Pendleton

Yeah that's why I'm not surprised by this approach in the slightest, lines up with Shapiro's comments about the farm

Our new Alford haha he does look like a pretty impressive athlete

Yep I found him on their team page. http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/dj-daniels/qwcs8PTlEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/baseball-stats.htm#year=15-16 Interestingly enough he did very well in a couple outings as a pitcher. edit: beat me to it^

Tried to dig up some info but haven't come across anything yet

I think you have to go back to that era to find the last time we didn't take a HS pitcher in the first 5 rounds.

Hopefully a potential lead off bat

UBC RHP Curtis Taylor to the D'backs....Arizona loving their Canadians!

Yikes, the numbers don't really paint a great picture. The analysts seemed to think he could be a quick to the majors guy

I just complained this morning that we never seem to pick college closers, Jackson sounds like a great pick.

True to an extent, but I think leading that group in hitting should be something to take note of. Just liked the sounds of the healthy scouting report from last year.

OF Nick Banks profile stood out to me amongst some of the best available, always get intrigued when I see a term like "best pure hitter" "Part of a stellar U.S. collegiate national team outfield with Louisville's Corey Ray and Florida's Buddy Reed last summer, Banks can't quite match their tools, but he did establish himself as the best pure hitter on the squad. He led Team USA in hitting (.386) and on-base percentage (.491) and projected as a mid-first-round pick. He hasn't been the same since having a cyst removed from his lower back last fall, however, with multiple scouts noting that he has looked stiff and his tools have regressed this spring. At his best, Banks employs a sleek left-handed swing and delivers line drives from gap to gap. He has above-average raw pop and started to become more aggressive and drive the ball more often in 2015. He hasn't looked as fluid or powerful during a disappointing regular season this year but did help his cause by winning the Southeastern Conference tournament MVP award in late May in front of a bevy of scouts. While Banks showed solid speed and arm strength with Team USA, both tools have elicited fringe-average grades in 2016. He profiled well as a right fielder in the past, but now scouts don't know what to make of him. A club that gives him the benefit of the doubt for past performance could take him in the first three rounds."

Well he's not selling himself short haha

Back underway now

"Every spring, a team of the top Canadian high school talent makes its rounds around Arizona and Florida, often playing against minor leaguers in extended spring camp. Invariably, a player or two from "North of the border" raises his stock with an outstanding performance in the warmer weather. This year, Balazovic was one of those players. While still a bit raw, there's a lot to like with this Auburn commit. At 6-foot-3, he's not physically developed yet. There's plenty of room to add strength and velocity. His arm works really well and fires fastballs up to 92 mph already, with heavy sink. He also has a good feel for his changeup. His breaking ball has a ways to go. Right now, it's a slurvy slider kind of caught in between a curve and a slider, with three-quarter break and thrown in the 79-82 mph range. He stays in the strike zone more often than not. A year ago, Mike Soroka was taken in the first round out of the Canadian high school ranks. The projectable Balazovic won't come off the board that quickly, but his spring work has moved him firmly into top five round territory."

If he signs for slot, that's taking less money than he would have made by going earlier, so it doesn't necessarily mean he'll be underslot.

For some reason I remembered DSJ being picked a bit later. Yeah I guess that draft is a bit comparable when we we went Beede/Anderson/DSJ...here's hoping this one turns out a bit better

Yeah it definitely seems like they shouldn't be too difficult to sign at all, maybe even save some budget room. Hopefully we use it to go swinging for the fence at some point today. I wasn't trying to knock the picks or anything, just got accustomed to seeing us target a ton of projectable pitching early in drafts. Over the years I've noticed that the Jays don't seem to ever grab many college closers. Would be nice to grab a couple arms that could potentially be quick to the MLB pen.

Woodman and Bichette don't strike me as guys who would have been picked that early by the previous regime...maybe I'm wrong.

Wonder what it was that endeared us more than those other teams....Weak farm = easy to climb?

Draft tracker is great, thanks MLB.com

I like hearing the word "upside" to describe a college pitcher, seems like a solid pick. Did like the idea of Burdi, but a starter obviously has more value if he pans out.

Yeah Google didn't come through for me at all. One to keep an eye I guess

Pretty stellar debut from Reyes. Anyone have a scouting report on him?

I was wondering if this was an unusually quiet amount of draft hype or not. I happen to be a big nerd for any of the drafts in the sports I follow, exciting process. Looking forward to seeing who we pick up tonight!

I think Leblanc at his age would have to be completely knocking your socks off before you could justify calling him up for a start over Hutch.