Oh Canada! Canucks Becoming Sought After Baseball Players

The Jays are one of many clubs that are starting to pay more attention to talents coming out of the great white North. And who can blame them when the likes of Joey Votto – who just landed a $39 million extensionafter taking off like a rocket in 2010. If they can grab some of that talent a little earlier than has been the case, maybe they can land the next great Canuck! Since the Jays have seemingly increased their chase for Canadian talent, drafting a few guys in 2010 and chasing both Brett Lawrie and Russell Martin, I thought it would be important to keep close tabs on what Canadians are out there to be had. It’s obvious that the Jays are now focused on finding the next Canadian gem and to make headway in getting Canadians all over to think of the Jays as Canada’s team.

First, here’s an updated list of MLB, Minors, and Just Drafted Canadian Talent in Baseball. I’ll also touch on the best future talent available in the 2011 draft.

Canadians in MLB or on the brink of being in MLB

Catchers:

First Basemen:

Joey Votto (CIN)
Justin Morneau (MIN)

Second Basemen:

Brett Lawrie (TOR)

Short Stops:

None, a weakness of Canadian development programs

Third Basemen:

Mark Teahen (CHW)

Outfielders:

Jason Bay (NYM)
Michael Saunders (SEA)
Matt Stairs (SD)
Adam Stern (MLW)

Starting Pitching:

Erik Bedard (SEA)
Jeff Francis (KC)
Ryan Dempster (CHC)
Scott Richmond (TOR)
Shawn Hill (TOR)

Relief Pitching:

Jesse Crain (CHW)
Rich Harden (OAK)
John Axford (MLW)
Blake Hawksworth (LAD)
Chris Leroux (PIT)
Ryan Z. Braun (CHW)
Scott Mathieson (PHI)

Outside of the list above, the following players have signed big bonuses (above $200,000) in the minors and are in order of the year they were drafted and most can still be found in the minors:

2010 – 4 players: $1,984,000

C Kellin Deglan – TEX – $1,000,000
LHP Evan Rutckyj – NYY – $500,000
OF Marcus Knecht – TOR – $250,000
INF Chris Bisson – SD – $234,000

2009 – 1 player: $300,000

RHP Steven Inch – PHI – $300,000

2008 – 1 player: $1,700,000

2B Brett Lawrie – MLW – $1,700,000

2007 – 7 players: $3,918,500

RHP Phillippe Aumont – PHI – $1,900,000
RHP Kyle Lotzkar – CIN – $594,000
RHP Trystan Magnuson – TOR – $462,500
C Lars Davis – COL – $337,000
RHP Mitch Nielsen – KC – $225,000
RHP Evan Hildebrandt – CIN – $200,000
RHP Colin Buckborough – SEA – $200,000

2006 – 1 player: $435,000

INF Kyle Orr – LAD – $435,000

2005 – 2 players: $857,500

OF Nick Weglarz – CLE – $435,000
C Chris Robinson – DET – $422,500

2004 – 4 players: $980,500

RHP Philippe Alexandre-Valiquette – CIN – $300,000
RHP Alexandre Periard – MLW – $243,000
OF Michael Saunders – SEA – $237,500
C Mike Nickeas – TEX – $200,000

2003 – 1 player: $240,000

3B Jamie Romak – ATL – $240,000

2002 – 4 players: $5,950,000

LHP Adam Loewen – BAL – $3,200,000
LHP Jeff Francis – COL – $1,850,000
1B Joey Votto – CIN – $600,000
C George Kottaras – SD – $300,000

2001 – 1 player: $348,000

OF Adam Stern – ATL – $348,000

2000 – 1 player: $1,125,000

INF Scott Thorman – ATL – $1,125,000

1999 – 1 player: $295,000

1B Justin Morneau – MIN – $295,000

1997 – 3 players: $1,705,000

SS Kevin Nicholson – SD – $830,000
OF Ntema Ndungidi – BAL – $500,000
RHP Aaron Myette – CHW – $375,000

1996 – 1 player: $425,000

RHP Chris Reitsma – BOS – $425,000

1995 – 1 player: $200,000

RHP Ryan Dempster – TEX – $200,000

Other Notable Canadians who received less than $200,000: RHP Chris Leroux (FLA – $152,000), OF Dalton Pompey (’10 – TOR $150,000), LHP James Paxton, unsigned, RHP Steve McKinnon (’10 – TEX – $150,000), Jake Eliopolous (’09 – TOR – unsigned), RHP Nicholas Purdy and INF Randy Schwartz – both with TOR.

You can clearly see that from 2002 onwards, Canadians really started to get noticed and the pace of consistently high ranking bonuses stepped up as a result. A lot of credit needs to be given to both coaching and scouting within Canada, both of which became integral parts of the talent that has arisen from Canada. However, you also have to credit great Canadian players such as Larry Walker, Ryan Dempster, and Justin Morneau how provided Canadian ball players with stars to look up to and surely created some of the more recent interest in baseball in Canada. That’s something which goes a long way to increasing the number of and overall talent of players in competitions.

Although a lot more attention is being paid to talent in Canada, it does look like the teams signing Canadians to big contracts are a group of ATL – TEX – TOR – NYY – BOS – BAL – KC – MIN – PIT – SD – CHW and OAK. The remainder have been fairly timid in their chase of Canadian talent.

Top Canadians for the upcoming 2011 draft (courtesy of Canadian Baseball Network)

1 – Tom Robson – RHP – 6’4″ 190 lbs, from Ladner BC (ranks 72nd on Baseball America’s top 100 HS list for ’11 draft)
2 – Skylar Janisse – RHP – 6’4″ 200 lbs, from Maidstone ONT
3 – Ali Simpson – LHP – 6’2″ 180 lbs, from Campbell River BC
4 – Justin Atkinson – INF – 6’0″ 175 lbs, from North Surrey BC
5 – Peter Bako – C – 6’1″ 190 lbs, from Mississauga ONT
6 – Roberto Suppa – RHP – 6’5″ 205 lbs, from Connor ONT
7 – Dustin Houle – C-3B – 6’1″ 185 lbs, from Penticton BC
8 – Blake Carruthers – OF – 5’11” 190 lbs, from Calgary Alberta
9 – Danny Britton-Foster – RHP – 6’2″ 215 lbs, from Ladysmith BC
10 – Cory Scammell – OF – 6’5″ 210 lbs, from Edmonton Alberta

If interested in the numerous players who have signed letter of intent to play throughout the U.S. and Canada, you can find their names and information here. I expect that the Jays are working hard towards finding a gem in this group and that they’ll likely draft one or a few in the ’11 draft.

I look forward to seeing whether Brett Lawrie, Nicholas Purdy and Marcus Knechtcan become homeland heroes in Toronto within the next few years. They all have the talent to make big impacts in The Show and would definitely become more than easily marketable players for the Toronto Blue Jays, Canada’s team. The “Winter Tour” that has been travelling across the country this off season is another indication of Toronto’s increased dedication to becoming a prominent part of the Canadian conscience from coast-to-coast. If it works, it could provide the Jays with a much larger market than the majority of MLB Teams and create revenues that would result in more star caliber players sticking with the Jays.

Therefore, Canadian baseball player success, if the Jays can scout and select the appropriate players, could also lead to many years of Jays success. With that in mind….

Go Canada Go!

– MG

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