2020 Toronto Blue Jays Draft Results | Signings, Bonuses and Rumors

[saskjayfan]

How would you all rate this draft out of 10?

 

I am not honestly sure they could have drafted better. 10/10?

 

That 10 deserves an massive assist from Baltimore....thank you very much!

[Krylian]

Does Frasso have the worst agent ever, or was he taken when maybe he shouldn't have been? Who signs for $300 under slot, and almost immediately?

 

Huh?

 

Frasso signed for $90K under slot (the post literally above yours states that) and the draft was almost a month ago, not an immediate signing.

 

Are you talking about Zach Britton? He was taken maybe a couple of rounds early so ya, he theoretically should've been in the $20K signing pile.

[Krylian]

2020 Toronto Blue Jays Draft Results

 

2020 Bonus Pool: $9,716,500

Total Bonus Pool (+5%): $10,202,325

 

[center][size=2][color=#000000][b][color=#000000]01|Austin Martin    [/color][color=#A9A9A9]($6,180,700)[/color]|[color=#4B0082]$        [/color]
[color=#26C7D4]02|CJ Van Eyk        [/color][color=#A9A9A9]($1,771,100)[/color]|[color=#4B0082]$1,800,000    [/color]
[color=#26C7D4]03|Trent Palmer        [/color][color=#A9A9A9]($0,805,600)[/color]|[color=#4B0082]$0,850,000    [/color]
[color=#000000]04|Nick Frasso        [/color][color=#A9A9A9]($0,549,000)[/color]|[color=#4B0082]$        [/color]
[color=#26C7D4]05|Zach Britton        [/color][color=#A9A9A9]($0,410,100)[/color]|[color=#4B0082]$0,097,500    [/color]

[color=#26C7D4]FA|Harrison Ray        [/color][color=#A9A9A9]($0,020,000)[/color]|[color=#4B0082]$20,000    [/color]
[color=#26C7D4]FA|MacKenzie Mueller    [/color][color=#A9A9A9]($0,020,000)[/color]|[color=#4B0082]$20,000    [/color]
[color=#26C7D4]FA|Zac Cook        [/color][color=#A9A9A9]($0,020,000)[/color]|[color=#4B0082]$20,000    [/color][/b][/color][/size][/center]

---

Signed | Unsigned

 

Slot for Signed Picks: $2,986,800‬

Amount of Pool Used: $2,747,500

Amount of Pool Unused: $6,969,000

 

Total Slot Savings So Far: $239,300

5% Overage Allowance: $485,825

Total Overslot Available: $725,125

 

Remaining Budget (+5%): $7,454,825‬‬

 

 

Based on the numbers that I'm seeing reported, the Jays would have gone overslot by $5000. One of the reported signings must be off by $5000.

[Boxcar]

Guessing Martin took so long to sign because Frasso wanted at least slot money. At least he realizes it was for the greater good.

[Spanky99]

Saw a report that due to losses, teams will be more eager to dump salary this offseason, using prospects as the carrot. Will be interesting to see if the Jays go this route or the FA route.

 

What's the link, I want to read it?

[Rafters]

Van eye signed for 1797500 and Palmer 847500.. both for 2500 less the quoted before

[Jimcanuck]

What's the link, I want to read it?

 

Was part of a random FG article from a few weeks ago. cba to look for it.

[labadee]

Can someone explain to me why Zack Britton signed for so low?

[Jimcanuck]

Can someone explain to me why Zack Britton signed for so low?

 

Deal would have been made before the Jays drafted him. If he didn't agree to the deal he would go into the pool of undrafted players eligible to sign for $20K.

 

Jays saved $300K in pool money by this route, to sign Martin.

[BlueRocky]

Martin, Boras, and Shapiro reaction to the deal:

 

Sportsnet Reaction:https://youtu.be/l5Xi3qW3KzY

Edited July 9, 2020 by BlueRocky

[Boxcar]

Martin, Boras, and Shapiro reaction to the deal:

 

Sportsnet Reaction:https://youtu.be/l5Xi3qW3KzY

 

Official Blue Jays twitter appears to be very excited

[metafour]

Can someone explain to me why Zack Britton signed for so low?

 

Because the $97,500 he received is more than the $20,000 he would have received as an undrafted signing. By agreeing to take less, he earned more. Zach Britton was not a Top 200 ranked talent - we overdrafted him by a few rounds in order to save money, hence the reduced bonus.

[Spanky99]

Can someone explain to me why Zack Britton signed for so low?

 

Wow... stranger?!

[glory]

I’m not sure what anyone can point to in their regimes as “major” blunders.

 

The return for half a season of Happ?

Morales free agent signing?

Solarte for Edward Olivares?

