Kent, Halladay, Olerud on all-time Jays draft team
* Roy Halladay, John Olerud and Jeff Kent earn spots on the all-time team of players the Blue Jays have selected in the draft. .... 2013 Canadian draft list 2014 Canadian draft list 2013 Canadians in the Minors 2013 Canadians in College Letters of Intent
By Bob Elliott
Casey Blake started eight games with the Blue Jays.
Jeff Kent started 43.
Michael Young never played a game.
Yet, when you crunch the numbers those three draft day successes make the all-time, Blue Jays team of homegrown selections.
New scouting director Brian Parker will be looking for such diamonds when the three-day, draft begins Thursday night.
A seventh round pick out of Wichita State in 1996, Blake had way better numbers than former No. 1 pick and 1992 World Series hero Ed Sprague off career wins above replacement (WAR).
General manager Gord Ash and assistant GM Dave Stewart dealt Darwin Cubillan and Young, a fifth-rounder from 1997 to the Texas Rangers for Esteban Loaiza before the July 31 deadline in 2000.
At the time the Jays thought Young was behind former No. 1 pick Cesar Izturis, Felipe Lopez, Brent Abernathy, Joe Lawrence and Orlando Hudson amongst minor league middle infielders. Young was the best.
Kent, a 20th rounder in 1989, remains the best Jays pick to date.
Want to argue? Roy Halladay, Chris Carpenter or Pat Hentgen, all Cy Young award winners vs. Kent?
Dave Stieb maybe?
Well, in Decemember Kent appears on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time and will likely be the first Jays pick ever honoured in Cooperstown in July of 2014.
The Jays dealt Ryan Thompson and Kent to the New York Mets in David Cone, which resulted in the Jays first World Series.
On the all-time team of Jays drafts Greg Myers starts behind the plate over Pat Borders and J.P. Arencibia. Heck even Gino Petralli beats Borders and Arencibia.
First base is no surprise with third round pick John Olerud from 1989, the only Jay to win a batting title.
The rest of the infield has Kent at second, Blake at third and Young at short.
Former first rounders Shawn Green (1991) and Vernon Wells (1997) are in the outfield with Jesse Barfield, a ninth round pick in 1977, who had the best numbers of any homegrown outfielder.
And Adam Lind, a third rounder in 2003, is the DH.
What does it say about the Jays scouting years when Young and Wells, class of 1997, are the latest to make the all-time team ... until we reach Lind.
Starting on the mound is Halladay, a 1995 first rounder. He edges out Stieb, the best fifth round pick in 1978.
The Jays co-closers, with the exact same WAR, are Mike Timlin, a fifth rounder in 1987, and Mark Eichhorn, a second rounder in the 1979 January draft.
All-time team of Jays drafts
Pos. Name Scouted by
1. SS Michael Young, Billy Moore
2. LF Shawn Green, John Cole
3. 1B John Olerud, Andy Pienovi
4. 2B Jeff Kent, David Blume
5. RF Jesse Barfield, Don Welke, Bobby Mattick, Bob Engle
6. CF Vernon Wells, Jim Hughes, Mark Snipp
7. 3B Casey Blake, Mark Snipp,
8. C Greg Myers, Larry Maxie, Wayne Morgan
9. DH Adam Lind, Joel Grampietro, Chris Buckley
RHP Roy Halladay, Bus Campbell, Chris Bourjos; RP (tie) Mike Timlin, Jim Hughes and Mark Eichhorn, Wayne Morgan.
We used WAR to calculate the all-time team.
WAR represents Wins Above Replacement determining the value of a player’s total contributions derived from baserunning, batting, fielding, and pitching showing the number of additional wins a player contributes to a team vs. a replacement level player at that position, usually a minor leaguer.
