Most of the attention surrounding the Blue Jays these days is focused on what prospects will be acquired before the July 30 trade deadline, but the Jays won’t have to wait that long to restock the minor leagues.
They will continue overhauling a weak farm system on Sunday when they make the 20th selection in this year’s MLB draft, the first of 21 picks over three days.
It’s a pivotal time to replenish a system that has become noticeably bare in recent years. Trading prospects for big-league talent, losing picks to sign free agents and a mediocre draft history has turned their pipeline into one of the worst in the majors.
One successful draft class won’t fix that, but it would give the Jays a boost before additional prospects are acquired later this month when pending free agents such as Yusei Kikuchi, Yimi Garcia and Danny Jansen are expected to be traded.
“I think we’re learning with every draft class and each year that passes,” Jays director of amateur scouting Shane Farrell said. “Something that has really stood out to us, as we have continuously been picking in the back half, or even later into the 20s, is how effectively are we using our bonus pool and how can we maximize each dollar to make it go a long way.”
The Jays have been on the shorter end of the bonus pool for each of the last three drafts and that will be the case again this year. They have approximately $9 million (U.S.) to spend, which is eighth lowest, but unlike some previous seasons they at least have all their picks.
Penalties for signing ranked free agents George Springer and Chris Bassitt cost the Jays second-round picks in two of the previous three years. The lack of meaningful additions last off-season means the Jays still own their top 10 selections, and they also get an additional pick after the fourth round as compensation for losing Matt Chapman to the Giants.
That should give Farrell and his staff more leeway to get creative. One common strategy is to draft a player in the first round for below the recommended slot value and then use the savings to pick higher-end players later on who might be considered tough signs.
The Jays did that a year ago when they selected shortstop Arjun Nimmala and signed him for approximately $700,000 below slot before redirecting funds to acquire Juaron Watts-Brown and Landen Maroudis in the third and fourth rounds. Having additional picks provides more freedom to try something similar this year.
“It just gives us more options,” Farrell said. “There is more opportunity to access the higher-end talent pool. We’re excited to have a second-round pick and look forward to the things that come along with it.”
Still, the Jays will have to do a much better job of identifying talent then they have previously under president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins.
Despite making player development one of their top priorities when they arrived at the end of 2015, the two executives haven’t enjoyed much success in the draft. Their best performance occurred in 2016 when former GM Alex Anthopoulos’s staff was still running the show and selected Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio.
Since then the results haven’t been pretty:
- The 2017 draft netted Nate Pearson as a compensatory pick and Davis Schneider in the 28th round.
- The most notable name from 2018 is Addison Barger, who has outperformed failed prospects Jordan Groshans, Griffin Conine and Cal Stevenson.
- The Jays took Alek Manoah 11th overall in 2019, and found Spencer Horwitz in the 24th round, but there wasn’t much else.
- The 2020 draft, Farrell’s first with the Jays, included Austin Martin, whose progress slowed before he was included alongside Simeon Woods Richardson in the 2021 trade for José BerrÃos.
The jury is still out on the three most recent drafts because it takes multiple years for prospects to develop, but the noticeable lack of high-end talent at Double-A and Triple-A indicates there’s a lot of heavy lifting ahead.
“I think that’s a by-product of the moves we made to make our major-league team as competitive as possible and to make playoff runs,” Farrell said.
“We traded the likes of (Adam) Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse for major-league support and there’s obviously a need, and a desire, to keep backfilling with internal prospects.”
The Jays’ minor league system was ranked 24th out of 30 teams entering the year, by MLB Pipeline and ESPN. It’s at risk of dropping even lower this winter after season-long injuries to key prospects such as Brandon Barriera and Landen Maroudis.
There are two upcoming opportunities for improvement. The first takes place Sunday and the second occurs on July 30. If the Jays want to avoid a lengthy rebuild, it’s essential they get both of them right.
First-round buzz
, the Jays would prefer to take a position player with their top overall pick. University of Kentucky outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt is the projected selection while Louisiana State third baseman Tommy White and Sam Houston catcher Walker Janek are possibilities as well. expects the Jays to draft Grand Canyon shortstop Jacob Wilson.
In the Show
The Jays had 12 players they drafted appear in games this season. Three of those — Jordan Romano, Danny Jansen and Tim Mayza — were selected by the previous regime while Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio were picked by Anthopoulos’s director of amateur scouting, Brian Parker, who fired by Shapiro and Atkins. The others include Horwitz, Schneider, Barger, Pearson, Manoah, Bowden Francis and Brandon Eisert.
Draft quotable
“We’re seeing a lot of strength at the top of the draft, particularly with college position players. We’re seeing a little less length, relative to last year, on the high school position-player group and even some of the high school pitching that could potentially sneak into the first round. It’s a bit different than last year’s class, but it’s another strong class in our eyes and I think we’re excited about our potential options at pick No. 20.” —Ìý¹ó²¹°ù°ù±ð±ô±ô
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