 

The biggest I can think of is not trading Donaldson for Flaherty. Projections may have said otherwise, but I think it was a foregone conclusion that we weren’t gonna make the playoffs in 2018 with the Yankees/Red Sox being super teams. A 1-2-3 of Flaherty-Ryu-Pearson would be unreal to have right now.

 

I'd say they have been excellent in terms of the farm system (drafting, international signings), but the one knock on them has been MLB transactions. Those have been a mixed bag, made worse by some bad timing with trades (JD, Osuna, Happ). I guess you could argue had they started the rebuild during the 2017 trade deadline or prior to the 2018 season rather than at the 2018 trade deadline that maybe there would be some better young pieces in the pipeline to go along with the existing top farm system, but hard to say without knowing what exactly they turned down in 2017-18.

 

Considering the situation they inherited, an old playoff team with essentially a one year window, I'd say they did pretty well all things considered. It's much easier to acquire vets in free agency/trade in today's market than it is to develop stars, and the Jays have the potential to develop some stars in the next few years, as early as 2020 if the season starts/concludes.

[Orgfiller]

I'd say they have been excellent in terms of the farm system (drafting, international signings), but the one knock on them has been MLB transactions. Those have been a mixed bag, made worse by some bad timing with trades (JD, Osuna, Happ). I guess you could argue had they started the rebuild during the 2017 trade deadline or prior to the 2018 season rather than at the 2018 trade deadline that maybe there would be some better young pieces in the pipeline to go along with the existing top farm system, but hard to say without knowing what exactly they turned down in 2017-18.

 

Considering the situation they inherited, an old playoff team with essentially a one year window, I'd say they did pretty well all things considered. It's much easier to acquire vets in free agency/trade in today's market than it is to develop stars, and the Jays have the potential to develop some stars in the next few years, as early as 2020 if the season starts/concludes.

 

What was wrong with the Osuna trade from a timing standpoint or otherwise? They traded him before they needed to for a better reliever with only one fewer year of control and two good prospects, regardless of whether both of them are unlikely to pan out. Then you add in the fact that Osuna "allegedly" beat up his girlfriend, was up for trial and a nightmare for PR, and that was probably one of the better moves they've made on the MLB side.

[Ray]

I'd say they have been excellent in terms of the farm system (drafting, international signings), but the one knock on them has been MLB transactions. Those have been a mixed bag, made worse by some bad timing with trades (JD, Osuna, Happ). I guess you could argue had they started the rebuild during the 2017 trade deadline or prior to the 2018 season rather than at the 2018 trade deadline that maybe there would be some better young pieces in the pipeline to go along with the existing top farm system, but hard to say without knowing what exactly they turned down in 2017-18.

 

Considering the situation they inherited, an old playoff team with essentially a one year window, I'd say they did pretty well all things considered. It's much easier to acquire vets in free agency/trade in today's market than it is to develop stars, and the Jays have the potential to develop some stars in the next few years, as early as 2020 if the season starts/concludes.

 

They've also had some pretty clear wins though:

 

Hutchison for McGuire and Liriano

Liriano for Teoscar

JB Woodman for Aledmys Diaz, who in turn got traded for Trent Thornton

Grichuk for Leone and Conner Greene (extension may not have been the wisest move, but the initial trade was definitely a win)

 

These aren't superstar acquisitions that have provided a ton of surplus value by any means, but they still made the team markedly better while trading away little to almost nothing in value. The one huge trade they were able make where they had a significant amount of leverage, I think in retrospect has aged incredibly well (Stroman for Kay and Woods-Richardson).

 

What was wrong with the Osuna trade from a timing standpoint or otherwise? They traded him before they needed to for a better reliever with only one fewer year of control and two good prospects, regardless of whether both of them are unlikely to pan out. Then you add in the fact that Osuna "allegedly" beat up his girlfriend, was up for trial and a nightmare for PR, and that was probably one of the better moves they've made on the MLB side.

 

There also may have been a been a mandate from ownership to make sure Osuna never suited up as a Jay again.

 

They've made some questionable trades, but I don't think the Osuna one is one of them.

[max silver]

What was wrong with the Osuna trade from a timing standpoint or otherwise? They traded him before they needed to for a better reliever with only one fewer year of control and two good prospects, regardless of whether both of them are unlikely to pan out. Then you add in the fact that Osuna "allegedly" beat up his girlfriend, was up for trial and a nightmare for PR, and that was probably one of the better moves they've made on the MLB side.

 

The timing of the Happ trade wasn't necessarily the team's fault similar to the Osuna trade. The Jays had no control over Happ sucking balls leading up to the trade deadline, or Osuna beating up his girlfriend. Even the Donaldson situation was chock full of bad luck on the Jays part, you can't blame the team for him showing up to spring training with a dead arm or subsequently blowing up his calf and missing most of the season.

