December 27, 2022

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Part of a scout’s job is to ask a player how much money he is looking for ... as in home much will it take for said player to sign?

And then usually ask again.

The common answer in Canada from parents in recent years is “We want Naylor money.” Both Josh Naylor and Bo Naylor were first rounders and both were given over $2 million US.

In 2018, Cleveland drafted C-3B Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) from the Ontario Blue Jays and gave him a signing bonus of $2,578,138. Three years earlier the Miami Marlins selected 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) from the Ontario Blue Jays and gave him a $2.25 million bonus. Now both are members of the Guardians. There have been a couple of exceptions for high school Canadians, but more on them later.

When San Diego Padres scout Chris Kemlo asked the question of Braden Nett of Troy, Mo. the answer wasn’t “Naylor money.” Or $1.5 million. The answer was $10,000. That’s it, that’s all.

Nett had pitched for the St. Charles Community College Cougars and Williamsport Crosscutters of the Draft League. All he wanted was to get his foot in the door. As Justin Morneau (New Westminster, BC), who signed in 1999 for $295,000, always said “you don’t make life-changing money on draft day ... you make it in the big leagues.”

So, the draft came. The draft went. Nett went undrafted. Players were signed. And when all was said and done the Padres had spent all of their allotted $4.085 million signing pool -- save for $10,000.

The light went on and Kemlo called Nett.

“What are you doing?” the scout asked.

“Working at Home Depot,” the then retired pitcher said.

“Do you still want to sign for $10,000?”

“Do I?”

And like that Nett was off to the the Padres training camp in Arizona. He pitched three innings in the Arizona Complex League allowing one run. His foot is in the door.

“I felt good about that signing, it was special,” Kemlo told me one day in Ajax this summer.

That $10,000 bonus, give-a-player-a-chance story is not the only reason that Kemlo (Oshawa, Ont.) is the 2022 winner of the Jim Ridley award as Canadian Baseball Network scout of the year. He is the 29th winner of the award ... and bear down men because we think we already have a special choice for our 30th.

“Chris does a terrific job,” said Logan White, former Los Angeles Dodgers scouting director, now the Padres director of player personnel. “He’s really a good evaluator and knows his players very well.”

* * *

Kemlo is following if the footsteps of former Canadian Baseball Network scout of the year, Canadian scouting legend, Murray Zuk (Souris, Man.), a man who never missed a pitch. Kemlo drafts, besides Nett include:

_ OF Owen Caissie, who is currently ranked the 10th best prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization. Kemlo drafted Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) from the FieldHouse Pirates in the second round in 2020. At class-A South Bend in 2022, Caissie hit .254 with 21 doubles, a triple, 11 homers, 58 RBIs and a .751 OPS in 105 games. AND ... he does not turn 20 until July.

“Chris Kemlo had everything to do with Caissie,” said Zuk. “I had turned him in the year that I retired but he still had another year of high school left. I understand that he really came on strong in his draft year and that would be all Kemlo.”

Caissie was part of the seven-player deal between the Cubs and the Padres. The Cubs sent Yu Darvish and Victor Caratini to the Padres for Zach Davis plus minor leaguers Ismael Mena, Reginald Preciado, Yeison Santana and Caissie. (We became a fan of Darvish during his Texas Rangers days. I lost my good pal Gerry Fraley, who had covered the Rangers when Darvish pitcher there. Darvish donated $10,000 to a Go-Fund-Me page to help out Frales’ twin sons Sam and Tyson Fraley.)

And in the Padres fold Kemlo has:

_ RHP Garrett Hawkins (Biggar, Sask.), listed as No. 15 on MLB Pipeline’s top 30. The 6-foot-5, 230 pounder pitched for the Vauxhall Academy Jets and was drafted in the ninth round from the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and Trenton Thunder in the Draft League.

In 2022, Hawkins was 4-8 with a 4.39 ERA in 21 starts at two stops. He made four starts at class-A Fort Wayne and 17 at Lake Elsinore walking 30 and striking out 120 in 93 innings.

_And 20th on the Padres top 30 is Vancouver-born, C Lamar King, a fourth rounder from Calvert Hall College in Baltimore, Md.). King was selected by the Padres Mid-Atlantic scout, Danny Sader.

_Kemlo also drafted Ontario Terriers C Hugh Pinkney (Etobicoke, Ont.) who elected to attend Rutgers University.

“Chris is a huge part of our scouting staff,” said scouting director Chris Kemp. “He also cross-checks players for us across the world when not scouting players in Canada.”

And then there those that Kemlo coached with the Toronto Mets organization ...

_ INF Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.), who was the top Canuck drafted in 2021 as a first rounder by the Milwaukee Brewers (33rd over-all), who went to Wright State and was the sixth hitter selected in North America.

_ OF Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.), chosen in the fourth round from the Cal State Northridge Matadors by the Oakland A’s in 2021. Clarke hit inside-the-park homers in back-to-back games at class-A Lansing. On the season, spending time between class-A Stockton and Lansing, he hit .248 with 23 doubles, four triples, 15 RBIs, 47 RBIs and an .834 OPS in 93 games. He has also been invited to the A’s major league camp this spring.

