February 27, 2021

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Finally!

Finally, George Springer is a member of the Blue Jays.

Not as in -- it’s about time -- after he left the Houston Astros to take an 88-day walk into winter’s free-agent wonderland, before signing a six-year, $150-million US deal.

He is a member of the Blue Jays ... finally after scout Michael Pesce fought long and hard for Toronto to select Springer in the 2011 amateur draft of high schoolers and collegians.

Pesce was the Jays’ northeast area supervisor that season. He met with all the deep thinkers and decision makers -- area scouts, cross checkers, assistant general managers, GM Alex Anthopoulos, plus the GM’s special assistants like Dana Brown and Tony LaCava and, of course, scouting director Andrew Tinnish, who had hired Pesce. They gathered at the Jays’ complex in Dunedin to discuss, compare and argue over players’ abilities with the final goal being to arrange the big board in order of talent and signability heading into the draft. Just like 29 other clubs.

“George Springer was ‘my guy,’ I truly liked everything about him, I mean, I was pounding the table fighting for him,” said Pesce earlier this month.

Pesce had first scouted the UConn Huskies outfielder in 2010 when Springer was a sophomore.

“The other Jays scouts weren’t as excited about Springer as I was. They thought he was a second or third round guy.”

At some time during the Springer discussion, a now legendary exchange took place.

A Jays scout said to Pesce: “Ahhh ... wait until he plays against guys from California, Florida and Texas. Springer’s going to be like a lot of other kids from Northern schools ... he’ll melt like a snowflake facing pitching from the big three hot beds.”

Pesce defended Springer’s talents.

The Jays scout responded: “I’ll bet you a steak diner he doesn’t get out of double-A.”

Pesce: “You’re on!”

“We had a break in the action, I walked out of the room and thought ‘it was me against the entire room,’” Pesce recalled. “I mean if we’re not in on a guy like George Springer, what are we doing?”

* * *

On draft day the Jays were set to take RHP Tyler Beede, a Groton, Mass. high schooler with their 21st pick overall. Jays scouts had been on Beede early, who was also from Pesce’s area.

Springer was long gone before the Jays had their turn, going 11th overall to the Houston Astros.

The Jays didn’t get Beede either, as he turned down the Jays’ offer to pitch for the Vanderbilt University Commodores. Slot money for the 21st pick was $1,332,000.

Due to the loss of signing first rounder Beede, the Jays received an extra pick in 2012. They used the 22nd pick overall to select Duke RHP Marcus Stroman giving him $1.8 million.

Three Junes later Beede went in the first round -- 14th overall -- to the San Francisco Giants, signing for a bonus of $2,613,200. Beede pitched for two games for the Giants in 2018, made 22 starts in 2019 and underwent Tommy John surgery last year. He is expected to pitch for the Giants this season.

* * *

“George went before our pick, away before,” Pesce said, “but obviously they have him now. I’m glad the Blue Jays finally got him. I hope George can help bring home a championship the city and the country deserves.

“They are a blue-chip organization.”

Pesce scouted two years with the Astros, four with the Jays and four more with the New York Mets. The scout has drafted RHP Justin Dunn of the New York Mets in the first round (19th) in 2016 from Boston College, now with the Seattle Mariners and LHP Anthony Kay a first rounder (31st) for the Mets in 2016 from UConn. Along with Simeon Woods Richardson, Kay was acquired by the Jays in the Stroman deal.

It was at Storrs, Conn. that Pesce first saw Springer. The first time at an indoor workout inside the UConn bubble. He had not scouted Springer as a high schooler.

“We could sit all day long, watch hitters and not see a lot, but a guy like George really jumped out at you,” Pesce said. “The athleticism ... Wow. He looked like an impact big leaguer. I saw something in George. He was a five-tool guy.

“His bat speed alone, his speed, his arm and he can play centre field. He had above average tools in each area.”

