Day II of ’11 draft, LIVE CBN blog
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Day 1 of the 2011 LIVE draft blog
By Bob Elliott
The first 60 picks are down and in the books.
Only 1,471 selections remaining.
Rounds two, the second round compensation and all the way to round 30 begin by conference call Tuesday at noon, away from the bright lights of the annual Major League Baseball draft of high schoolers and collegians.
A total of 32 Canadians were selected a year ago this week.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the clock and select first in the second round.
RHP Tom Robson (Ladner, BC) is expected to be the top Canadian.
How many Canadians will be selected? Check back here for info on our live blog.
And Day III begins Wednesday at noon as they move from rounds 31st to 50th.
On with Day II ...
Our trivia questions Monday was who was the first Canadian ever drafted.
Trivia winner was Ruben Lipszyc (Calgary, Alta.) names LHP Steve Wilson (Victoria, BC).
Wilson was the first Canadian ever drafted when he was selected in the fourth round from the University of Portland in the 1985 draft by the Texas Rangers. Wilson pitched six seasons in the majors, breaking in with the Rangers Sept. 16, 1989. He went on to pitch for the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers appearing in 205 games. He started 42 and was 13-15 lifetime with a 4.40 ERA striking out 252 and walking 130 in 345 1/5 innings. From 1985-to-1990 Canadians could only be drafted if they were attending school south of the border.
Now for today, who was the first Canadian high schooler ever selected? Let us know at bob.elliott@canadianbaseballnetwork.com
12:01 PM: Record hit total for Canadian Baseball Network on Day i of the draft ... a 134% bump. Thanks a bunch.
12:35 PM: Jays select LHP Daniel Norris, a HSer from Johnson City, Tenn. Man, he was first-round talent. Look for a bump in your Rogers bill if they sign all these guys they drafted. They have at least three difficult signs already.
1:37 PM: Last year we were 129 picks into a draft without a Canadian being selected was 2004 when the Texas Rangers selected C Mike Nickeas (Vancouver, BC) of Georgia Tech University in the fifth round, 141st over-all.
1:42 PM: Blue Jays select RHP Tom Robson (Ladner, BC) as top Canadian in the fourth round, 139th over-all, the lowest the top Canuck has gone since 2004.
3:06 PM: Things must have went well for 1B Trevor Gretzky son of Wayne Gretzky at private workout. Scouting director Tim Wilken selects Gretzky in the 7th round (219th) over-all. Trevor has committed to play for Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn at San Diego State.
3:23 PM: Native-Canadian C Dustin Houle (Penticton, BC) hit a 420-foot home run at a pre-draft work out for the Brewers at Milwaukee's Miller Park. Scout Jay Lapp and the rest of the Brewers brass was watching making the Langley Blaze and Canadian Junior National Team player the second Canadian player selected, chosen in the eighth round.
3:40 PM: Chase Larsson (Vancouver, BC) worked out for the Cardinals in St. Louis, Angels in Anaheim and the Yankees in Tampa but it was the Atlanta Braves who selected him in in the ninth round. Larsson was a 18th-round pick by scout Greg Smith of Kansas City Royals in 2006. He played at Odessa Junior College, took a year off and blossomed this year with the Division II Cameron Aggies, where he led all Division II hitters in homers (29), RBIs (84) and slugging (1.000). "
3:55 PM: Four Canadians picks in the first 10 rounds is the lowest since 2008 -- Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) in the first and LHP Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.). A year ago there were seven and the year before that five.
4:02 PM: RHP Vaughan Covington (Vancouver, BC) has not thrown a pitch since last summer and will not begin playing long toss until Septemeber, but scouts saw him in the Dominican with the Canadian Junior National Team last summer when he threw effortlessly at 92 mph. Bill Byckowski remembered that they the Reds chose Covington in the 11th round.
4:14 PM: RHP Adam Paulencu (Spruce Grove, Alta.) impressed last summer in the WMBL and again at the start of the season for the Vancouver Island Baseball Institute for coach Jordan Blundell. He backed off a little but still was the top Canadian selection pitching at a Canadian university, going in the 13th round to the San Francisco Giants. One thing the Giants know is pitching, winning the World Series with four homegrown pitchers last year.
