Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
Spencer Fordin of MLB.com has posted an excellent review of the Blue Jays' draft this week. They used 64 percent of their picks on pitchers, and 86 percent on players with at least some college experience -- only seven high-schoolers were tabbed. Toronto selected just two Canadians; they had chosen Aric Van Gaalen, a 6'6" lefty from Edmonton, 16th in 2002, and after a year of junior college, took him again this year, but in the 37th round. Paul Marlow, a 6'7" righty from B.C., is another draft-and-follow candidate as a 46th-rounder.

Also from the Official Site, Fordin talked with J.P. Ricciardi about first-rounder Aaron Hill. Asked about drafting a SS in the first round for two straight years, the GM certainly didn't consider it a problem:

"For all you guys that saw Russ Adams in the spring, the feedback that I got was you liked him. I think you'll really, really like this guy," Ricciardi said to the media. "We'll keep playing both of them at shortstop. If some day they have to play together, one of them flips over. It gives us two real good athletic guys that are going to be offensive players and fit into our philosophy."


Hill, it turns out, has already played in SkyDome back in high school, and seems delighted to be on the verge of joining the organization. It doesn't sound like there will be any problem signing him, but for now, the LSU star, Player of the Year in the SEC, probably the NCAA's best conference, is more concerned with this weekend's Super Regional and the College World Series in Omaha.

Here is the complete list of Toronto's picks, featuring brief scouting reports on many of the players, and even some interesting video clips of selected individuals, including Hill and #2 pick Josh Banks, a pitcher quite similar to Jason Arnold.

For an event that isn't televised, even on one of the obscure cable networks, there sure is a lot of interest in the first day of the baseball draft. The MLB servers were overwhelmed by demand for the live audio and video feeds, and crashed early in the proceedings. Baseballamerica.com also had its busiest day of the year by far, and was down at one point. Both sites recovered in time to provide excellent coverage. The draft discussion on Primer had more than 500 comments, and Batter's Box drew well over 100 in our team-specific thread, with a record number of hits for one day (over 1,500) pushing us past the 80,000 mark. We hope to bring you more insight into the draft process, the Jays' selections, the farm system and a wide range of other topics in an upcoming exclusive interview with Keith Law. Stay tuned.

Reviewing the Draft | 12 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Gitz - Thursday, June 05 2003 @ 04:30 PM EDT (#100765) #
Coach, I'm guessing the Web site is still having problems. Given the number of comments on the other draft day thread, it seems unlikely Toronto fans have had nothing to say in the three hours since you posted the Fordin link.
_Ken - Thursday, June 05 2003 @ 05:09 PM EDT (#100766) #
just to say, i was reading the thread all day. Interesting note from Jim Callis of BA on his draft chat. He says the draft is very similar to last years except that Hill has a bit more than Adams. He is positive about the college arms the jays picked.

BA seems to think the jays 5th rounder is a real steal, i've read about him on BA(James i think is his name, off the top of my head)and each time they have been really high on him.

I can't wait to see what they do with all these arms, there's going to be a huge wave running through the pitching ranks of the system in the next 12 months.
_Brent - Thursday, June 05 2003 @ 06:27 PM EDT (#100767) #
The most intriguing pick in my opinion is third-rounder Shaun Marcum. He's only thrown 113 innings the past 3 years and posted an amazing 41/4 K/BB ratio in 28 IP this year. I wonder if they might turn him into a starter, ala David Bush?
_Eric C - Thursday, June 05 2003 @ 06:28 PM EDT (#100768) #
This draft is really looking more and more similar to last year's draft. Could it be:

Hill = Adams - College shortstops without flashy defense, although Hill is projected to hit for more power.
Banks = Bush - Banks didn't have the relief expereince of Bush, but two right handers with good stuff.
Isenberg = Maureau - Two lefties again with good stuff, although Maureau had a higher track record.
James = Pleiness - Different pitchers, but could be 5th round steals. Pleiness has done nothing but get batters out as a pro, and is probably a steal for the 5th round.
Snavely = Perry - College outfielders that suffered injuries in their last year to drop their draft status a litte.
_Eric C - Thursday, June 05 2003 @ 06:29 PM EDT (#100769) #
Better track record I meant for Maureau. (Higher track record??!)
Pistol - Thursday, June 05 2003 @ 07:55 PM EDT (#100770) #
A week or 2 ago I took a look at the players drafted last year to see where they are & how they are doing. In a 50 round draft I only found 15 players on one of the Jays minor league teams - and this was considered the best draft by Baseball America. After the 6th round it really looks hit or miss.

