MLB redraft of the 2013 draft would've landed the Blue Jays a much different pick

'What ifs' are a major part of the history for a lot of professional sports teams in North America. The Toronto Blue Jays are no different.

Two immediate 'what ifs' which spring to mind, are when the Blue Jays met the Kansas City Royals on two particular occasions in the postseason. Both happened in the AL Championship Series, in 1985 and 2015.

In 1985, the Blue Jays had a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 lead with two games remaining at home to clinch. Against the odds however, the Royals came back to take the series and advance.

The Blue Jays were arguably the more talented team in 2015, but again it would be the Royals who advanced. Each time the Royals won the World Series, leaving the Blue Jays and their fans to wonder about what could have been.

A redraft of the class of 2013

The draft is another area which elicits plenty of 'what if' scenarios. Jim Callis of MLB.com decided to go down this very road, with a redraft of the 2013 MLB draft first round.

You can appreciate why Callis wrote the article, when looking at the talent in the 2013 class. This made it extremely intriguing to consider where certain players could have ended up.

The prime example of this was Aaron Judge, who was picked 32nd by the New York Yankees. In Callis' redraft Judge would have gone to the Astros with the first overall pick, which probably doesn't bear thinking about for a lot of fans.

Another intriguing player was Cody Bellinger, who did not get picked until the fourth round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the redraft however, the 2019 NL MVP, two-time All-Star and 2020 World Series champion would have been selected third overall by the Colorado Rockies.

And the Blue Jays select.....

With all this said, who did Callis have the Blue Jays taking with the 10th pick? Instead of Phil Bickford, he had them selecting Mike Yastrzemski.

Yastrzemski was not actually taken until the 14th round, by the Baltimore Orioles. As such, even though he may not be a name which jumps out at you as such, it speaks volumes about the player that Callis would move him so far up the draft board.

The 32-year-old's pre-draft scouting report had him as an all-round solid talent with an excellent baseball IQ, but no standout tool. Fairly or not, he was best known for being the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.

Yastrzemski didn't achieve much with the Orioles organization. However, a trade to the San Franciso Giants in March 2019 turned out to be the best thing which could have happened to him.

The Andover, Massachusetts native has been a regular in the Giants' outfield ever since. His best season to date came in 2020, when he was the NL triples leader, named All-MLB second team and finished eighth in NL MVP voting.

What about Bickford?

While done with the benefit of hindsight, this likely makes the decision to pick Bickford all the more frustrating for Blue Jays fans. While his raw talent was undeniable at the time, he became the lone first round pick not to sign, due to concerns about his health.

Bickford was subsequently selected in the first round again two years later, this time by the Giants. After a trade to Milwaukee didn't work out, he was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers in May 2021 and he has been a part of their bullpen ever since.