4:44 PM: Some Cubs officials predicted before the draft that they'd wind up with three Canadian players in the draft. Scouting director Tim Wilken grabbed his second Canuck in the 15th round C Justin Marra eight rounds after taking Trevor Gretzky. Who is next? The Cubs now lead in number of Canadians selected. Marra impressed at private workouts for both the Brewers and the Jays, but it was the Cubs which were quickest on the draw.
5:19-5:21 PM: The Oakland A's are always copying the Kansas City Royals. The Royals' scouting director Lonnie Goldberg, who used to live in Guelph, drafts a Canadian middle infielder in the 17th round Nic Cuckovic (Victoria, BC) from Riverside Community College and seven picks later, the A's grab Sean Jamieson (Simcoe, Ont.) of Canisius College, who won conference co-player of the year for coach Mike McRae (Niagara Falls, Ont.).
5:29 PM: Alex Agostino (Montreal, Que.) is a full-time scout for the Philadelphia Phillies, so it was only a matter of time before the Phillies popped the best from La Belle Province in RHP Jesen Dygestile-Therrien (Montreal, Que.) from the Academie Baseball Canada and the Canadian Junior National Team. The right-hander is from Haiti and has been working out with former Cy Young award winner Eric Gagne.
6:21 PM: Well now we know who the third Cub is ... RHP Ethan Elias (Entwistle, Alta.) taken in the 22nd round. Elias pitched for the Edmonton Prospects and the Canadian Junior National Team.
6:29 PM: Question to scout: How come some players haven't gone yet? Answer: "Because they asked for too much money."
6:35 PM: Ray Callari, the only Canadian to wear a 2010 World Series ring, got his man in the 22nd round when the scout selected power hitter Jonathan Jones (Lorraine, Que.) from the Academie Baseball Canada in the 23rd round. Jones has committed to attend Iowa Western.
6:50 PM: Canada's team now sits tied for third when it comes to drafting Canadians behind the Cubs and the Giants.
7:11-712 PM: Again two Canucks go in a space of a few picks. First Jays scouting director Andrew Tinnish and scout Don Cowan took INF Justin Atkinson (North Surrey, BC) from the Langley Blaze and Canadian Junior National Team and four picks later the San Diego Padres chose RHP Roberto Suppa (Connor, Ont.) of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Canadian Junior National Team. Atkinson has signed a letter of intent to Central Arizona College, while Suppa is headed to Cornell University.
7:44 PM: The Diamondbacks chose 3B Carter Bell (Courtenay, BC) of the Oregon State Beavers in the 29th round. Bell is the final Canuck standing in the NCAA chase to Omaha after his club won the regional last weekend. And we thought for a second he might be the final Canadian selected on Day II, but not so fast ...
11:20 PM: Sorry had some other work to do ... the Chicago White Sox selected OF Dustin Hayes (Langley, BC ), who used to play in the BC Premier League with Fraser Valley Chiefs and Langley in the 29th round. He's now playing senior ball for the Coquitlam Angels. He was at the MLB Scouting Bureau workout camp in B.C. and attended a workout south of the border, playing senio.
The final pick of the day was by the Mets and their Hall of Fame scout Claude Pelletier, who chose LHP Jake Hansen (Fort Macleod, Alta.) in the 30th round. Pelletier, who saw Hansen with the Tean Canada Junior National Team, also signed Eric Gagne, who he worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Trivia answer: OF Jason Wuersch (Leamington, Ont.), of the Windsor Selects was the answer to the first Canadian high schooler ever drafted as he was the top Canadian selected in 1991 going into the 11th round to the New York Yankees. ... The winner was Marc Picard (Windsor, Ont.) who as a Yankees scout was in Wuersch's house along with his boss, area scout Dick (The Legend) Groch.
Players drafted:
Drafted by: Cubs 3, Blue Jays 2, Giants 2, A's 1, Braves 1, Brewers 1, Diamondbacks 1, Mets 1, Padres 1, Phillies 1, Reds 1, Royals 1, White Sox 1.
By Province: British Columbia 9, Ontario (including one going back a generation) 4, Alberta 2, Quebec 2.