By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

We mentioned the other day how this draft was “not too bad,” the other day ... as 17 Canadians were selected in the 20-round draft.

That’s 17 despite zero ball for scouts to evaluate Canadian high schools for 18 months.

That’s 17 players despite the fact the Junior National Team had to whack six (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) trips to Florida, the Dominican and Mexico.

Some players went to the mountains south of the border to be scouted which helped.

But we got to looking at the numbers. In the past five 40-round drafts an average of 25.6 Canadians were selected. We did a poll of 15 women and men who are in the know on what to expect in this draft and the projection was 10.467 selections. Only Les McTavish (Lethbridge, Alta.) of the Vauxhall Jets and Houston Astros scout Jim Stevenson (Leaside, Ont.) who signed Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) now of the Seattle Mariners were high-end men ... both predicting 15.

Well, 17 in 20 rounds comes out to 34 in 40 rounds -- using my Kingston math, that’s a big step over 25.6 players selected. Plus six free-agent Canuck catchers signed.

Not bad?

How about out-STAND-ing!

Of the 17 Canucks drafted 15 signed, 12 for six-figure totals. We’re uncertain on the signing bonus on one player. It was the best draft for Canadians in 16 years.

Former Toronto Mets INF Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.) going first overall among Canadians (33rd in North America) kicked off the most productive session going back to 2005 when C Chris Robinson of the Illinois Illini was the top man in the third ... two picks ahead of Team Ontario’s Nick Weglarz (Stevensville, Ont.).

Now that covers some ground.

The top drafts ...

2002 48 Canadians in 50 rounds (96%) -- LHP Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC) Whalley Chiefs, (4th over-all, first) Orioles

2003 46 in 50 (92%) -- RHP Brooks McNiven (North Vancouver, BC) UBC (123rd, 4th) Giants. -

1999 46 in 50 (92%) -- C Justin Morneau (New Westminster, BC) North Delta Blue (89th, 3rd), Twins.

2001 45 in 50 (90%) -- OF Adam Stern (Port Stanley, Ont.) Nebraska (105th, 3rd) Braves

2005 43 in 50 (86%) -- C Chris Robinson (Dorchester, Ont.) Illinois (90th, 3rd) Tigers

2021 17 of 20 (85%) -- INF Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.) Wright State (33rd, 1st) Brewers.

2009 42 in 50 (84%) -- LHP James Paxton (Ladner, BC) Kentucky (37th, 1st) Blue Jays

That’s one way of peeling a banana ... number of Canadians picked per number of rounds.

What if we figured the percentage of Canadians drafted from the total number of players selected

Drafts

Year Rounds Canadians Total Pct.

2002 50 48 1,482 3.24%

1999 50 46 1,474 3.18

2003 50 46 1,498 3.11

2001 50 45 1,485 3.03

1997 50 41 1,428 2.93

2005 50 43 1,501 2.86

2021 20 17 612 2.78

2009 40 42 1,521 2.76%

Again it it the best since 2005 when of the 1,501 players drafted in North America 43 were Canadians -- or 2.86%. And seventh best going back to 1997.

In July there were 17 Canadians selected out of 612 players chosen (2.78%).