What Pesce saw in the sophomore is what fans see every post season: an athlete. True hindsight is 20-20, but going back this was not a scout’s second guess. It was a first guess.

“I saw something in him that others in our organization didn’t see, I thought the kid would be a big leaguer, a player who would impact the club,” said Pesce, who added Springer’s “make up was off the charts,” how he came from a “good family” and “comes from good stock.”

Pesce says Jays scouts saw too much swing and miss in Springer’s swing.

“Yes, he had some swing and miss,” Pesce said, “but he had great tools and tremendous bat speed.”

As a sophomore, he had 70 strikeouts in 318 plate appearances in 64 games in 2010. The next year he cut down his strikeout to 38 in 293 plate appearances in the same number of games.

* * *

In 2011, UCLA’s Gerrit Cole was the No. 1 in North America, going to the Pittsburgh Pirates and UCLA’s Trevor Bauer to the Arizona Diamondbacks went second with Rice University’s Anthony Rendon going sixth to the Nationals. Then came two high schoolers Cleveland took Francisco Lindor eighth from Montverde, Fla. and the Cubs picked Javier Baez, of Jacksonville, Fla.

If they had a re-do on the first round based on what they have achieved to date it would look like this: Rendon, Lindor, Springer, Cole and Trevor Story, an Irving, Tex. high schooler. Yep, Springer made it out of double-A playing in as many post-season games (63) as the number of post-season games the Jays have played (63) in their 44 years of existence.

* * *

Springer is the best centre fielder the Jays have had since Devon White, who answered when asked why he never ever dove: “because I don’t have to.”

Springer is better than Vernon Wells, Lloyd Moseby, Kevin Pillar, Colby Rasmus, Mookie Wilson, Otis Nixon, Barry Bonnell or Rick Bosetti. He’s not better than White.

“Willie Mays in my opinion was an excellent centre fielder,” said a former scout turned general manager. “In the last 30 years. I have not seen a player with better range in the outfield than White. His strides ate up the ground. And on most balls in the gap his gait resembled a glide compared to all-out running.”

* * *

Now, Pesce works for True Gravity, the agency run by the respected Blake Corosky of Toronto. Corosky represents 1B Evan White, of Gahanna, Ohio, a first round choice of the Mariners in 2017 and then in 2019, negiotiated a six-year, $24 million deal for White.

Corosky met Pesce for the first time about 12 years ago in Florida and was “blown away almost immediately by his quiet knowledge of the game and the fact that he was so generous and approachable.”

“We spoke a lot over the years and he approached me a few years ago. He has been helping us with recruiting in Long Island and the Northeast ever since,” Corosky said. “Mike’s reputation and connections are absolutely incredible.”

Corosky told the story of being at Fordham with Pesce in 2019 when Pesce saw a lot of the area scouts for the first time in a long time.

“It was like watching a receiving line at a wedding – guys were actually lined up to say hello to Mike,” said Corosky. “He added almost instant credibility to our efforts. Definitely one of the good guys in this business.”

Pesce, starting his fourth year as an agent, said, “We’re a medium-sized agency by design.” His value to the agency is that he can pass along some things from the pro side.

* * *

Besides Beede, the Jays also failed to sign first-rounders LHP James Paxton (Ladner, BC), chosen 37th overall from the University of Kentucky in 2009 and RHP Phil Bickford, a Westlake, Cal. high schooler, choosen 10th in 2015.

One year later, Paxton was chosen in the fourth round by the Seattle Mariners and was given $942,500. To make up for not signing Paxton, Tinnish selected Noah Syndergaard from Mansfield, Tex. The Giants chose Bickford three years later in the first round (18th) giving him $2,333,800.

* * *

What ever happened to the bet, for Pesce certainly won. Springer’s last game at double-A June 23, 2013 with the Corpus Christi Hooks.

“Oh, I got my steak dinner,” Pesce said with a laugh.

And who paid off the bet?

“He’s still there, he’s a friend.”