Blue Jays clearly like a baseball bloodline- draft Griffin Conine

The Blue Jays drafted another “baseball bloodline” into their organization, picking Griffin Conine in the 2nd round, son of former big leaguer, Jeff Conine.

The Blue Jays have plenty of reason to believe that baseball skills can be passed down from one generation to the next, at least according to their current MiLB system. The most talked about Blue Jay hasn’t even played his first big league game yet, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. comes by his talent honestly with a Hall of Famer as a father.

He’s not alone either, as the Blue Jays have other premium prospects in Cavan Biggio (his father Craig is also a Hall of Famer), Bo Bichette (son of Dante Bichette), and others like Kacy Clemens (son of Roger Clemens), and Dwight Smith Jr.(son of Sr.). It’s a common occurrence within the Blue Jays’ system, and one that’s worked out quite well for them thus far.

It should come as no surprise then that the Blue Jays added yet another son of a big league talent when they selected Griffin Conine in the second round of Tuesday’s MLB draft. Griffin’s father, Jeff, played 17 seasons in the big leagues and was perhaps best known for his time with the Florida Marlins, now called the Miami Marlins of course.

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Like his father, Griffin is an outfielder by trade, with his father playing 932 appearances in the outfield, second only to first time at first base with 1002 games played. Griffin profiles to be a better defensive player than his father was in the outfield, and also comes with quite a bit of pop in his bat, at least according to the scouting reports and videos I’ve come across thus far.

With Duke university, he hit 18 home runs in just 216 at bats, and was named to the second team All-ACC for a second straight time. According to an article from MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, he “is said to have comparable upside to that of his two-time All-Star father”, which isn’t exactly a bad thing. His father Jeff finished his career with 19.5 bWAR and received MVP votes in those two All-Star seasons with the Marlins, as well as being a productive player for many years. Whether Griffin can meet or exceed that type of career is yet to be determined, and a taller order than some might believe.

The chances of all of the “bloodline prospects” hanging around and playing in the big leagues, let alone at the same time, are pretty slim, but for the sake of a laugh just imagine the possibilities. The lineup could have Guerrero at third, Bichette at short, Biggio at second, Clemens at first base, and Conine and Smith Jr. in the outfield. Maybe they can convert Brandon Grudzielanek into an outfielder, and then they just need a catcher and a DH. They could trade for Ivan Dereck Rodriguez of the Giants, or swing bigger deals for guys like Cody Bellinger, or Michael Brantley.

In all seriousness, it looks like Conine was a pretty solid pick for the second round. He was projected to be a first round selection awhile back, and was even listed in the Top 50 by MLB pipeline. If he can carve out a career that even closely resembles what his Dad was able to do, he’ll have a very fine career.

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For the Blue Jays, just think of the future promo day possibilities. I can picture all the proud poppas throwing out a simultaneous first pitch and then retiring to their seats in matching Blue Jays jerseys to watch their sons beat up on the Yankees. At least that’s how it goes in my head.