By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

After six straight drafts which saw a Canadian go in either the first or second round, 2019 was supposed to be a down year.

The first Canadian would go in the fourth round?

Fifth round?

While some drafts are deep, the 2019 draft was supposed to be about as shallow as a wagon rut in West Texas when it had not rained in a month.

Well, that “drafting is not an exact science” line still holds up -- just like predicting.

Previous first rounders in the last six years were C-3B Noah Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays who went to the Cleveland Indians in 2018, RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) drafted from Stanford University by the San Diego Padres in 2016 and 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) from the Ontario Blue Jays to the Miami Marlins in 2015.

The three second rounders were RHP Landon Leach (Pickering, Ont.) of the Toronto Mets chosen by the Minnesota Twins, OF Gareth Morgan (North York, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays to the Seattle Mariners and LHP Rob Zastryzny (Edmonton, Alta.) of the University of Missouri, who went to the Chicago Cubs in 2014.

Both Naylor brothers, Quantrill, Leach and Morgan all played for Greg Hamilton and the Canadian Junior National Team

Now, the 2020 draft -- whether it is five or 10 rounds -- it is going to be bad news for Canadian players. You are a Canuck college or graduating higher schooler ... would you have a better chance of being selected in a 40-round process, or 10 rounds or five rounds?

Silly question.

Despite the billions the industry earned in 2020 the 30 teams have not earned much (outside of online merchandising?) since the final turn styles clicked in Florida on March 12. Whether the financial crisis is real they are cutting money for the draft. If you are not drafted you can only be given $20,000 US as a signing bonus. A lot of high schoolers will be going off to school in the fall.

If we have been critical of the Blue Jays for ignoring Canadian talent -- we have -- we should praise them when they step up and wear the flag. It was Blue Jays scouts who helped make the 2019 draft a success for Canadians.

Since departed scouting director Steve Sanders, who joined former Jays executive Ben Cherington, new Pittsburgh Pirates general manager, and former head of Canadian scouting Jamie Lehman (Brampton, Ont.), who now mines the talent-rich California area, pulled the trigger when the time came in the war room.

Blue Jays coordinator of amateur scouting Harry Einbinder clicked the “on” button on the conference call at the prompt and said “Toronto Blue Jays select I.D. number (1234 or whatever) OF Dasan Brown of Oakville, Ont.”

Canadian scouts Kory Lafreniere (Sault Ste. Marie) was the signing scout on Brown of the Ontario Blue Jays, selected in the third round. Brown was both the highest Canadian selected in 2019 and the highest Canadian high schooler the Jays have drafted and signed since fourth rounder RHP Tom Robson (Richmond, BC) the Langley Blaze who given a $325,000 bonus in 2011.

Adam Arnold (London, Ont.) and veteran Jay Lapp (London, Ont.) did the legwork on Brown. This spring Arnold had the Four Corners: Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. The Jays have hired former Minnesota Twin Rene Tosoni (Coquitlam, BC) for 2020.

Lafreniere and the scouts saw their work pay off in the 26th round when Einbinder said “the Toronto Blue Jays select outfielder Jean-Christophe Masson of Levis, Que.

The Jays went over slot in both cases giving Brown of the Ontario Blue Jays a $797,500 (US) signing bonus which was over the suggested slot of $678.60. Selected from the Academy Baseball Canada, Masson was given a $297,500 bonus. So they spent $1.095 Million on two picks.

It is the first time in franchise history that the Jays had spent seven figures on Canadians. The previous high was in 2010 when the Jays spent $600,000 on third rounder Marcus Knecht (North York, Ont.) from Connors State College ($250,000) and 16th round selection Dalton Pompey (Mississauga, Ont.) from the Oakville Royals.

The Toronto Blue Jays also selected C-1B Owen Diodati (Niagara Falls, Ont.) from the Great Lake Canadians in the 29th round, Great Lake grad OF Noah Myers (Wyoming, Ont.) in the 30th round from Wabash Valley College and RHP Braden Halladay, son of Hall of Famer Roy Halladay, in the 32nd round -- like the number his father wore.

All three had schools with strong programs: Diodati went to the University of Alabama, Myers to the University of South Carolina and Halladay to Penn State.

