Baseball fans anxious for intrigue from their favourite sport got a small dose of it Wednesday night during an unpredictable first round of the 2020 MLB Draft. While the Toronto Blue Jays added to an already-strong position player core by selecting highly-regarded infielder Austin Martin, here’s how things played out around the rest of the league.
Unforeseen beginnings
Spencer Torkelson and his power bat were always going to go first overall to the Detroit Tigers, but pre-draft expectations went out the window when the Baltimore Orioles selected outfielder Heston Kjerstad with the second-overall pick. It could prove to be a shrewd bit of maneuvering, as the Orioles also held the No. 30 and 39 selections. Now, they can redirect the bonus pool money they presumably save cutting an under-slot deal with Kjerstad towards higher-upside talent later in the draft.
By the third pick of the night, every mock draft across the internet was blown up as the Miami Marlins took right-hander Max Meyer off the board. Industry consensus was that the Marlins were all over big left-hander Asa Lacy and would make him the first pitcher selected. But they went with Meyer’s electric two-pitch mix instead, which dropped Lacy into Kansas City’s lap at No. 4.
The Blue Jays were more than happy to take advantage of all the commotion up top and select the versatile, polished Martin at No. 5. Baseball America graded Martin as the best college hitter in the draft. FanGraphs ranked him as the second-best position player behind Torkelson. The majority of mock drafts had him going second overall and no later than third. Really, the draft couldn’t have broken any better for the Blue Jays.
“Obviously we’re keeping an eye on the mock drafts as they come out throughout the week and aware of industry consensus. But I think it really started to shake up at picks two and three,” said Blue Jays amateur scouting director Shane Ferrell. “We were surprised a little bit. But certainly prepared to make that selection. And we’re ecstatic to have the chance to pick Austin.”
Similarly, the Pittsburgh Pirates had to be thrilled to scoop up Nick Gonzales’ contact and power combination at No. 7, while the Colorado Rockies have to love the huge upside they acquired at No. 9 in Zac Veen, who was widely considered the top high school hitter in the draft. The Philadelphia Phillies may have also come away with a steal, selecting the hard-throwing, immensely projectable prep right-hander Mick Abel at No. 15. And the Brewers were likely ecstatic to see toolsy outfielder Garrett Mitchell still available at No. 20.
Prospect analysts across the industry have a strong track record of accurately predicting how things will play out on draft night. Their mock boards are very well-sourced, as club executives have little to gain from being coy with their intentions under a system in which teams can’t trade picks and bonus deals are often agreed to well in advance. But 2020’s widely inaccurate mock drafts have provided the exception to the rule.
“I don’t know if that’s to say that the industry was off the mark. There’s a lot that goes into making these selections, that factor into this. Like signability and things like that,” Farrell said. “So, we monitor [mock drafts] just for public opinion. But, ultimately, we’re relying on our own internal rankings and our internal scouts to build our lists and go from there.”
Around the AL East
The Orioles certainly threw a curveball into the draft by selecting Kjerstad second overall, and will presumably use the money they’re positioned to save there to add more high upside talent to the organization’s early-stages rebuild. But it’s unlikely that Jordan Westburg, the college shortstop the Orioles selected with the No. 30 overall pick, will be the beneficiary. There should be some high-ceiling pitchers available when the draft’s second night begins on Thursday, and it’ll be interesting to monitor whether Baltimore takes a flier at signing one to an above-slot deal.
And what about Toronto’s other rivals around the American League East? The Boston Red Sox had the next highest pick at No. 17 and went way off the board selecting high school infielder Nick Yorke, who was somewhere in the mid-100s on most draft boards. The Red Sox have only four picks in the draft, having lost their second-round selection as part of MLB’s punishment for sign stealing during the 2018 season.
Evidently, the Red Sox are high on Yorke’s bat and feel he was undervalued. “We feel if the spring had gotten a chance to play out, the public perception of him would be a lot different,” GM Chaim Bloom told reporters. Of course, it’s also possible Yorke is a pick Boston believes it can sign for well below slot value, saving money to take big swings on tough signs with their three remaining picks later in the draft.
Don’t forget, Bloom came to Boston from the Tampa Bay Rays, one of the leagues shrewdest organizations on draft day and one with an excellent track record of selecting and developing big league talent. It’s safe to say Bloom has a plan.
Speaking of the Rays, one must always pay close attention to their draft-day decisions — particularly when they select a big-armed high school pitcher scouts haven’t been closely following. That describes Nick Bitsko, a 17-year-old who was originally eligible for the 2021 draft but graduated high school early and entered this year’s instead only to have his senior season wiped out by a pandemic.
It is a classic Rays pick. Bitsko is super projectable at six-foot-four, 225 pounds and already throws a fastball in the mid-to-high 90s with a solid curveball and a developing change-up. He could’ve been one of the first names off the board next June, but a combination of clubs not being honed in on him ahead of this year’s draft and COVID-19 shutting down high school baseball this spring let him fall into Tampa’s lap towards the back of the first round a year earlier.
Profiles like Bitsko’s out of high school are inherently risky. But if you had to bet on any club’s development system maximizing his potential, wouldn’t it be the Rays? The organization also selected college shortstop Alika Williams with the No. 37 overall pick in the first competitive balance round.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees used the No. 28 selection on Austin Wells, a college catcher with a promising left-handed bat. The organization clearly feels highly about him as this is the second time they’ve drafted Wells, and even if his so-so defence moves him out from behind the plate someday, it appears the Yankees have added another potent offensive player to their system.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
