Blue Jays 2026 MLB Draft Day 1 Thread

[Leo Morgenstern]

The Blue Jays still have two games left to play before the break, but the All-Star week festivities are already getting started. The HBCU Swingman Classic was last night, and the Futures Game is tomorrow. The Home Run Derby is set for Monday, and then you can watch Ernie Clement, Dylan Cease, and Louis Varland suit up for the AL All-Stars on Tuesday night. 

Today, however, might have the most anticipated event of them all. It's Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft. This afternoon, representatives from every team will head to the Pennsylvania Convention Center. At 1:00 pm Eastern, the White Sox will kick it all off with the first overall pick. 

The Blue Jays won't make their first selection until the start of the second round. Initially, they were slated to pick 29th due to their AL pennant-winning season. However, their highest pick was pushed back 10 spots because their 2025 payroll exceeded the second luxury tax threshold. 

As I write this, our Mock Draft Consensus Board has the Blue Jays taking two-way prospect Archer Horn with the 39th overall pick. At previous points in the draft cycle, the Consensus Board also linked the Jays to Texas A&M outfielder Caden Sorrell and prep infielder Cole Prosek.

In total, Toronto will only make three picks today: No. 39, No. 103, and No. 131. In addition to having their highest pick moved back 10 slots, the Blue Jays sacrificed their second- and fifth-highest picks when they signed Cease. The right-hander recevied a qualifying offer from the Padres last November. That fifth-highest pick was the one the Jays would have received as competition for losing Bo Bichette to the Mets; like Cease, Bichette also rejected a qualifying offer. 

Unfortunately, the Blue Jays also won't have a big bonus pool to work with in this year's draft. The fewer picks a team has and the lower those picks are, the lower the cumulative slot value of all that team's picks is going to be. Toronto's $5,543,100 bonus pool is the second-lowest in the 2026 MLB Draft, ahead of only the Dodgers ($3,951,900). For comparison, the Pirates have the largest bonus pool, with $19,130,700 to spend. 

Speaking to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi, Blue Jays amateur scouting director Marc Tramuta addressed how his team's small bonus pool could affect the draft strategy: "It's probably difficult to say I'm going to take more than a couple high school players, just given the size of the bonus pool...That's not going to take us out of the market on anybody. It just might not be the volume that we did last year.”

Obvious talents like Trey Yesavage and JoJo Parker won't be so readily available for the Blue Jays this year, but that doesn't mean the draft will be any less exciting – it just means the Jays will have to be more strategic with their picks. You can follow their selections on our 2026 Blue Jays Draft Tracker, which will be kept up to date throughout the draft and the subsequent signing period. More importantly, you can voice all of your opinions about Day 1 in this thread. Let's get started!

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[Jonn]

Ofcourse the Rays get to add the #1 prospect in the draft with one of the best records in Baseball. Gotta love the MLB Draft.

[Brock Beauchamp]

56 minutes ago, Jonn said:

Ofcourse the Rays get to add the #1 prospect in the draft with one of the best records in Baseball. Gotta love the MLB Draft.

It's the Rays. No one can predict what they'll do with that pick, though it will probably work out fabulously for them.

[Pendleton]

After predicting the JoJo Parker pick last year, I have ran all of the data and concluded that our first pick this year will be RHP Jensen Hirschkorn 

[Pendleton]

 

Looks like a promising arm, pipeline ranked him #26 overall 

[Jays24]

55 minutes ago, Pendleton said:

After predicting the JoJo Parker pick last year, I have ran all of the data and concluded that our first pick this year will be RHP Jensen Hirschkorn 

You could have just edited your post and no one would have known lol

[Eat My Shatkins]

Apparently can get his 4 seamer up to 98MPH, also a slider, curve and change.

133 K's in 83 IP 

 

[Pendleton]

Toronto kid Elliot Lascelles to SD with pick #60

[Jonn]

Jays got a guy in the 4th round that they were considering taking in the First Round. Tidy piece of business. Best prep Catcher in the draft.

[Brownie19]

Ryan Cooney - college 2nd baseman in the 3rd (ranked 137, taken 103) and then Will Brick in the 4th (ranked 46, taken 131). Brick is the top HS catcher in the draft.  

Nicely done.

[Pendleton]

Brick and Sprock (sounds like a building method) is a big upgrade to our young catcher pipeline in short order 

[Bob_Gratton]

25 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Ryan Cooney - college 2nd baseman in the 3rd (ranked 137, taken 103) and then Will Brick in the 4th (ranked 46, taken 131). Brick is the top HS catcher in the draft.  

Nicely done.

I wonder if Atkins plan trade Kirk at the trade deadline🤔 With Brick and Sprock they added top catcher prospects, and the way Valenzuela play, can make Kirk available.

[Bob_Gratton]

11 minutes ago, Pendleton said:

Brick and Sprock (sounds like a building method) is a big upgrade to our young catcher pipeline in short order 

These names sound like Kirk and Spock, so we can have our Star Trek duo behind the plate😄

[sliderguy35]

i like the carlon pick a lot, it's interesting how the jays have gravitated towards these high release point guys, considering the tradeoffs that come with them. 

Naturally, these high release point guys are going to have issues with 4-seam fastball playability due to the steeper approach angle, but the fact that hes got plus velo from.the left side should buy back some effectiveness and make it at least an average pitch.

That high release point creates a steeper angle with his slider which is almost certainly going to make it a ++ whiff pitch. I'd imagine theyll try and add a sinker or change/splitter eventually but he probably wont even need a pitch mix adjustment through the lower minor leagues as long as hes able to remotely command the ball. 

Even if hes never able to expand his mix or if hes wild, theres a pretty safe floor here as a real nasty 2 pitch reliever.

[Bob_Gratton]

3 hours ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

Apparently can get his 4 seamer up to 98MPH, also a slider, curve and change.

133 K's in 83 IP 

 

Another Johnny King?

[Brownie19]

6 minutes ago, sliderguy35 said:

i like the carlon pick a lot, it's interesting how the jays have gravitated towards these high release point guys, considering the tradeoffs that come with them. 

Naturally, these high release point guys are going to have issues with 4-seam fastball playability due to the steeper approach angle, but the fact that hes got plus velo from.the left side should buy back some effectiveness and make it at least an average pitch.

That high release point creates a steeper angle with his slider which is almost certainly going to make it a ++ whiff pitch. I'd imagine theyll try and add a sinker or change/splitter eventually but he probably wont even need a pitch mix adjustment through the lower minor leagues as long as hes able to remotely command the ball. 

Even if hes never able to expand his mix or if hes wild, theres a pretty safe floor here as a real nasty 2 pitch reliever.

That's great to hear.  I love your insight!  Can I ask where you've been?  Hope all is ok.

[sliderguy35]

1 hour ago, Brownie19 said:

That's great to hear.  I love your insight!  Can I ask where you've been?  Hope all is ok.

the team having a collective offensive xwOBA  that starts with the number 2 combined with real, meaningful, patrick corbin innings caused me to go temporarily insane

 

 

 

(for real though, got a new job, all is well, just less time for baseball posting)

[jmomcc]

I assume Cooney is under slot to make the other two work. 

FanGraphs really loves our draft by their rankings. Carlon 11th overall, Brick 36th.