It’s getting close to that time of year on the baseball calendar when reality starts to set in for the majority of teams that the minor league free agent they signed is going to be pitching 150 innings of 5.00 ERA ball this year, or that 38 year old defensively deficient first baseman on his eighth big league team is going to hit .240 in the four hole the rest of the way. Closer to home, that $12 million dollar pitcher you just traded for and are on the hook for two more seasons at $19 and $20 million dollars stinks. Needless to say, a distraction from the present reality focusing of future success would be welcome at this point. Yes, the First Year Player Draft is less than a month away. Our Blue Jays hold a fairly high selection this coming June along with two other selections in the first one hundred picks of the draft and are sure to use those selections on a number of players who should bolster a farm system that has been somewhat strafed this past year
Sam and Kelekin gave us great coverage of the draft this week. Today Kelekin wraps it up with his summary and his opinions on the best of the draft. We will also use this thread as the signings thread. Over to Kelekin.........
With the 2012 draft in the rear-view mirror, it’s time we examine some of the players drafted by the Blue Jays and grade the draft. There is no question that this was a top-tier draft by Toronto, taking many high ceiling players in the first three rounds.
Sam and Kelekin did a great job yesterday with their draft board. They didn't get everyone they wanted but getting two of their "wants" in a competitive draft is pretty good. They are back with their day 2 wish list. Drafting for day 2 starts at noon today. Sam and Kelekin will add capsules of some of the drafted players in the comments section as the day progresses.
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Rounds two to fifteen of the 2012 MLB Draft will take place on June 5, 2012. After what was a solid first day of drafting the Jays will look to day two of the draft to continue to add high upside talent. In past drafts, teams drafting early on day two would have likely contacted prospects to re-evaluate bonus demands, and in most cases there would have been an early rush on those prospects that had fallen due to signability. Some teams seem to have set themselves up to perhaps take a run at some of the prospects with bonus demands, but it appears as though most have blown their bonus allotments on their first pick(s). I don’t know if I have a great handle on where the Jays sit at the moment. I think all their picks so far are signable, yet I don’t know if there are any major bargains of the lot. Davis might get done below slot and maybe Stroman, but Smoral will want some money and both Nay and Gonzales will want to be paid to forgo college commitments to Arizona State and Texas respectively. In sum, I don’t think you’ll see the Jays going after any of the guys that are considered tough signs.
Bauxites sam and Kelekin have stepped in with their predictions for the draft. Thanks guys.
The first year player draft is upon us and what has taken scouts, crosscheckers, the director of amateur scouting, special assistants to the GM, and the GM months and probably years to compile, Kelekin and I have done in a couple days. In fairness, our draft board is only for the Jays’ first couple picks, while the Jays will be working off a board of hundreds of names all personally scouted by staff several times over. For example, Jays’ scout Blake Crosby was reported to have seen every one of Aaron Sanchez’s starts in his draft year. Unfortunately Kelekin and I have not seen these prospects in person, but we have done our youtube research and based a lot of our board off the various scouting reports that circulate on the Internet. We have tried to provide links to each player on our board so readers can formulate their own opinions.
The Rule Four Draft or Amateur Draft or First-Year-Player Draft is around the corner and many baseball media outlets have started to ramp up their coverage of the event. The draft is for amateur high school and college players from colleges in Canada, the U.S., and Puerto Rico. On June 4, 2012 at 8pm round one will take place. Rounds two to fifteen will take place on June 5, 2012, and rounds sixteen to forty will take place the following day on June 6, 2012. As I'm sure many here are aware, much of the change in the collective bargaining agreement between players and owners focused on changing the rules around the draft. There is now a very strict limit on the bonuses teams are allowed to offer amateur players. Teams work off a "bonus pool" for picks from rounds one to ten. This bonus pool is based on draft order and number of picks. The other change and perhaps most welcome one is the advancement of the signing deadline. The deadline which used to be in August and effectively prevented newly signed players from appearing in competitive games and tormented fans for two months of will he-won't he sign has now been moved up to July 13, 2012. Hurrah for that!
A lot of young men are going to be made awfully rich today. The Jays have yet to come to terms with 24 of their 55 June draft picks. Obviously a number of the later round picks will not sign but the Jays have a number of big fish left in the pond. Let's take a look.
The June 6-8 amateur draft fallout is already beginning. So far we've heard that about five draft picks have signed with a handful of undrafted free agents also coming to terms - although all moves have yet to be confirmed by the organization. The Vancouver Canadians' season begins on Friday (June 17) so we should be seeing a bunch of player signings (likely lower picks) become official in the coming week.
Let's keep track of the transactions in this thread:
Tyler Beede, the Blue Jays first pick of the 2011 MLB Draft.
- Update 1: Jays select OF Jacob Anderson, Chino HS, California with the 35th selection.
- Update 2: Jays select RHP Joe Musgrove, Grossmont HS, California with the 46th selection.
- Update 3: Jays select OF Dwight Smith Jr., McIntosh HS, Georgia with the 53rd selection.
- Update 4: Jays select RHP Kevin Comer, Seneca HS, New Jersey with the 57th selection.
You can follow the draft on MLB.com live by clicking here.
The draft begins tonight and for the first time it is available on TV in Canada, if you get Sportsnet One. The Jays first pick is a mystery still and we won't know who the lucky guy is until around 8pm tonight. The Bachelorette is on TV tonight too but that is a different group of guys trying to get lucky.
The mock drafts and predictions are coming hot and heavy' let's see if there is any consistency this week.
The 2011 draft is less than two weeks away and, as usual, there is no hint of who the Jays might take. The Jays first pick at number 21, then in the supplemental first round they pick at number 35 (Scott Downs); 46 (John Buck); 53 (Kevin Gregg); and 57 (Miguel Olivo). The Jays also pick twice in the second round, with another Scott Downs related pick added to their regular selection.
The mock drafts are out in force.