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On Slam! Sports' Canadian Baseball page, Bob Elliott and Mike Cormack compiled this thorough review of how Canucks fared last week in U.S. college ball. Those good-hitting pitchers from B.C., Tom Klapp and Adam Loewen, shared player-of-the-week honours. The window for the Orioles to sign Loewen, their 2002 first-round pick, is closing fast.


In his latest column in the Sun, Elliott takes his best guess about J.P.'s intentions in the upcoming draft:

The Jays, who will select 13th overall, have spent a lot of time scouting Mississippi State Bulldogs lefty Paul Maholm and Houston righty Brad Sullivan. Maholm beat the LSU Tigers 11-8 Friday in Starkville, Miss. Maholm allowed 12 hits and fanned 12. He has an earned run average of 2.53 while striking out 92 hitters in 922/3 innings and has only 33 walks. Sullivan is 6-6 with a 2.76 ERA and 142 strikeouts in 107 innings. Maholm is ranked 18th by the highly-respected Baseball America, while Sullivan is No. 21.

Of course, BA includes a lot of high schoolers on their list, and Toronto isn't interested in that kind of speculation. Ryan Wagner, Houston's dominant RH reliever, is another possible first-round selection.
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_Shane - Sunday, May 18 2003 @ 02:03 PM EDT (#102701) #
Since were talking College players, how 'bout a quick highjack and talk about a guy who went to College, Jason Arnold. Arnold was to pitch the second game of a double-header today agianst Richmond but it's raining already -- as it was yesterday, and he'll instead pitch the second game of a double-header tomorrow. Corey Thurman comes of the DL to start the first game, supposedly. This is the second scheduled start for Arnold that has been rained out since his arrival last week.

As well, in recent BaseballAmerica.com web chats and draft previews the BA crew (Manuel, Boyd) has also mentioned the Blue Jays interest in said pitcher Brad Sullivan, whom Jays scouts have "heavily scouted".

Other names Blue Jays scouts are eyeballing is first baseman Michael Aubrey (though unlikely to still be undrafted at #13) and third bagger Brian Snyder. Outfielder Matt Murton is another name that's been often mentioned over the last year as someone who both the Athletics and Blue Jays would be interested in for all the usual reasons, high OBP guy, and two very successful Cape Cod seasons. He's had a down College season but according to BA, if he's still available when Oakland picks at 25 & 26 they'll grab him.
_Bob Elliott - Sunday, May 18 2003 @ 05:13 PM EDT (#102702) #
As well, in recent BaseballAmerica.com web chats and draft previews the BA crew (Manuel, Boyd) has also mentioned the Blue Jays interest in said pitcher Brad Sullivan, whom Jays scouts have "heavily scouted".

Where do you think I got it from?
Pistol - Monday, May 19 2003 @ 12:10 AM EDT (#102703) #
From The Sporting News:

"The Blue Jays are scouting top high school talent in preparation for the amateur draft, but GM J.P. Ricciardi told one of his scouts to go to a mall rather than watch lesser high school players."

I think there'd have to be a huge difference between a HS and college player for the Jays to go with the HS player early in the draft. I'd be shocked if they took a HS'er.
_R Billie - Monday, May 19 2003 @ 02:38 AM EDT (#102704) #
Obviously the Jays aren't going to ignore prime high school talent that may have the potential of Rodriguez, Jeter, et al...but the thing is they will have heard of these players already so knowing who to scout in the high school ranks won't be an issue.

They aren't going to over-reach for a high schooler in the draft...although Alexis Rios is proving so far to be a big success, more often than not teams come up empty on such gambles. Guys like Jason Perry and Jordan DeJong typify what preferring skills to tools might produce.

Of course, I would hope they would not completely discount raw high school talent like Vince Perkins (and Rich Harden) in the later rounds. At that point, the risk/reward of high school pitchers is worth it.
robertdudek - Monday, May 19 2003 @ 09:57 AM EDT (#102705) #
Of course, Jason Perry and Jordan DeJong still have long odds against them of being quality major leaguers. Conversely, look at some of the high schooler drafted during the Ash era: Halladay, Wells, Felipe Lopez and Rios.
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