Blue Jays sign third-round pick Dasan Brown

Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum Dasan Brown (Oakville, Ont.) has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays after being drafted by them in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft. Photo: Baseball Canada

July 1, 2019

By Jay Blue

Blue Jays from Away

Just in time for Canada Day, the Blue Jays finalized their signing of 17-year-old Canadian outfielder of Dasan Brown, selected in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft.

Brown Tweeted that he was "Proud to officially be a part of the Blue Jays family" after he came to an agreement for $800,000, about $122,000 over slot value for the 88th overall pick.

Brown won't be 18 until the end of September, making him quite young for this draft but he's gotten lots of experience with the Canadian Junior National Team. In a way, he's considered to be quite raw with "top-of-the-scale speed" that he uses on the basepaths and in the outfield. But his hitting needs work and MLB.com noted that his strength needs to improve.

In a way, the signing of Brown is a bit of a risk for the Jays, selecting a very toolsy outfielder whose skills may or may not grow into his talent. Brown kind of reminds me of Demi Orimoloye although Orimoloye had better-developed power coming out of high school back in 2015. And, four years later, Orimioloye has teased with his power and athleticism, but still hasn't quite put things together, as he's hitting .238/.304/.383 with the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays, putting up very similar numbers to what he did last year with the Carolina Mudcats at the same level with Milwaukee's organization last year.

This signing means that the Blue Jays have signed nine of their top 10 draft picks with only sophomore catcher Philip Clarke, who has been playing, until recently, with his college team, the College World Series champs Vanderbilt. Slot value for Clarke's pick is $154,900 and the Jays can sign him for up to $553,965 without losing draft picks.

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