The Toronto Blue Jays walked into this year's draft with the second-smallest bonus pool in baseball, just $5,543,100, and a 10-pick penalty attached to their first selection.
That penalty came from exceeding the Competitive Balance Tax's second surcharge threshold, pushing Toronto's first pick all the way to No. 39 overall.
Then Cole Carlon fell right into their laps. The Arizona State lefty was ranked the No. 26 prospect in the entire class by MLB Pipeline.
"I did not expect that," said director of amateur scouting Marc Tramuta. "I had him rated as a very solid first-rounder that I did not think was going to get out of the top 20-25 players."
Toronto didn't have a second-round pick at all, having forfeited it when they signed Dylan Cease to his seven-year, $210 million deal.
That made the third round the next real opportunity, and the Blue Jays used it on Oregon shortstop Ryan Cooney, a player Tramuta compared directly to Ernie Clement.
"He's a higher contact bat at second base," Tramuta said. "It's a really polished hitter who's a contact bat."
Later rounds show where Toronto found its real value
Toronto took its first prep prospect in the fourth round with catcher Will Brick, a pick Tramuta hinted could cost above slot value.
"I think he's going to hit," Tramuta said of Brick. "I haven't seen too many kids in recent history who can drive the ball to center and right-center field with the power that he currently has."
Day two brought a run of contact-heavy college bats, a clear organizational pattern by this point in the draft.
UCLA outfielder Dean West stood out in round seven, posting a .418 on-base percentage thanks to 37 walks against just 33 strikeouts as the Bruins' leadoff hitter.
Maryland's Brayden Martin went even further in round 11, hitting .352 with a .488 on-base percentage and just 20 strikeouts across his final college season.
Right-hander Mathis Nayral, drafted out of Kansas in round 13, adds another international thread to an organization that's built one of baseball's more global farm systems.
It's a bit like assembling a mixtape one track at a time, where the theme only becomes obvious once you step back and look at the whole thing.
The Blue Jays closed things out with a calculated swing on injured lefty Jake McCoy in round 18, a name that carries real financial risk given his recent Tommy John surgery.
Was Cole Carlon the best value pick of the Blue Jays' entire 2026 draft class?
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