Round Team Batters Pos AVG OBP SLG
1 Dun Adams, Russ SS 0.283 0.382 0.404
6 Dun Perry, Jason OF 0.320 0.374 0.448
11 Char Waugh, Jason OF 0.209 0.262 0.295
13 Char Schneider, John C 0.202 0.324 0.258
19 Char Hassey, Brad SS 0.206 0.314 0.275
22 Dun Rico, Erik OF 0.286 0.324 0.286
25 Char Zinsman, Zeph 1B 0.222 0.273 0.29
34 Char Owens, Justin OF 0.265 0.379 0.349
36 Char Dragicevich, Scott SS 0.240 0.304 0.326

Round Team Pitchers ERA G GS IP - - - - - K/9 BB/9 HR/9
2 Dun Bush, David 3.29 12 12 63 - - - - - - 8.1 1.1 0.7
3 Dun Maureau, Justin 3.74 11 3 21.2 - - - 7.2 5.1 0.0
4 Char Peterson, Adam 2.19 10 0 24.2 - - - 7.1 4.8 0.4
5 Dun Pleiness, Chad 2.63 12 12 65 - - - - - - 7.2 3.7 0.6
18 Dun DeJong, Jordan 2.39 25 0 26.1 - - - 9.3 5.2 0.7
35 Dun Torres, Andy 3.06 15 0 35.1 - - - - - - 7.2 2.1 0.5
_Ken - Thursday, June 05 2003 @ 08:14 PM EDT (#100771) #
Pistol, i agree that the hitters in last years draft look a bit suspect other than adams, perry and perhaps rico. But the pitchers have a performed very well, Bush has settled into his starters role very well (his control is outstanding, the walk rate is very impressive), Pleiness looks to be a steal in the 5th round (he could be a stud pitcher) and the relief team of Maureau from the left and Peterson from the right are a very interesting pair of pitchers that have the potential to be very good major league relievers. Chris Leonard who will start the year in Auburn is another great pick from last year who will look to assert his position this year. There are also a lot of other pitchers that will report to short season ball from last years draft.

The thing about last years draft (like this years) is that although it doesn't have a potential superstar (maybe adams or bush at a stretch)it has 6-8 potential major leaguers that will rise through the system quickly.
_Ken - Thursday, June 05 2003 @ 08:27 PM EDT (#100772) #
Pistol, i agree that the hitters in last years draft look a bit suspect other than adams, perry and perhaps rico. But the pitchers have a performed very well, Bush has settled into his starters role very well (his control is outstanding, the walk rate is very impressive), Pleiness looks to be a steal in the 5th round (he could be a stud pitcher) and the relief team of Maureau from the left and Peterson from the right are a very interesting pair of pitchers that have the potential to be very good major league relievers. Chris Leonard who will start the year in Auburn is another great pick from last year who will look to assert his position this year. There are also a lot of other pitchers that will report to short season ball from last years draft.

The thing about last years draft (like this years) is that although it doesn't have a potential superstar (maybe adams or bush at a stretch)it has 6-8 potential major leaguers that will rise through the system quickly.
robertdudek - Friday, June 06 2003 @ 09:21 AM EDT (#100773) #
Some of the 2002 draftees will be suiting up in short season A. In general, most guys drafted after the 15th round don't sign (they go to college or back to college hoping to improve their draft position).
_Brent - Friday, June 06 2003 @ 09:58 AM EDT (#100774) #
Well, I've been searching and I've found a few interesting tidbits:

Jeremy Noegel (34th rounder) expects to sign.

Patrick Breen (28th round) said he wouldn't sign or reject an offer until next week, although it doesn't sound too optimistic.

Billy Wheeler (30th round) sounds like a good guy. He said he wants to sign but he has a scholarship offer from Florida Atlantic.

Lastly, one more article about everyone's favourite first rounder, Aaron Hill.
_Jabonoso - Friday, June 06 2003 @ 11:49 AM EDT (#100775) #
I want to hear from the pitching coaches from Auburn and Pulasky, " you never have enough pitching " there are waiting about 12 pitchers from last year draft leaded by Leonard and a couple of phenoms from Dominicana. Plus all the guys from this carbon copy draft.
Hopefully we get some good hitters to go with the pitching. Last year Auburn make a good run and was the best winning team in the org.
and many of that team are in Charleston this year, a team that has the best pitching in the league but is below .500 due to their very poor batting.
_Jordan - Friday, June 06 2003 @ 02:05 PM EDT (#100776) #
Update: Josh Banks (2nd round) becomes the first Jays draftee to sign. Terms not yet available. Here's what John Sickels at ESPN.com has to say about him:

13. Toronto: Josh Banks, RHP, Florida International University
Banks throws hard, throws strikes with his changeup and breaking ball, and was successful in college. Problems with a blister hurt his draft stock; he was a first-round candidate early, and could be a bargain here in the second.
Reviewing the Draft | 12 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.