Hmm, if that's the case then maybe they really are seriously punting the first round pick to next year. The fact that they did not give a specific reason for not signing Bickford might support this.
The only other team that has been as bad as the Jays at a lot of things for last couple decades is the Pirates. And they're one of the best teams this year with some good prospects.
I still don't see any way picking Bickford over Shipley made sense unless there is something we don't know about Shipley. Even if we signed him, Bickford's much further away and much riskier than Shipley. AA's 1st round picks have been pretty bad so far.
This pick never really made sense to me because we were over drafting someone who wanted above slot. Whatever, next year the pick won't be protected so maybe we'll get a college player.