Starting pitchers WAR G W-L ERA
1995 1st (17 over-all) RHP Roy Halladay 64.6 410 201-104 3.37, Arvada, Col. HS
1978 5th (106th) RHP Dave Stieb 57.2 443 176-137 3.44, Southern Illinois University
1982 2nd (30th) LHP David Wells 53.6 660 239-157 4.13 San Diego HS
1982 3rd (56th) LHP Jimmy Key 49.6 470 186-117 3.51 Clemson University
1993 1st (15th) RHP Chris Carpenter 34.5 350 144-94 3.76 Manchester, NH HS
1986 5th (133rd) RHP Pat Hentgen 32.7 344 131-112 4.32 Fraser, MI HS
1988 28th (732nd) RHP Woody Williams 30.9 424 132-116 4.19 University of Houston
1985 1st-X (3rd) Todd Stottlemyre 23.2 372 138-121 1 4.28 Yakima Valley College
2003 3rd (80th) RHP Shaun Marcum 14.0 182 57-42 3.84 Missouri State University
2005 1st (6th) LHP Ricky Romero 9.8 127 51-45 4.14 California State Fullerton
Relievers WAR G W-L S ERA
1987 5th (127th) Mike Timlin 19.6 1058 75-73 141 3.63 Southwestern University
1979 2nd* (30th) Mark Eichhorn 19.6 563 48-43 32 3.00 Cabrillo College
1990 1st (22nd) Steve Karsay 11.2 357 32-39 41 4.01 Queens, NY HS
1988 3rd (82nd) David Weathers 10.9 964 73-88 75 4.25 Motlow State
1999 14th (433rd) Brandon Lyon 7.1 560 42-47 79 4.10 Dixie State College
2004 4th (117th) Casey Janssen 6.9 301 23-20 42 3.53 UCLA
1996 1st (4th) Billy Koch 5.6 379 29-25 163 3.89 Clemson University
1992 2nd (63rd) Tim Crabtree 4.4 342 21-22 9 4.20 Michigan State
Catchers WAR G AB HR BA OPS
1984 3rd (74th) Greg Myers 7.4 1108 3042 87 .255 .708 Riverside, Calif. HS
1978 3rd* (53rd) Geno Petralli 4.0 809 1874 24 .267 .703 Sacramento City College
1982 6th (134) Pat Borders 3.8 1099 3282 69 .253 .663 Lake Wales HS
2007 1st (21st) J.P. Arencibia 3.1 296 1029 55 .223 .707 Tennessee
First base WAR G AB HR BA OPS
1989 3rd (79th) John Olerud 58.0 2234 7592 255 .295 .863 Washington State
1996 10th (279th) Josh Phelps 3.2 465 1394 64 .273 .815 Rathdum, Id. HS
Second base WAR G AB HR BA OPS
1989 20th (523rd) Jeff Kent 55.2 2298 8498 377 .290 .855 University of California-Berkeley
1997 43rd (1280th) Orlando Hudson 30.6 1345 4825 93 .273 .752 Spartanburg Methodist
2003 1st (13th) Aaron Hill 23.9 1074 4095 126 .272 .761 LSU
Third base WAR G AB HR BA OPS
1996 7th (189th) Casey Blake 24.9 1265 4500 167 .264 .778 Wichita State
1991 3rd (94th) Chris Stynes 8.2 828 2326 51 .275 .734 Boca Raton, Fla. HS
2003 18th (530th) Ryan Roberts 5.9 489 1435 44 .244 .711 University of Texas
1981 1st-X (11th) Mike Sharperson 5.5 557 1203 10 .280 .719 Georgia Perimeter College
1988 1st (25th) Ed Sprague 5.2 1203 4095 152 .247 .737 Stanford
Shortstop WAR G AB HR BA OPS
1997 5th (149th) Michael Young 25.0 1874 7577 179 .300 .789 University of California, Santa Barbara
1991 13th (354th) Alex Gonzalez 11.1 1396 4977 137 .243 .694 Miami, Fla. HS
1998 1st (8th) Felipe Lopez 7.5 1185 4337 90 .264 .724 Altamonte Springs, Fla. HS
Outfielders WAR G AB HR BA OPS
1977 9th (233) Jesse Barfield 39.4 1428 4759 241 .256 .802 Joliet, IL HS
1991 1st (16th) Shawn Green 34.5 1951 7082 328 .283 .850 Tustin Calif. HS
1997 1st (5th) Vernon Wells 29.8 1654 6418 269 .272 .786 Arlington, Tex. HS
1978 1st (2nd) Lloyd Moseby 27.6 1588 5815 169 .257 .746 Oakland, Calif. HS
1999 1st (19th) Alex Rios 27.5 1352 5131 153 .279 .771 Guaynabo, PR HS
1992 1st (19th) Shannon Stewart 24.7 1386 5574 115 .297 .790 Miami, Fla. HS
1986 5th (130th) *Mark Whiten 13.9 940 3104 105 .259 .756 Pensacola Jr. College
1987 2nd (49th) Derek Bell 12.9 1210 4578 134 .276 .757 Tampa, Fla. HS
DH WAR G AB HR BA OPS
2004 3rd (83rd) Adam Lind 5.5 758 2785 122 .268 .784 University of South Alabama
*Denotes January draft
X-June secondary phase