Blue Jays sign first round draft picks Jeff Hoffman and Max Pentecost

According to an official press release, the Toronto Blue Jays have signed both of their first round draft picks from the 2014 Rule 4 Draft.

Jeff Hoffman, 21, was drafted ninth overall by the Blue Jays and was considered one of the top talents in this year’s draft before undergoing Tommy John surgery in the spring. He will miss the rest of the 2014 season but should return to the mound at some point in 2015.

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Max Pentecost, also 21, was drafted eleventh by the Blue Jays. The catcher was named MVP of the Cape Cod League in 2013 and has good tools across the board with no real weaknesses. He’s expected to stick at catcher and was considered the best “true” catcher leading into this year’s draft.

According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sporstnet, both players will sign at the recommended slot. I figured they would be getting a bit more of a discount on Hoffman but at the end of the day I’m just happy that both players have finally signed.

Pentecost should be off to Vancouver to join the Class A Short-Season Canadians.