilt and Pepperdine and both will be difficult signs with expensive price tags. Despite their unexciting profiles, Musgrove, Smith and Comer all have plenty of negotiating leverage as well, and each will demand big money.

While Beede is a solid high school righty out of Massachusetts with good command and a nice delivery, he doesn’t offer the upside that Meyer, Stephensen, Purke, Ross, Owens and a handful of other pitchers available at the time do. Even if the Blue Jays do drop the signing bonus to lure him away fro his commitment to Vanderbilt’s lauded program, it would be a stretch to call this pick a good one.

Musgrove and Comer could be future bullpen guys or backend starters but probably nothing more, while Dwight Smith is a bat-only prospect. Anderson has plenty of upside, but he wasn’t even the best first baseman left on the board.

Klaw from his chat today: If Anthopoulos can sign BOTH Beede and Norris, along with even one of Anderson or Comer.... that's a big draft, yes? Klaw (2:12 PM) Yes, but I'll say he doesn't. Norris seems like Beede insurance to me.

And of course Keith has had such incredible insight into the Jays' strategy! (Not that Gwynn is suggesting that). His claim (replicating others) that Toronto would take a mid-level college infielder could hardly have been more off the mark.

AA is playing catchup. He inherited an organization with a non-competitive major league team and a bottom-ranked minor league system. Moreover, well-managed teams like Boston and TB had been preparing for this talent laden draft so that Boston had 4 picks in the top 40 (which AA couldn't match) and TB had 80 of the first 70 picks. AA meanwhile, would have Overbay leaving who wouldn't garner a pick, Frasor who wouldn't leave, Hill who wouldn't get a pick if his option went unexercised, and only Downs to gain an extra pick. In a short time AA garnered additional picks through the Buck, Olivo, and Gregg signings along with the one from Downs' departure. Meanwhile he netted Escobar through the Gonzalez signing. That's a lot of pick/talent acquisition in a brief time, and I assume he did it all with the 2011 draft in mind - a strategy we had not seen here for years. He's continued that this offseason with the Rauch, Dotel, and Francisco acquisitions.

Moreover, not only did the organization spend heavily in the 2010 draft, AA has identified his failure to do work on Aroldis Chapman (for whom Rogers would have needed to pay more than $30 million) as a failure. If it was a money issue, I'm sure he would have noted that the price was too high.

The FO knows that they can't buy championships with free agents or taking other teams' unaffordable players like Arod or Adrian Gonzalez. LIke TB, they have to acquire in the draft, though unlike TB the owners here are willing to pay to keep players and to pay foreign, non-draft talent like Hechevarria.

I doubt very much that AA obtained draft picks to simply use players like Norris, who is reported to want $4million, as insurance. I strongly suspect that Law simply read that speculation elsewhere on the internet.

Keith Law is a good entrepreneur. With no real talent assessment background, and armed with rumours, he gets some people to pay insider fees or use their parents' credit cards to do so. His conjecture and rhetoric are interesting if not informative. But if you want insight into the thinking of the Blue Jays' front office, you'd be no worse off talking to the cat.

I wouldn't read too much into newshound... never heard of the site until now. You don't have to have any knowledge to make comments like that. One Baseball America writer said the Jays draft had a chance to be "epic." Assuming, of course, they can get some of these guys signed.  You can't call a draft that grabs a high number of top talents a disappointment in any way shape or form. I am in awe of the nice job that the front office did with this draft. The hard part is signing people, now.

This is the kind of draft where we have to trust AA's army of scouts, and if they're right this draft may very well turn out to be a great one.....and if they're wrong, at least I'm glad that they're trying instead of signing a bunch of mid level college guys

I wouldn't read too much into newshound... never heard of the site until now. You don't have to have any knowledge to make comments like that. One Baseball America writer said the Jays draft had a chance to be "epic."

