A look back at the last five MLB drafts reveals a couple of trends: The Toronto Blue Jays have had success taking pitching under Alex Anthopoulos and the GM hasn’t hesitated to use many of those arms in trades.
As the Blue Jays contemplate their options ahead of Monday’s amateur draft, scouting director Brian Parker emphasizes the importance of sticking to a process. And though teams prefer not to reveal many specifics when it comes to strategy, it’s clear that Toronto’s ascendant young arms won’t stop the Blue Jays from taking more pitching.
“We’re just trying to get talent. We’re trying to get assets for Alex to use in whatever way he wants to use them,” Parker says. “The most important thing is just to get the best talent you can rather than try to find a positional weakness and target that because six months from now that might not be a weakness.”
The Blue Jays’ current group of young arms features Aaron Sanchez, Drew Hutchison and Roberto Osuna at the big-league level, plus prospects Daniel Norris, Jeff Hoffman and Miguel Castro in the minors. Marcus Stroman, who’s recovering from knee surgery, rounds out a group of young pitchers seemingly capable of making a sustained big-league impact.
The organization’s not nearly as deep in position-player prospects, but Parker cites the adage “you can never have enough pitching,” and Anthopoulos’s trade history further strengthens that point.
The Blue Jays have routinely supplemented their roster using the draft picks of Parker and his predecessor, Andrew Tinnish, now an assistant GM (see details below). Three of the top picks from Anthopoulos’s first draft in 2010 were used to obtain big-league talent, as Noah Syndergaard fronted the R.A. Dickey trade, Asher Wojciechowski helped bring J.A. Happ to Toronto and Sean Nolin went to Oakland in the Josh Donaldson deal.
Anthony DeSclafani, a sixth rounder from Anthopoulos’s second draft, went to the Marlins in the mega-deal that brought Jose Reyes to Toronto, while 2013 eighth-rounder Kendall Graveman was an integral part of the Donaldson deal.
The Blue Jays continue to prize athletic, strike-throwing starting pitchers with plus fastballs, and the more of them they can add the better. Some will get injured, others will never reach their potential and the remaining arms will either help the big-league team or be traded.
This year the Blue Jays could end up taking a high school right-hander such as Mike Nikorak, Ashe Russell or Donny Everett, according to MLB.com draft expert Jim Callis. While the Blue Jays have had more success drafting pitchers than position players in recent years, they’re not going to be locked in on any one position or experience level ahead of Monday’s 29th overall pick.
“Especially early in the draft it’s so important not to eliminate one group of players,” Parker says.
The Blue Jays want two-way position players capable of making an impact on offence and defence, so if the right player falls to them they’ll be ready even after taking pitching with their first pick in four of the five drafts overseen by Anthopoulos.
“I would do the same thing they do,” Callis says. “I would try to maximize the talent at the top of the draft and then if I get to that fourth round and you have to go cheap at that point, then you go cheap and take some discounts in later rounds. I think that makes the most sense. You win with stars.”
The Blue Jays hope to come one step closer to landing one or two of those Monday night. And while predicting the draft is basically impossible, history suggests there’s a good chance Toronto ends up investing in more pitching.
Notable Blue Jays draft picks under GM Alex Anthopoulos
2010
1 – Deck McGuire
1S – Aaron Sanchez
1S – Noah Syndergaard
1S – Asher Wojciechowski
6 – Sean Nolin
16 – Dalton Pompey
18 – Kris Bryant
It’s now clear that the Blue Jays obtained an impressive group of prospects in the first draft of the Anthopoulos regime. Toronto selected a couple high-upside high school right-handers in Sanchez and Syndergaard, both of whom are now starting in the big leagues. If nabbing Dalton Pompey in the 16th round was a good pick, then finding Kris Bryant in the 18th was a steal. In retrospect, of course, the Blue Jays should have offered the powerful infielder whatever bonus he sought.
2011
1 – Tyler Beede
1S – Jacob Anderson
1S – Joseph Musgrove
1S – Dwight Smith
1S – Kevin Comer
2 – Daniel Norris
6 – Anthony DeSclafani
32 – Kevin Pillar
The Blue Jays didn’t sign Beede and the other first-round picks from this draft have yet to amount to much, but credit Tinnish and the Blue Jays for finding Norris, a potential frontline starter, in the second round. The Blue Jays also have reason to be pleased that they found an MLB outfielder in the 32nd round.
2012
1 – D.J. Davis
1 – Marcus Stroman
1S – Matt Smoral
1S – Mitch Nay
1S – Tyler Gonzales
3 – Anthony Alford
12 – Ryan Kellogg
While many teams passed on Stroman because of his small stature, the Blue Jays took a chance on the polished college right-hander and it’s paying off. Prospects such as Nay and Alford are on the radar, though no one but Stroman has impacted at the MLB level.
2013
1 – Phil Bickford
2 – Clinton Hollon
6 – Matt Boyd
8 – Kendall Graveman
30 – Rowdy Tellez
The Blue Jays didn’t sign Bickford, but Graveman was a key player in the Donaldson trade and Boyd is now thriving at double-A with a 1.08 ERA in 11 starts.
2014
1 – Jeff Hoffman
1 – Max Pentecost
2 – Sean Reid-Foley
The Blue Jays have seen “outstanding” stuff from Hoffman since his return from Tommy John surgery, Anthopoulos says. Max Pentecost is expected to be playing in games by July after undergoing an off-season shoulder operation. Sean Reid-Foley, a promising high school right-hander, has promise as well.
Highest-drafted players on Blue Jays’ 40-man roster
Justin Smoak, 1st round, 11th pick
R.A. Dickey, 1st round, 18th pick
Chad Jenkins, 1st round, 20th pick
Marcus Stroman, 1st round, 22nd pick
Aaron Sanchez, 1st round, 34th pick
Brett Cecil, 1st round, 38th pick
Josh Donaldson, 1st round, 48th pick
Daniel Norris, 2nd round
Rob Rasmussen, 2nd round
Ryan Goins, 4th round
Steve Tolleson, 5th round
Marco Estrada, 6th round
Edwin Encarnacion, 9th round
Aaron Loup, 9th round
Matt Hague, 9th round
A.J. Jimenez, 9th round
Andrew Albers, 10th round
Michael Saunders, 11th round
Josh Thole, 13th round
Devon Travis, 13th round
Drew Hutchison, 15th round
Dalton Pompey, 16th round
Russell Martin, 17th round
Danny Valencia, 19th round
Ryan Tepera, 19th round
Jose Bautista, 20th round
Scott Copeland, 21st round
Steve Delabar, 29th round
Colt Hynes, 31st round
Kevin Pillar, 32nd round
Mark Buehrle, 38th round