MLB Draft: What Blue Jays’ top picks can offer

Jon-Harris

The Blue Jays selected Missouri State right-hander Jon Harris 29th overall in last year's draft. (Danny Johnston/AP)

Jeff Moore is a former college player and Division I college coach who’s now based in Florida, where he scouts and writes about baseball full-time.


The draft is an exciting time for any team, even those without extra picks or a large allotment of bonus pool money to spend. While teams with more picks have more flexibility to manipulate their draft pool allocation, as the Toronto Blue Jays did in last year’s draft, it doesn’t require huge amounts of money to get impact talent. The Blue Jays may have done that this week, even with their limited number of picks and just $5,411,000 to spend — the seventh-smallest amount in MLB.

Much like they did last year with first round selection Jeff Hoffman, the Blue Jays once again eschewed need with their first pick and took the best player available. Once again that was a college pitcher, right-hander Jon Harris from Missouri State, but despite a similar background, Harris does not approach Hoffman’s ceiling as a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. He was also taken 20 picks later. Still, Harris offers more potential for growth than most players the Blue Jays could have expected to select in the 29th slot.

The perk of selecting a college pitcher is that typically they are close to being finished products, but with Harris, the Blue Jays will still need to do their fair share of refining. His stuff, which includes three present-average pitches, is enough good to remain a starter, but as one Midwest scout who saw him at Missouri State this year told me, he “can stick in the rotation without strong command because of his stuff, but his inconsistencies in command do cause his pitch grades drop.”

Essentially, Harris can be a starter, but to be as effective of one as he’s capable of being, he still needs to improve the consistency in which he throws effective versions of pitches. Harris’ ceiling is as a mid-rotation starter, but if the command doesn’t allow that, he could be a late-inning reliever.

In the second round, the Blue Jays went the high school route, selecting Florida native Brady Singer, another right-handed pitcher. A tall, projectable 18-year-old, Singer is much more of a developmental project than the older Harris, but the University of Florida, one of the top college programs in the United States, thought enough of his abilities to offer him a scholarship. The Blue Jays, having done their due diligence on his signability, must feel he is willing to go pro to have selected him 56th overall.

Singer features a low-90’s fastball that could increase as he grows into his frame, and his best off-speed offering is a change-up that one scout told me “can miss bats.” He’ll need to continue the refinement of his breaking pitches and likely settle between the curveball and slider he currently throws, but these are all common hurdles for 18-year-olds to overcome.

The second day of the draft doesn’t feature the excitement of the high-profile players that typically go on day one, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t talent available. This is the portion of the draft where the Blue Jays picked Kendall Graveman in the eighth round in 2013 and Sean Nolin in the sixth round in 2010, both of whom helped land Josh Donaldson this off-season. This is also when they drafted Anthony DeSclafani, who was a part of the Jose Reyes/Mark Buehrle trade. There is talent to be had here.

The Blue Jays made eight selections, including six college players (including a junior college player and a Divison II player) and two high schoolers (including one from Puerto Rico), four pitchers and four position players. These are the players that fill the organizational depth chart, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play.

Fourth rounder Carl Wise is a good example, having just finished his junior campaign at up-and-coming program at College of Charleston. A third baseman, Wise features plus raw power and came on strong after a strong summer in the Cape Cod League last year and followed it up with another strong college season. He also gets rave reviews for his makeup and his work ethic.

Less heralded but perhaps just as talented is sixth round pick J.C. Cardenas out of Division-II Barry University in Miami, Florida. The switch-hitting shortstop has enough range to take away a lot of hits, but also struggles with his focus, missing too many routine plays. As one scout told me, “his bat has flashed power from the left side,” which is a rare commodity at the shortstop position.

There is more to come from the Blue Jays, but the majority of their production from this year’s draft has already likely been selected. Even without a true first-round pick and a large financial allotment this year, however, they have still managed to secure talent that can help in both the immediate and long-distant future.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.