Exactly. I enjoy Keith Law a lot, but he has sounded a little to pessimistic, actually, Kevin Goldstein has been as well about the chances of signing many of the picks. Be very interesting to see what AA can do, or what he has planned.

In a short time AA garnered additional picks through the Buck, Olivo, and Gregg signings along with the one from Downs' departure. Meanwhile he netted Escobar through the Gonzalez signing. That's a lot of pick/talent acquisition in a brief time, and I assume he did it all with the 2011 draft in mind - a strategy we had not seen here for years. He's continued that this offseason with the Rauch, Dotel, and Francisco acquisitions.

I'm becoming less and less confident that Rauch, Dotel and Francisco will return that many picks. Are their 2010 performances good enough to keep in the B range?

The effect of a well-written post is ruined when it's filled with hyperbole. To suggest that JP Ricciardi's Blue Jays were non-competitive is ridiculous.

So, just from my limited reading, these are the guys that seem interesting. the first 12 listed according to their rank in the BA top 200 (which landing 12 of those is pretty good in itself)

#16 - D. Norris
#23 - J. Stilson
#35 - T. Beede
#49 - D. Smith, Jr.
#54 - M. Dean
#81 - J. Musgrove
#102 - K. Comer
#155 A. Suarez
#157 - J. Anderson
#122 - C. Wiper
#196 - R. Prigitano

Considering that pick 122 was the first pick in the third round and the Jays had 7 of those picks, getting 11 out the top 122 is on paper at least, impressive.


I've heard good things about Biggs, Robson, DeSclafani, Atkinson and Gabryszwski

Are there others that are significant sleepers I'm not aware of?
 

TamRa:

Lopes has been showcased for years but just hasn't necessarily put it all together.  He has upside if he can so he's an interesting pick. 

Andy Burns is interesting as he did not play at all this year and the question is how much he progressed without playing the game. 

If I had to say one that is extremely interesting that you didn't mention, it is Taylor Cole.  I read about him after the pick and he was drafted twice, falling due to signability issues despite huge talent.  He went and did his 2 year mormon mission (in Toronto) and then returned to baseball this year and put up solid (but unspectacular) numbers.

My shadow 1st round picks the last two years would have been Zach Cox and Kolten Wong (although you could easily have talked me into Swihart).  For a long time, I have held the view that it is important to have a balance between pitching and position player prospects within an organization (and that the ideal proportion is roughly 40-60), but the Marcum-Lawrie deal illustrates that there are several different ways than one can work things.

Just read this off of MLB.com regarding the Jays draft. Don't think I've read a more factually incorrect sentence in my life:

• Three of the first four picks Toronto made on Wednesday in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft were college position players, including shortstop Austin Nola, who was the team's first selection of the day in the 31st round.

Wow. Really makes you appreciate the great work you all do for Battersbox for free. Someone was paid to write that above sentence.

Wednesday's portion of the draft was rounds 31-50. And from checking, the Jays took college position players in rounds 31, 32 and 34 (along with a college pitcher in round 33.) There appears to be nothing incorrect about that sentence.

I'll be pulling for Eric Arce ,a prospect who got screwed out of his college opportunity because Florida police caught him making out with his underage girlfriend - I don't think that I could have survived growing up in the south - He's 5'9" , so I'm thinking the jays might try him at catcher

I must have read it as Wednesday being the first day of the draft. :)

To suggest that JP Ricciardi's Blue Jays were non-competitive is ridiculous

Except that they never were competitive, unless you define competitive as a longshot contender that never played meaningful late-season baseball during his tenure.

Looks like it could be awhile for the big prospects to sign or MLB approvesthe contracts...Jays already signing two pitching free agents, Ian Kadish from Marshall U & Brandon Kaye from UBC (Paul D mentioned this in another thread)

TamRa - Andrew Chin,the Nola brothers, Cody Glenn, Jerrick Suiter

I'll be pulling for Eric Arce ,a prospect who got screwed out of his college opportunity because Florida police caught him making out with his underage girlfriend.

