The Canadian Press
Melissa Couto
The Toronto Blue Jays had watched Logan Warmoth progress from a teenager who went undrafted out of high school three years ago to a top-ranked shortstop in the NCAA this season.
So when Steve Sanders, Toronto’s director of amateur scouting, saw that Warmoth still was available after 21 picks of the MLB draft, he jumped at the chance to snag him–selecting the North Carolina Tar Heel 22nd overall with the first of Toronto’s two first-round picks.
“Being with North Carolina, we’ve seen a lot of him over the years,” Sanders said in a conference call yesterday following the conclusion of the first night of the draft.
“He really took a step forward in a number of facets: hit for more power, on-base, made strides defensively,” he noted.
“We’ve seen a steady progression of him since we started scouting him. . . .”
The Jays, one of only three teams picking twice in the first round, also selected right-handed pitcher Nate Pearson from the College of Central Florida with the 28th pick–compensation from Cleveland after Edwin Encarnacion signed with the Indians as a free agent in the off-season.
Toronto then chose high school catcher Hagen Danner in the second round (61st overall).
Warmoth, a 21-year-old from Orlando, Fla., helped lead the No. 2 Tar Heels to a 49-14 record this season, batting .336 with 10 home runs through 63 games.
Pearson, a 6’6″, 245-pound 20-year-old from Tampa, Fla., also impressed in his sophomore year at junior college.
He went 5-2 with a 1.56 ERA through 13 starts for the Patriots, striking out 118 over 81 innings to earn the Rawlings JUCO Pitcher of the Year honours from Perfect Game.
Danner is an 18-year-old from Huntington Beach, Calif. who also pitched with his high school team.
“We took three players from three different demographics, and not necessarily by design,” Sanders noted.
“Our goal going in was to take the best player available and that’s what we did–three very different players from very different backgrounds,” be explained.
“Three very different profiles, but again three players who we were excited to get in the spots we were able to get them.”
The Minnesota Twins selected California high school shortstop Royce Lewis with the No. 1 pick.
The Twins also selected the first Canadian of the draft–right-handed pitcher Landon Leach of Pickering, Ont.–in the second round (37th overall).
Adam Hall, a shortstop from London, Ont., went to the Baltimore Orioles with the 60th pick.
The draft continues through tomorrow.