* * *

Reasons why the Padres have spent more cash on Canadians players than any of the other teams (we count the Montreal Expos and the Washington Nationals as two franchises) led by ...

_ RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) was a first-round pick (eighth over-all) out of Stanford University. The ex-Ontario Terrier was given a signing bonus of $3,963,045. He was 15-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 32 starts walking 47 and fanning 128 in 186 1/3 innings.

Zuk did the home visit to Quantrill prior to him going to Stanford and was given credit at the time of the signing.

Ex-Whalley Chief SS Kevin Nicholson (Surrey, BC)

_ SS Kevin Nicholson (Surrey BC) was a first rounder (27th over-all from Stetson College The former Whalley Chief was given a signing bonus of $830,000 by then GM, the late, great Kevin Towers.

_ RHP Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) was a fourth rounder from the Niagara University Purple Eagles. The one-time Kingston Thunder ace signed for $512,400. Brash works out of the Seattle Mariners.

Zuk did a home visit for Brash in Kingston his final year of high school as James Parker was the associate scout who brought in Zuk to see him. Zuk was also at the pre-draft workout in San Diego after Brash he was brought in by American scout the year he was drafted.

* * *

Getting back to high schoolers who almost got Naylor money:

Year Round Team Position Name Hometown Teams Bonus

2014 2nd Mariners OF Gareth Morgan North York, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays/National Jr. Team $2 Million US

2015 1st (38th) Braves RHP Mike Soroka Calgary Alta. Calgary PBF Redbirds/National Jr. Team $1,974,700

2007 1st (11th) Mariners RHP Phillippe Aumont Gatineau Que. ABC/National Jr. Team $1.9 Million

2008 1st (8th) Brewers C-INF Brett Lawrie Langley BC Langley Blaze/National Jr. Team $1.7 Million

2017 2nd Twins RHP Landon Leach Pickering Ont. Toronto Mets/National Jr. Team $1.4 Million

2017 2nd Orioles INF Adam Hall London Ont. Great Lake Canadians/National Jr. Team $1.3 Million

2016 2nd Diamondbacks C Andrew Yerzy Toronto Ont. Toronto Mets/National Jr. TeaM $1,214,100

2020 2nd Padres OF Owen Caissie Burlington Ont. FieldHouse Pirates/National Jr. Team $1,200,004

2000 1st (30th) INF Scott Thorman Cambridge Ont. Team Ontario/National Jr. Team $1.125 Million

* * *

Canadian Baseball Network Scout Of The Year

Re-Named Jim Ridley Award In 2009

Year Winner Hometown Club

1994 Bill Scherrer, Buffalo, NY, Florida Marlins

1995 Bill MacKenzie, Ottawa, Ont., Colorado Rockies

1996 Tim Harkness, Hampton, Ont., San Diego Padres

1997 Ed Heather, Cambridge, Ont., Toronto Blue Jays

1998 Wayne Norton, Port Moody, BC, Baltimore Orioles

1999 Walt Jefferies, Paris, Ont., Toronto Blue Jays

2000 Claude Pelletier, Ste-Lezare, Que., New York Mets

2001 Jim Kane, Brampton, Ont., Atlanta Braves

2002 Ken Lenihan, Bedford, N.S., MLB Scouting Bureau

2003 Dick (The Legend) Groch, St. Clair, Mich. Milwaukee Brewers

2004 Jim Ridley, Burlington, Ont., Minnesota Twins

2005 Walt Burrows, Brentwood Bay, BC, MLB Scouting Bureau

2006 Alex Agostino, Montreal, Que., Philadelphia Phillies

2007 Howie Norsetter, Sydney, Australia, Minnesota Twins

2008 Greg Hamilton, Ottawa, Ont., Baseball Canada

2009 Jim Ridley, Burlington, Ont., Minnesota Twins

2010 Jay Lapp, London, Ont., Milwaukee Brewers

2011 Doug Mathieson, Langley, BC, Arizona Diamondbacks

2012 Andrew Tinnish, Burlington, Ont., Blue Jays

2013 Murray Zuk, Souris, Man., San Diego Padres

2014 Wayne Norton, Port Moody, BC, Seattle Mariners

2015 Jim Stevenson, Tulsa, Oak., Houston Astros

2016 Doug Mathieson, Langley, BC, Arizona Diamondbacks

2017 Chris Reitsma, Calgary, Alta., Baltimore Orioles

2018 Bill Byckowski, Georgetown, Ont., Cincinnati Reds

2019 Matt Higginson, Grimsby, Ont, Oakland A’s.

2020 Lonnie Goldberg, Overland Park, Kan., Kansas City Royals.

2021 Takeshi ‘T-Money’ Sakurayama, Hartford, Conn., Texas Rangers.

2022 Chris Kemlo, Oshawa, Ont., San Diego Padres.