A look back at the 2013 Blue Jays' top-30 draft picks

Prospects are some of the most exciting players in the game today, even though the vast majority of them are not at the big league level.

Today, the Blue Jays have a strong top-ten list of prospects on their pedigree. Lefties Ricky Tiedemann (No. 1), Brandon Barreira (No. 3) and the recently-acquired Adam Macko (No. 8) are some of the strongest of the bunch.

The southpaws of the group pair nicely with the right-handers that include Yosver Zulueta (No. 5), Sem Robberse (No. 6) and Hayden Juenger (No. 7).

On the position player side of things, Orelvis Martinez (No. 2) is the top dog while Tucker Toman (No. 4), Gabriel Martinez (No. 9) and Josh Kasevich (No. 10) are the others.

Now, prospects are also massive wild cards for organizations. We've so frequently seen over the years a No. 1 overall pick flame out and never even reach the big leagues.

So often when a player is slapped with the "top prospect" label do we see said individual also assigned some huge expectations from the fans.

Look at Travis Snider, commonly referred to as the "next big thing" in Toronto way before he even saw a big league field. His entire Blue Jays career ultimately wound up being only five seasons long, seeing him post just a .248 batting average paired with a below-average 95 OPS+.

Without further ado, let's dive in to the Blue Jays top 30 draft picks of the 2013 draft.

No. 30 Rowdy Tellez, 1B

Starting off with a bang, Rowdy Tellez never quite took off for the Jays like he was expected to. Now, most 30th round draft picks don't ever even get close to the bigs, but Big Rowdy wasn't going to be denied.

Tellez displayed a unique blend of power, patience at the plate and plus-contact abilities. For someone drafted so late, it's a wonder how the Jays were able to even land him in the first place.

Tellez broke into the big leagues in 2018 as a 23-year-old and immediately showed off both his strengths and weaknesses. In a 23-game sample size, he hit four home runs and drove in 14 while posting an impressive .314 average and 153 OPS+. However, he also struckout in just under 29% of his plate appearances.

In each season after that, Rowdy continued to show off his light-tower-power but also struggled to hit for a decent batting average and still was striking out entirely too much. Finally, the Jays gave up on him, trading him to Milwaukee in 2021 for two pitchers. He remains in Milwaukee and seems to have finally settled into the big league life.

No. 29 Garrett Pickens, RHP

There isn't a whole lot to say about Pickens, who failed to ever get any higher than the Low-A level for the Jays.

Selected with the 865th overall pick in the 2013 draft, Pickens, strictly a relief pitcher, got straight to work for the Jays. In 2013, he split time between Rookie Ball and Low-A, making 23 appearances and posting a 2.84 ERA but walking (18) more than striking out (17) opponents.

2014 rolled around and Pickens began the season in Low-A, where he ultimately made just four appearances for the Canadians before ultimately missing what ended up being the next two seasons with a still-undisclosed injury. He was released from the organization in 2016 and never appeared in another organization again.

No. 28 Matt Dermody, LHP

The fact that the Jays were able to get two future big leaguers with the 28th and 30th picks in the draft is an accomplishment in itself.

Dermody was initially drafted as a starting pitcher but the organization quickly abandoned that idea after he showed promise as a relief option. He rose through the ranks pretty swiftly, making his big league debut for the Jays in 2016.

Now that all is said and done, Dermody made a total of 28 appearances out of the Blue Jays' bullpen, posting a 5.60 ERA alongside a ghastly 6.12 FIP. His most recent big league action has been out of the Cubs bullpen, where he made just one appearance in both 2020 and 2022.

No. 27 Andrew Florides, INF

Selected out of high school in the 27th round by the Jays, Florides offered so little to the organization after his being selected.

In what neded up being four straight seasons in Rookie Ball, Florides hit a combined .097. Yes, you read that right. He was 15-for-154. Viewed as more of a defensive option than an offensive one, Florides never even got going on defense either, posting some pretty dreadful ratings as a shortstop.

No. 26 Tanner Cable, RHP

Cable ultimately never ended up signing with the club after his being selected. After being a stud pitcher in both high school and college, his only professional experience to date has been out of the bullpen for multiple teams in the independent Frontier League.

No. 25 Scott Silverstein, RHP

Silverstein is similar to the aforementioned Matt Dermody who was brought aboard as a starter but wound up settling into a bullpen role as time went by.

Silverstein made it up to High-A with the Jays in 2015, what ultimately was his last season in the organization. He was 13-7 with a 4.35 ERA in 72 games (seven starts) in the Jays' organization before three IL stints in two months led to his release in the 2015 season.

No. 24 Sean Hurley, OF

Yet another pick who never came close to big league action. Hurley showed occasional promise with the bat and in the outfield but could barely top a .200 batting average and ultimately was out of the organization by the conclusion of 2015.

He, like Tanner Cable, found some success in the Frontier League after his being released by the Jays but he has not made a single professional appearance since 2018.

No. 23 Brenden Kalfus, OF

Kalfus showed a promising blend of speed on the bases and a strong eye at the plate throughout his collegiate years at St. Mary's but fell flat upon his being drafted by the Jays.