[TheHurl]

And Donaldson was being a bitch at the time of the trade deadline not allowing the Jays to trade him at the non waiver deadline and lowering his value.

[Bobthe4th]

I'd say they have been excellent in terms of the farm system (drafting, international signings), but the one knock on them has been MLB transactions. Those have been a mixed bag, made worse by some bad timing with trades (JD, Osuna, Happ). I guess you could argue had they started the rebuild during the 2017 trade deadline or prior to the 2018 season rather than at the 2018 trade deadline that maybe there would be some better young pieces in the pipeline to go along with the existing top farm system, but hard to say without knowing what exactly they turned down in 2017-18.

 

Considering the situation they inherited, an old playoff team with essentially a one year window, I'd say they did pretty well all things considered. It's much easier to acquire vets in free agency/trade in today's market than it is to develop stars, and the Jays have the potential to develop some stars in the next few years, as early as 2020 if the season starts/concludes.

 

As well - most of the moves that haven't worked out have mitigating circumstances. Injuries delaying trades, acquiring dross and putting those players on the 25/26 man mainly being small risk moves, questionable free agent contracts/extensions not being financially crippling.

 

That said, IMO this season would have been vital for Atkins' future in normal circumstances. A poor season would have put real pressure on him. But now even if we have a shocking record, before we know it the season will be over so 2021 becomes the important year for him.

 

Outside of the major league team, everything is going well so IMO Shapiro should have a job for as long as he wants.

[glory]

What was wrong with the Osuna trade from a timing standpoint or otherwise? They traded him before they needed to for a better reliever with only one fewer year of control and two good prospects, regardless of whether both of them are unlikely to pan out. Then you add in the fact that Osuna "allegedly" beat up his girlfriend, was up for trial and a nightmare for PR, and that was probably one of the better moves they've made on the MLB side.

 

They traded him while he was serving a suspension for domestic violence. That's the definition of bad timing. I wasn't blaming Shatkins, but bad timing is bad timing. Did they get a good return considering the circumstances? Yes. I thought Paulino had potential (where the F is he now?) and Perez was a lotto ticket type of prospect, but they could have done way better than that in a normal situation for an elite reliever with 2.5 years of control left.

 

Not all bad timing was their fault. Osuna was out of their control. JD was within their control prior to 2018, not so much during 2018. Happ was a bad trade, but 2 months of a mid rotation starter in his mid 30's probably wasn't going to be that valuable a piece even if his last couple of starts before the trade were better (the time to trade him was probably trade deadline 2017 for optimal return in hindsight). Giles obviously got hurt before they could trade him. Sanchez became a bust after 2016 so even getting Fisher was probably a miracle. The one trade they got absolutely right in timing and return was Stroman. Everything else has been a mixed bag. The good news is none of their "bad" moves have been significant, so they hedged their bets well enough while developing the farm system to get us to where we are now.

 

Like I said, they came into a situation with a one year window, and ownership wanted to extend that window beyond its shelf life because the team was a money train in 2015-16. It wasn't the easiest situation to navigate through, but I'm fine with the end result, even if certain things could have been done differently.

[glory]

They've also had some pretty clear wins though:

 

Hutchison for McGuire and Liriano

Liriano for Teoscar

JB Woodman for Aledmys Diaz, who in turn got traded for Trent Thornton

Grichuk for Leone and Conner Greene (extension may not have been the wisest move, but the initial trade was definitely a win)

 

These aren't superstar acquisitions that have provided a ton of surplus value by any means, but they still made the team markedly better while trading away little to almost nothing in value. The one huge trade they were able make where they had a significant amount of leverage, I think in retrospect has aged incredibly well (Stroman for Kay and Woods-Richardson).

 

Out of those moves, the one they did great on was Liriano because they got 2 months of someone who helped them get to the playoffs and two prospects (one was a bust, the other looks like a decent backup catcher who will provide some value). I don't disagree that the others were good moves, but in the grand scheme of things those players are probably not on the next contending Jays team (at least not prominent parts of it) so I don't really put as much weight on those deals as I would for some of the vets discussed previously. Although, Thornton stealing some of Buchholz's repertoire and seeing good results in September has me somewhat intrigued about him, and Teoscar's exit velo + improved walk rate is encouraging. There's still time for those trades to go from "solid" to great.

[max silver]

Out of those moves, the one they did great on was Liriano because they got 2 months of someone who helped them get to the playoffs and two prospects (one was a bust, the other looks like a decent backup catcher who will provide some value). I don't disagree that the others were good moves, but in the grand scheme of things those players are probably not on the next contending Jays team (at least not prominent parts of it) so I don't really put as much weight on those deals as I would for some of the vets discussed previously. Although, Thornton stealing some of Buchholz's repertoire and seeing good results in September has me somewhat intrigued about him, and Teoscar's exit velo + improved walk rate is encouraging. There's still time for those trades to go from "solid" to great.