Arce had other issues and was not screwed out of his college opportunity. He did get a scholarship to Florida State and played a few games before leaving the team for academic reasons. Interesting power lefty bat. OF-DH Nico Taylor is another college longshot who lost playing time. Recruited by Arizona (same 08 class as Gose) but never played; transferred to Texas State and had 7ABs in 2010. This year he transferred again, to a NAIA program, and put up great power-speed numbers.

According to Baseball America editor Matt Eddy, Blue Jays draft pick Joe Musgrove (46th overall) is the first draftee to sign:

http://twitter.com/#!/eddymk

Other interesting players from the draft not mentioned:

John Norwood: a Vanderbilt signee, is the latest prospect to come out of Seton Hall Prep, the alma mater of Rick Porcello and Eric Duncan. An outfielder with plus speed, Norwood is an average hitter with below-average power. He's a solid defender and some teams think he'll stick in center field, while others don't think his speed translates.

Eric Arce: the bat is still rated very highly and has shown up on a couple top 200 prospect lists for the 2011 draft

Derrick Loveless is a 2011 OF/ with a 6-2 210 lb. frame from Solon, IA who attends Solon. Well built athletic OF with lean present strength. Good athleticism defensively with fluid movements, very strong arm. Good pullside power, has continued to improve at the plate and should continue to develop into a very good hitter. Quick hip rotation, hard line drive contact, in-game line drive registered at 95 off the bat. Runs well, interesting all-around ballplayer who has a chance to become a dangerous hitter. Good student, committed to Iowa. PG Grade: 9.5

Luke Weaver is a 2011 RHP with a 6-2 167 lb. frame from Deland, FL who attends Deland HS. Slender athletic build, projects very well. Slow paced leg raise delivery, long loose arm action, 3/4's release point, repeats delivery well. 88-92 mph fastball, maintains FB velo and pitches to spots, occasional arm side run. Change up is potential plus pitch, very good arm speed and late sink, soft curveball has sweeping break. Throws strikes with all 3 pitches. More strength, development of breaking ball could mean something special. Good student, verbal commitment to Central Florida. PG Grade: 10(this scouting report is from 2010 though so his present value might not be as high)

Joel Seddon is the top high school prospect from Michigan with high 80's heat and projects for more heat because he's only 170 right now, shows a good curveball occasionally, scouts think he might be better off going to South Carolina instead of turning pro

John Berti is rated around 300 at PG and although Baseball America doesn't rate passed 200, in the ohio state report, it makes it seem like he just missed the top 250 or so. Small middle infielder who is a very good hitter with above average speed, very little power and probably moves off SS to 2B long term

Aaron Garza is an incredibly projectable 6'4 righty from Texas, he has easy arm action and is very athletic but his current stuff is fringy and scouts think he'd be better off attending Houston

David Rollins is a JUCO lefty with a good three pitch mix which includes a nice change up, this is his third year being drafted.

I also remember reading that Leslie Williams and Nico Taylor were also interesting.

Lopes has been showcased for years but just hasn't necessarily put it all together.  He has upside if he can so he's an interesting pick. 


I actually was supposed to mention Lopes, he was among those listed on the BA Top 200 - I just skipped over him.

#16 - D. Norris
#23 - J. Stilson
#35 - T. Beede
#49 - D. Smith, Jr.
#54 - M. Dean
#81 - J. Musgrove
#102 - K. Comer
#155 A. Suarez
#157 - J. Anderson
#122 - C. Wiper
#180 C. Lopes
#196 - R. Prigitano


the Cole story is interesting and definitely put him on my watch list.