In all, nine players signed six-figure deals

The Fine Nine

3rd round Toronto Blue Jays OF Dasan Brown Oakville, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays $ $797,500

3rd Yankees OF Jacob Sanford Cole Harbour, NS Western Kentucky $597,500

4th Padres RHP Matt Brash Kingston, Ont. Niagara University $512,400

18th Twins INF Edouard Julien Quebec City, Que. Auburn University $493,000

12th A’s INF T.J. Schofield-Sam Brampton, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays $320,000

26th Toronto Blue Jays OF Jean-Christophe Masson Levis, Que. Academy Baseball Canada $297,500

7th Mariners LHP Adam Macko Stony Plain, Alta. Vauxhall Academy $250,000

5th Cubs RHP Josh Burgmann Nanaimo, BC Washington University $225,000

27th Braves RHP Indigo Diaz Langley, BC Michigan State University $125,000

Signed

Toronto Blue Jays

OF Dasan Brown, third round Oakville, Ont. Ontario Blue Jays/Canadian Junior National Team $797,500 (All figures US)

OF Jean Christophe Masson, 26th round, Levis, Que., Academy Baseball Canada $297,500

New York Yankees

OF Jake Sanford, third round, Cole Harbour, NS, Western Kentucky University $597,500

1B Kyle MacDonald, 27th round, Mississauga, Ont., Arkansas Sate University $5,000

Minnesota Twins

INF Edouard Julien, 18th round, Quebec City, Que., Auburn University $493,000

LHP Niall Windeler, 19th round, Toronto, Ont. University of British Columbia $30,000

San Diego Padres

RHP Matt Brash, fourth round, Kingston, Ont. -- Canada;s first capital, Niagara University overall) $512,400

Oakland A’s

INF TJ Schofield-Sam, 12th round, Brampton, Ont., Ontario Blue Jays/Canadian Junior National Team $320,000

Seattle Mariners

LHP Adam Macko, 7th round, Stony Plain, Alta., Vauxhall Jets $250,000

Chicago Cubs

RHP Josh Burgmann, fifth round, Nanaimo, BC, University of Washington) $225,000

RHP Tanner Jesson-Dalton, 17th round, Lethbridge, Alta. Sacramento State University $5,000

Atlanta Braves

RHP Indigo Diaz, 27th round, Vancouver, BC, Michigan State University $125,000

Cincinnati Reds

RHP Matt Gill, 27th round, Simsbury, Conn., Boston College $40,000

OF Matt Lloyd, 15th round Okotoks, Alta. Indiana University $25,000

Tampa Bay Rays

RHP Trevor Brigden, 17th round, Toronto, Ont., Okanagan College $5,000

Free Agents

Two free agents were signed after the draft: the Toronto Blue Jays grabbed RHP

Alexander Scotchko-Nolan (Burlington, Ont.) from the Brock University Badgers and Kalamazoo Growlers, while the Detroit Tigers inked C Cole MacLaren (Morel, PEI) from the Pitt University Panthers.

Drafted but unsigned

Toronto Blue Jays

C-1B Owen Diodati, 29th round, Niagara Falls, Ont. Great Lake Canadians/C University of Alabama

OF Noah Myers, 30th round, Wyoming, Ont., Wabash Valley College/C-University of South Carolina

RHP Braden Halladay, 32nd round Odessa, Fla. Clearwater Christian/C-Penn State

Texas Rangers

C Raphael Pelletier, 25th round, Mascouche, Que., Academy Baseball Canada/ Canadian Junior National Team

RHP Eli Saul, 29th round, Vancouver, BC, UBC Thunder, Canadian Junior National Team/C-Sacramento State University

Cincinnati Reds

C-1B Ryan Leitch, 30th round, Whitby, Ont. Toronto Mets/C-Marshall University

Minnesota Twins

LHP Antoine Jean, 17th round, Montreal, Que., Academy Baseball Canada/Canadian Junior National Team/C-University of Alabama

San Diego Padres

LHP Keegan Pulford-Thorpe, 33rd round, Newmarket, Ont. University of Central Florida Toronto Mets/Canadian Junior National Team/C-University of Alabama.

Philadelphia Phillies

LHP Thomas Little, 33rd round, Lethbridge, Alta., Vauxhall Academy/C-Northern Oklahoma College

St. Louis Cardinals

RHP Logan Hofmann, 35th round Muenster, Sask., Colby Community College.

Washington Nationals

INF Trei Cruz, 37th round, Houston, Tex., Rice Owls, INF Jaden Brown, 40th, Mississauga, Ont., Ontario Blue Jays/Canadian Junior National Team

Totals

By teams: Toronto Blue Jays 6, Cincinnati Reds 3, Chicago Cubs 2, Minnesota Twins 2, New York Yankees 2, San Diego Padres 2, Texas Rangers 2, Washington Nationals 2, Atlanta Braves 1, Detroit Tigers 1, Seattle Mariners 1, Oakland A’s 1, Philadelphia Phillies 1, St. Louis Cardinals 1.

By province: Ontario 11, Alberta 4, British Columbia 4, Quebec 4, Nova Scotia 1, Prince Edward Island 1, Saskatchewan 1.