 

Those trades were largely acquiring decent value for players and prospects of minimal value. Really the only guy they traded away in those trades that has any value at all right now is Aledmys Diaz, so to expect to receive potential superstars in return for these trades is pretty wishful thinking. Once the farm system is fully ripened and stocked with prospects I think we are going to start seeing some actual impact trades, with the large stock of catching and infield prospects eventually there won't be enough spots on the diamond to go around for all of them, and this will setup some very interesting possible future trades for established major league players.

[Jimcanuck]

The only real issue I have is Donaldson. Shatkins probably just didn't like the offers prior to the 2018 season and rolled the dice on JD being a top player during the 1st half. Dice came up snake eyes.

 

I go by the Branch Rickey golden rule.

 

Pretty much everything else has been good or of such little consequence / who cares.

[glory]

Those trades were largely acquiring decent value for players and prospects of minimal value. Really the only guy they traded away in those trades that has any value at all right now is Aledmys Diaz, so to expect to receive potential superstars in return for these trades is pretty wishful thinking. Once the farm system is fully ripened and stocked with prospects I think we are going to start seeing some actual impact trades, with the large stock of catching and infield prospects eventually there won't be enough spots on the diamond to go around for all of them, and this will setup some very interesting possible future trades for established major league players.

 

That's my point. Those trades weren't bad, just not very consequential, which is why I don't really look at them. I was talking specifically about the bigger named players (JD, Osuna, Happ, Stroman, etc). My point was you could make an argument that had the timing been different, the returns could have been substantially better. Again, it's tough to prove that without knowing what was offered, but I don't think anyone could be happy with Merryweather, Perez, Paulino, Drury, McKinney, etc, as the returns for the remnants of the playoff teams. SWR/Kay is a different story.

 

I don't think I'm being hard on Shatkins. Like I said I think overall they've done really well. But if you want to pick a weak spot for them during their tenure, what I mentioned has been it.

[AintNoThang]

You dudes have to realize that the Blue Jays also got shafted by the new trading environment. Gone are the days of Torres, McKinney, Warren, etc for half a season of Chapman. Teams aren't as willing to give up top prospects as they were in the past. The Stroman trade is the best possible outcome with the shift in valuation of prospects. Although a tertiary piece, like Christian James, should've been included to complete the deal.

[P2F]

Although a tertiary piece, like Christian James, should've been included to complete the deal.

 

[max silver]

That's my point. Those trades weren't bad, just not very consequential, which is why I don't really look at them. I was talking specifically about the bigger named players (JD, Osuna, Happ, Stroman, etc). My point was you could make an argument that had the timing been different, the returns could have been substantially better. Again, it's tough to prove that without knowing what was offered, but I don't think anyone could be happy with Merryweather, Perez, Paulino, Drury, McKinney, etc, as the returns for the remnants of the playoff teams. SWR/Kay is a different story.

 

I don't think I'm being hard on Shatkins. Like I said I think overall they've done really well. But if you want to pick a weak spot for them during their tenure, what I mentioned has been it.

 

These moves are pretty to criticize in hindsight, but there was simply no way that the Jays were going to be trading Happ or Osuna when they were still trying to compete. When you add on the extenuating circumstances, especially in the case of Osuna the return was easier to justify. Let's say Osuna doesn't get accused of spousal abuse and suddenly the return is much better. All things considered getting back Giles was a reasonable return, it's too bad his elbow was acting up right before the deadline. The Happ trade though is pretty hard to justify the garbage return for a rebuilding team, some lottery ticket prospects at least would have had the opportunity to turn into something down the road.

Edited July 10, 2020 by max silver

[Brownie19]

Isn't it also true that they had pressure from Ownership to try and keep the window open longer than they wanted to?

[Krylian]

Isn't it also true that they had pressure from Ownership to try and keep the window open longer than they wanted to?

 

True from everything I've read. Rogers wanted to keep butts in the seats so they tried to create the illusion of a contending team even though anyone who knows anything knew they were on the way down.

[Ray]

The Jays channel just uploaded a short clip from an introductory meeting they held with Austin Martin:

 

Interesting tidbit:

 

"It turned out the best way, like honestly. I remember having a conversation with Kumar Rocker in the beginning of the season, and he asked me, 'if you had a personal preference of what team you want to play for which one would it be'? And I only had two teams I wanted to play for: Either stay in Florida for Miami, or Toronto. Because I've heard great things through Philip Clarke. I'm just super excited and glad things turned out the way they did

 

Obviously we gave the kid $7M, but kid looks like he's genuinely enthused to be here. Really great to see.

 

Also probably incredibly relieved he doesn't have to play for teams with long rebuilds ahead of them like the O's or the Tigers.