The draft-time nickname of Canada's Team now resides at 1 Blue Jays Way.
After watching the Milwaukee Brewers draft the most Canadians for five consecutive Junes, the Jays ended the process as the most active team selecting Canadians.
In all, scouting director Jon Lalonde and Canadian scouting director Kevin Briand selected eight Canucks, four more than the Cincinnati Reds and the Brewers.
"Good for them," said Brewers B.C. scout Marty Lehn. "That's the way it should be -- Canada's team drafting the most Canadians. I'm happy for Kevin Briand."
The haul equalled the amount of Canadians the Jays selected in 2001 when they took Lee Delfino (6th round), Sean Grimes (8th), David Corrente (14), Adam Daniels (27), Mark McDonald (29), P.J. McDonald (43), Kevin Johnston (44) and Floyd Albert (50th).
The Jays started in a big way Tuesday after selecting right-hander Chad Jenkins of Kennesaw State with their first overall pick. Toronto chose lefty James Paxton of Ladner, B.C. from the University of Kentucky 37th overall and Newmarket lefty Jake Eliopoulos of the Brantford Red Sox with their second-round pick.
"We feel good about the draft," Lalonde said. "We didn't push either James Paxton or Jake Eliopoulos up the board because they were Canadians. They were the best on the board. We want to draft future big leaguers. If they are Canadians, so much the better."
Briand added six more yesterday -- outfielder Jonathan Gilbert, of Quebec City, Que., and the Academie Baseball Canada (40th), Peterborough catcher Mike Reeves of the Ontario Blue Jays (42); infielder Maxx Tissenbaum from Toronto Mets (43), Scott Richmond's half-brother Brandon Kaye from Langley, B.C. and Douglas College (45), Toronto righty Jeffrey Gibbs of Team Ontario (48) and righty Burke Seifrit of Spruce Grove, Alta. (50).
With 21 Canadians selected yesterday -- starting with Colin Kleven of Langley, B.C., who went to the Philadelphia Phillies in the 33rd round -- it brought the three-day total to 40, the most since 43 were chosen in 2005.
"I really wanted to do a better job with Canadian players later in the draft," Lalonde said. "We always want to do a good job in Canada with our scouts. We have a hard-working bunch who comb the country."
Don Cowan of Delta, B.C., is the senior member on Briand's staff along with Toronto's Sean McCann and Jean-Marc Mercier, of Charlesbourg, Que.
"I don't think we'll be able to sign all these players," Lalonde said, "but they know we have their eye on them and we won't lose track of them if they go to school."
As always, at draft time the Jays were worried most about whom the team in front of them would select.
Only after the St. Louis Cardinals made their pick, the Jays were assured they'd get "their guy."
"We felt like Jenkins could get to us, same with Paxton and Eliopoulos, but until St. Louis picked we didn't know," Lalonde said. "The thing you don't want is a last-second gut check and have to scramble in another direction."
The Jays selected infielder Jonathan Fernandez, son of ex-Jays infielder Tony Fernandez, in the 34th round. Fernandez attends Guilford Technical College and plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Assistant GM Tony LaCava and Lalonde saw Eliopoulos pitch for Brantford in Hamilton, while Briand flew to the Dominican Republic to watch him with the Team Canada national junior team.
Briand and McCann went to the Eliopoulos house in Newmarket for a post-draft visit.
"The family showed us a video of the 2004 CNE peewee tournament final as Newmarket beat High Park in the bottom of the seventh," Briand said from Columbus, Ohio. "Jake was so excited he came off the bench and nearly tackled the winning run -- before he scored. Sean and I are in the video presenting trophies. Five years later we're in his living room putting a Blue Jays cap on his head."