Some other players to watch if you're using BA rankings... entering the 2011 season these players were ranked among BA's Top 100 college and Top 100 prep draftable prospects and fell in the draft for various reasons and could be considered sleepers:

Thomas Robson,
Anthony DeSclafani,
Andy Burns,
Cody Glenn,
Aaron Nola,
Austin Nola,
Jerrick Suiter,
Johnny Coy

Just for the "Why the F**k Not" of it I've decided to compare our 2010 draft to our 2011 draft - draft position by draft position...

1ST ROUND: 2011 Tyler Beede RHP, HS - 2010 Deck McGuire RHP, UNI. COMMENTS: Both are RHPers. Beede is much more of a fair comparison to Sanchez and Syndergaard than to Deck. Tyler has more "potential" in his toenails than Deck has in his whole body - no offense to Deck (well not much). Deck has proven to be a fly ball pitcher and I just don't see him as having a real shot in the AL East. Tyler could be - like both Sanchez and Syndergaard - a number 1 or 2 starter on a contender if it all comes together. CONCLUSION: Beede over Deck in a landslide.

1st ROUND SUPPLEMENTAL: 2011 Jacob Anderson RF/1ST HS - 2010 Aaron Sanchez RHP, HS. COMMENTS: Anderson is a serious helium power hitter! Sanchez is a serious helium power pitcher. Anderson cannot - at this point - hit off-speed stuff. There is no guarantee he ever will. Obviously - our scouts must think he will be able to. But the results to date are not there. He is however, an excellent athlete. He seems to be to be best compared to Marcus Knecht last years 3rd Round Supplemental pick. OF those two I VASTLY prefer Knecht. CONCLUSION: Obviously, I vastly prefer Sanchez.

1ST ROUND SUPPLEMENTAL: 2011 Joe Musgrove RHP, HS - 2010 Noah Syndergaard RHP, HS. COMMENTS: Finally - an apple to apples comparison. Two big HS,  RHPers - both with very good upside. Joe is 6' 5" 225  pounds. He has just this spring started to show serious heat (on occasion) hitting 97-98 mph. He's played offensive and defensive line in HS football so is as tough as nails.  Syndergaard stated to show upper 90's fastball this spring. CONCLUSION: Both look REALLY good - I give Noah a slight lead (mostly because he's actually shown stuff at the pro level).

1ST ROUND SUPPLEMENTAL: 2011 Dwight Smith Jr., OFer, HS, - 2010 Asher Wojciechowski RHP, UNI. COMMENTS: Dwight is an average sized CFer - who might have to move to a corner in the Pros. He has the arm for a corner. OK speed - but not a burner. Excellent hit tool. Average power (15 to 20 homers). Asher is a gie-hu-mongus former closer being tried as a starter. I think Asher will end up in the Pen as a closer. A GOOD closer. CONCLUSION: I'm torn. We've SO MANY great OFers in the system that I can't see Smith making it past almost any of them. However, Smith's upside - to me - is our present CFer Davis, with better pitch recognition but quite a bit less speed. Asher - to me - is a bit too much of a fly ball guy to really excel.  I give Asher the win over Smith.

1ST ROUND SUPPLEMENTAL: 2011 Kevin Comer, RHP, HS - 2010 No Supplemental Pick here to match Kevin to. COMMENTS: Kevin is a big 6' 4" 210 pounder. He's only thrown 14 innings this spring! Not much to go on. Easy low 90's fastball and great 12-6 curve. Like Beede could be a tough signee. CONCLUSION: Comer in a landslide! Seriously - this is a scouts pick - I think he's got some up-side.

2ND ROUND: 2011 Daniel Norris LHP, HS - 2010 Griffin Murphy LHP, HS. COMMENTS: Another apples to apples comparison in more ways than one. Both were considered by many to be the best HS lefties in their respective drafts. That's where the comparisons end. CONCLUSION: Daniel Norris can hit 96 - 93 easily. He's got great make-up, stuff and passion. He's got lots of room for more. Clearly Norris has a MUCH HIGHER upside than Griffin. In fact Norris is probably the best pitching prospect the Jays have drafted in either the 2010 or 2011 drafts. A huge coup - IF we sign him.

