The Toronto Blue Jays are going into the MLB draft with a very bold strategy
Photo credit: Daniel Shirey / MLB Photos
With the eighth-overall pick in the upcoming draft and no selection in the second round, the Toronto Blue Jays have tightened their focus.
The Blue Jays have reportedly zeroed in on a shortlist of 10-12 players being seriously considered for their first-round choice.
Blue Jays are narrowing in on their first-round draft pick.
The Blue Jays are deep into the process of ranking that group of players, taking into account potential moves by teams picking ahead of them and the expected signing bonuses.
As part of that effort, amateur scouting director Marc Tramuta organized a call this week with the entire player development department.
«We said, 'If we take this player what are some of the strengths and weaknesses? What would we need them to work on?' It's really good to involve them so that everybody is invested in the process and we have an idea that may factor into some of our decisions. How they feel about the player, that's very, very helpful. I don't think we did enough of that 10, 15, 20 years ago. I think the most successful organizations are the ones that build continuity and synergy amongst departments.» -Tramuta
Expanding the involvement of multiple departments is one of the ways Marc Tramuta is reshaping the Blue Jays' draft strategy. Running his first draft since returning to the organization last year, after spending a decade with the New York Mets, including a stint as their scouting director, Tramuta is taking a more collaborative approach to player selection.
"This year's draft is loaded with shortstops, both from the high school and college ranks. There's also a strong group of elite pitchers in the mix." -Tramuta
One agent representing draft-eligible players revealed that the Blue Jays "are all over shortstops," while Baseball America's latest mock draft projects them selecting Mississippi high-schooler JoJo Parker also links them to Eli Willits, another prep infielder from Oklahoma.
«You look at all the third-party publications and I'm not going to offer up too much information on what we're doing, so I don't know why other teams would do that." -Tramuta
Picking eighth overall, the Blue Jays are well-positioned to find the talent they want, but ultimately, their success will depend on executing their evaluation process flawlessly.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 9 | 677 ANSWERS The Toronto Blue Jays are going into the MLB draft with a very bold strategy Who should the Blue Jays select first in this year's MLB Draft? | ||
| Pitcher | 545 | 80.5 % |
| Shortstop | 76 | 11.2 % |
| Outfielder | 27 | 4 % |
| neither | 29 | 4.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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