In parts of two seasons, he wound up hitting a combined .242 with just a single home run and 21 driven in. He stole nine bags along the way and played some solid defense at all three outfield spots but that was not enough to save him from being released in October of 2014, never to resurface again.

Today, it looks like Kalfus is a full-time firefighter in the Anaheim, California area.

No. 22 Sam Tewes, RHP

One of the few players this low on the list to have a relatively long minor league career, Tewes never actually signed with the Jays. Instead, he returned to college and was later drafted in the eighth round of the 2016 draft by the Cardinals.

After a decent two-year run in the Cardinals organization, he latched on with the Mets three years after his release from the Cards in 2021 but made just one appearance in which he went three innings and allowed a single run.

In an article from May of 2022, Tewes was said to have been retired from baseball and serving as assistant coach to his older brother Luke at their former high school in Waverly, Nebraska.

No. 21 Mike Reeves, C

Reeves, a native of Peterborough, Canada, played at various levels for the Jays from 2013-2017 before his retirement from the game in July of 2017.

Very much a defensive-minded backstop with no bat to speak of, Reeves excelled at throwing runners out and owns a 27% caught-stealing-percentage. The Jays gave him some looks at first base and third base to capitalize on his defensive abilities but it was not enough to keep him around the game.

No. 20 Chaz Frank, OF

Frank joined the organization with a very obvious skillset, his wheels. He never had any pop to speak of throughout college or his two seasons in A-ball for the Jays, hitting a combined 21 triples with just one home run and 75 stolen bases.

Frank played solid defense at all three outfield spots but ultimately was released at the conclusion of the 2014 season. At that point, he returned to North Carolina to complete his undergraduate work and currently functions as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels.

No. 19 Christian Vazquez, INF

Vazquez entered the Blue Jays organization from Lubbock Christian University (Texas), where he appears to not even have played baseball. This can't actually be the case but his Baseball-Reference page shows no collegiate stats.

Vazquez did not contribute much to the organization in 2013, 14 or 15 before he was released. Across a total of 108 games, he hit one home run, drove in 18 and posted a batting average of .210 while playing above-average defense at second, third and short.

No. 18 Sean Ratcliffe, RHP

Another Canada native, Ratcliffe never found his footing in the organization after his being drafted.

As a matter of fact, as he soon as he started to perform well (22 games, 3.60 ERA in 2015), he was traded to the Atlanta Braves early in 2016 in exchange for 40-year-old Jason Grilli, who looked strong for the Jays in 2016 but fell apart in 2017 before a short stint in Texas and later, retirement.

In 2016 for the Braves, Ratcliffe made just two appearances in which he struck out zero batters and walked six, posting an ERA of 9.00 before his release.

No. 17 Eric Lauer, LHP

Finally, we have another big leaguer! Who, of course, never made a big league appearance for the Jays. In fact, he actually didn't even sign with Toronto, ultimately re-entering the draft and being selected in the first round in 2016 by the Padres.

Lauer, now 27-years-old, is Rowdy Tellez's teammate in Milwaukee and, like Tellez, seems to have found his footing at the major league level. In 57 games for the Brewers, he has a 3.84 ERA to go along with a 105 ERA+.

This one stings a bit because the current version of the Blue Jays could use a crafty left-hander like Lauer. In reality, the Brewers have too many starters and could sell high on Lauer and perhaps flip him to Toronto, but that's a discussion for a later date.

No. 16 Danny Jansen, C

Another big leaguer! Even better, a current Toronto Blue Jay!

Jansen has had an up and down start to his major league career but the last two seasons have shown that he's beginning to turn things around and become a reliable asset.

Of course, he begins to figure things out while the Jays have a catching surplus, and finds himself on the trade block alongside Gabriel Moreno and Alejandro Kirk. There's no telling which one of them will be dealt but if you were asking me? I'd say Jansen is the likeliest to go since Kirk is so valuable to the Jays and Moreno is the "next big thing" in Toronto.

No. 10 Garrett Custons, C

Custons joined the Jays from his collegiate Air Force Falcons, where he functioned as a triple threat as he dominated at the plate, on the bases and behind the plate.

Custons wound up playing in just 17 games for the Jays in Rookie Ball, reigstering 12 hits in 54 at-bats, good for a .222 batting average. On defense, he threw out eight of 15 attempted runners, good for a 35% CS rate.

All signs point to his departure from the Blue Jays organization being because of his drive to return to the Air Force. A quick Google search brings up his Linkedin account, where it says he immediately became a Budget Analyst for the Air Force after his leaving professional baseball.

No. 9 Chad Girodo, LHP

Girodo excelled in the minors for Toronto, posting a 4.18 ERA in his first 14-game cameo in 2013 followed by a 2.47 ERA performance the next season and a 1.34 ERA showing the next.

On the fast track to the bigs, he made it all the way up to Triple-A in under two full years. His big league debut came in 2016 for the Blue Jays and wound up being his only action in the majors to date. In 14 games, he posted a 4.35 ERA across 10.1 IP to go along with an ERA+ of 101.

After signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers in 2017, he latched on with the independent Chicago Dogs in July of 2018 before being released by the club in April of 2019, seemingly retiring from the game after that.

No. 8 Kendall Graveman, RHP

Graveman is another one that zoomed through the farm system, making his big league debut in 2014, just one year after his being drafted in the eighth round.

A starter in the minors, Graveman made five relief appearances for the Jays before being a part of the huge package going from Toronto to Oakland in the Josh Donaldson deal in November of 2014.

His brief Blue Jays career was solid, allowing two earned runs in 4.2 IP, good for a 3.86 ERA but his career has really taken off since. Last year as a member of the White Sox bullpen, Graveman made 65 appearances of 3.18 ERA-ball, good for an ERA+ of 125.

No. 7 Conner Greene, RHP

Greene is yet another example of relatively high draft picks who failed to reach the big leagues for the Jays. Before being traded to the Cardinals for Randal Grichuk in 2018, Greene functioned as a middle-of-the-pack starting pitcher who didn't quite show enough to earn a promotion but was serviceable enough to be kept around.

He finally broke into the big leagues in 2021 with the Orioles and Dodgers, posting a 7.11 ERA in 24 appearances, walking 12 and striking out 26 in 25+ innings.

Currently, Greene is under contract with the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League as he looks to rebuild his stock and take another crack at Major League Baseball.

No. 6 Matthew Boyd, LHP

Knowing what you know now about Matt Boyd, is he a pitcher the Jays should've held on to longer? The honest answer is, I'm not sure.

Of course, if the club elected to hold on to Boyd, they would've never ended up with David Price, who put the team on his back after coming over via trade with the Detroit Tigers.

After being one of the most dominant pitchers in the minor leagues in both 2014 (1.39 ERA in 16 starts, 103 strikeouts and 20 walks) and 2015 (1.65 ERA in 19 starts, 108 strikeouts and 27 walks), he broke into the bigs with the Jays but just couldn't capitalize on the opportunities.

He's had an up and down career since with both the Tigers and Mariners but in the past few seasons he's rebuilt his value quite a bit and just recently earned a $10M contract from Detroit.

No. 5 Dan Lietz, LHP

It always hurts when picks this early in the draft don't pan out and Leitz's case is no different.

Lietz, a left-handed reliever, took a while to get comfortable in the minors, posting a 4.75 ERA in 2013, 4.66 in 2014 and 5.97 in 2015 but seemed to be coming into his own in 2016 as he made a combined 38 appearances split between two levels in the minors.

2017 was his last in the organization, though, as he seemed to regress quite a bit and finished the year with a 3.18 ERA in A-Ball but 6.75 in High-A.

The last we've seen of Lietz came in 2018 when he was a member of the Atlanta Braves farm system but he has not made any appearances at any level since then.

No. 4 Evan Smith, LHP

It's a shock the Jays kept Smith around for as long as they did, as he never had any sort of success in his minor league career with the club.

A left-handed pitcher who functioned as a starter before going to relief full-time, his ERA was 7.50 in 2013, 3.46 in 2014 (in a very small sample size), 4.71 in 2015 and then 7.96 in 2016. He was released at the conclusion of 2016 and joined the Angels organization on a minor league deal where he posted a 9.78 ERA in 19 innings for the club.

His last action came in the Frontier League like so many before him, but it's especially disappointing to see a former fourth round pick fall so far from grace.

No. 3 Patrick Murphy, RHP

Murphy had a really solid thing going in Toronto in 2018 when he emerged as one of the best arms in the minors. That year, he went 10-5 with a 2.65 ERA in 27 starts but followed that up with a 4.71 showing and ultimately made it to the bigs with the Jays in both 2020 and 2021.

After being DFA'd in August of 2021, Murphy was claimed off of waivers by the Nationals, where he remained through the conclusion of the 2022 campaign.

While he hasn't shown enough at the big league level, Murphy has remained a reliable arm in the minors and was recently signed to a minor league contract by the Twins.

No. 2 Clinton Hollon, RHP

Hollon's Blue Jays career never really took off thanks to consistent issues on and off the field, capped off with a Tommy John surgery in 2014 and two separate failed drug tests that resulted in suspensions.

When he was healthy, Hollon looked sharp for the Jays, especially in 2015 when he posted a 3.84 ERA in 12 starts that saw him surrender just one home run all season.

Despite his best efforts to get his health, both mental and physical, straightened out, the Blue Jays released Hollon from his contract at the end of the 2017 season. As of right now, the last we've seen of him was a few Frontier League appearances in 2021.

No. 1 Phil Bickford, RHP

Phil Bickford, the No. 1 pick (10th round) by the Blue Jays never even ended up signing a deal with the Jays. Yes, that's right. All this reading and writing just to end with a player who never suited up for the club.

Bickford later signed with the Giants, again in the first round, in 2015 where he spent the next few seasons before his being traded to the Brewers. He's made his big league debut and has taken off as a relief pitcher for the Dodgers, who he appeared in 60 games for last season, striking out 67 batters and walking just 14 in 61 innings.