2ND ROUND: 2011 Jeremy Gabryszwski RHP, HS - 2010 Kellen Sweeney 3RD, HS. COMMENTS: Kellen is a good looking - but not helium - 3rd base prospect we got for hot having signed Jake Eliopoulos in 2009 (We took Jake again this year in the 43rd round). Jeremy is a 6' 4", 205 pound, RHPer who hits 94 - but not steadily. He's got a pin in his pitching elbow - not a good sign - but the FB, combined with his plus slider and average changeup combines to make him an interesting guy. CONCLUSION: While I like Sweeney I prefer Jeremy. I'm praying for a Gabryszwski, Wojciechowski, Rzepczynski, Syndergaard rotation. That would be so very, very cool!

2ND ROUND: 2011 No third 2nd rounder this year - 2010 Justin Nicolino, LHP, HS. COMMENTS: Justin seems like a good - maybe even better than that - LHPer who profiles to have a serious shot at making the show. Lefties - you can't kill them with a spike through their hearts. CONCLUSION: I see Justin as having a serious shot in the pen. On many other teams he'd have a serious shot at the rotation.

3RD ROUND: 2011 John Stilson RHP, UNI - 2010 Christopher Hawkins 3RD, HS. COMMENTS: Hawkins has a shot to make the bigs. Stilson has a shot at shoulder surgery. Likely - soon. The 6' 3", 195 pound Stilson - had he not hurt his shoulder - would have been a top projected to be a No. 2 or No. 3 starter. However, he has a funky throwing delivery which doesn't seem to stop him throwing strikes. CONCLUSION: Stilson - IF we get him healthy - IF we can smooth out his delivery - looks to have very serious upside. I like Hawkins (my wife's mother maiden name - so what's not to like) but I've very excited about Stilson. A clear Stilson victory.

3RD ROUND SUPPLEMENTAL: 2011 None - 2010 Marcus Knecht, OF, JC. COMMENTS: Marcus is turning into a BEAST!  Had I been comparing him to either of the two position players selected above (Anderson and Smith) I'd give Marcus the victory by a wide margin. CONSLUSION: Excellent corner outfielders: Snider, Thames, Sierra, Loewen, and Crouse are all going to have a hard time keeping Marcus out of the Show. I don't think they will - Marcus is a soon to be big leaguer - you heard it here first.

4TH ROUND: 2011 Thomas Robson RHP, HS - 2010 Sam Dyson RHP, UNI. COMMENTS: Robson is a 6' 4" 205 pound Canadian from BC who can "touch" 93 with his fastball. Because he's played on Canada's Junior National team he's quite polished for a HS kid. He's beat Cuba and pitched against the Blue Jays in Spring Training. Dyson - named after the Dyson Vacuum Cleaner, because he sucks - BAD JOKE ALERT!!! Dyson has been injured and not played yet - so while he came highly regarded - It would be nice to actually see him with a ball in his hand.  CONCLUSION: Sorry fellow Canucks - I gotta go with Dyson - even sight unseen. I agree with KLaw that Robson has looked slow with his fastball and stiff with his delivery this year. I think this is an over reach by the Jays - more a pick on Robson's Resume than on his actual projection.

5TH ROUND: 2011 Andrew Chin LHP, HS - 2010 Dickie Joe Thon SS, HS. COMMENTS: Both need their medical records entered into evidence. Thon hasn't played yet and Chin has just had TJ surgery - peachy. Before his surgery Chin was projected to be a very hard sign with a 92 mph fastball, a fringe curve and a "feel" for a changeup. He apparently is a "competitor." CONCLUSION: The best that can be said about Chin is that IF we sign him he should be ready to start playing about the time the 2012 Short Season teams get onto the field. I call this a slight advantage Thon.

That's enough for now - I'm pooped. I'll get back to this later today or tomorrow. Interesting that so far it's pretty close - in 2010 we had two VERY SERIOUS HS pitchers in Sanchez, and Syndergaard and this year we've two VERY SERIOUS HS pitchers in Beede and Norris. I give the 2011 pair a slight lead over the very wonderful 2010 pair. But it's close. Overall - so far - I give the 2010 group of Sanchez, Syndergaard, Knecht, Dyson and Thon a slight lead over their 2011 comparisons of Beede, Morris, Stilson, Anderson and Musgrove. BUT - IT'S CLOSE. Two very, very drafts - so far.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/06/blue-jays-sign-joe-musgrove.html

Looks like Musgrove has signed.  One...

 

 

Jays ave signed their 3rd non drafted free agent SS Chris Peters out of University of Cincinnati

anyone else notice that when AA was talking about last years crop on the Fan he mentioned they had clocked Syndergaard at 98 this spring...?

It's actually been mentioned a couple times by AA in interviews, I remember when he was in the booth a month ago and said Syndergaard was sitting 95-96 and hitting 98

@TamRa: Here are the Jays picks that wound up on the final pre-draft BA Top 200 (13 in all) with where they ranked (DSS = DiamondScape Scouting [http://www.diamondscapescouting.com/] Top 300 rank):

#16. Daniel Norris   LHP   (DSS: #7)
#23. [pre-shoulder injury] John Stilson   RHP   (DSS [post-shoulder injury]: #101)
#35. Tyler Beede   RHP   (DSS: #31)
#49. Dwight Smith Jr.   OF   (DSS: #53)
#54. Matt Dean   3B   (DSS: #56)
#90. Joe Musgrove   RHP   (DSS: #69)...Signed...Cha-Ching!
#102. Kevin Comer   RHP   (DSS: #40)
#155. Andrew Suarez   LHP   (DSS: #169)
#157. Jacob Anderson   OF   (DSS: #93)
#163. Aaron Nola   RHP   (DSS: #224)
#180. Christian Lopes   SS   (DSS: #160)
#192. Cole Wiper   RHP   (DSS: #110)
#196. Richard Prigatano   1B   (DSS: NR)

Players who did not show up on final pre-draft BA Top 200, but made it onto the DSS Top 300 List and their rankings:

#115. Austin Nola   SS
#128. Jerrick Suiter   RHP
#207. Cody Glenn   LHP
#219. Anthony DeSclafani   RHP
#229. Tom Robson   RHP   (Interestingly enough: ranked #101 by John Sickels)
#260. Andy Burns   SS
#283. Andrew Chin   LHP

Nabbing 13 of the BA top 200 means that 187 of them were left for the other 29 teams, which means the average MLB team picked 6 and a halfish of these guys. That means if the Jays manage to sign only 7 (hoping for more), they will have signed as many players on that top 200 as the average MLB team drafted. Add in the seven others from the DSS top 300 and you definitely have the potential for an "epic" draft, and one is already in the system with the signing of Musgrove.

Jays signed NDFA catcher Chris Schaeffer out of North Carolina State

28 round pick Jorge Vega-Rosado plans to sign this weekend, Vega-Rosado who goes by the name Chino Vega was offered $200,000 to sign.

"Toronto's offer was so generous that Vega-Rosado plans to sign a professional contract in Clearwater on Saturday and attend a four-day camp there before flying to Vancouver to finish off the Jays' short-A season. "

Jays signed another NDFA right hand pitcher Tucker Jensen from Embry-Riddle University

Jensen: grandson of  Jackie Jensen,  1958 AL MVP with the Red Sox and one of the best all-around  players of the  50s.

38 round pick Nico Taylor signs ...  no terms mentioned

Joel Seddon, the Jays' 20th round selection and a USC recruit, has already turned down $1MM from the team, according to Bob Elliot. There's still time left on the clock though -- he might still come around.