Trumpets blared and horns honked the morning after the June draft concluded.
The Blue Jays had jumped into the Canadian talent pool with both feet.
The Jays drafted nine Canadians in all.
And when the clock stuck midnight, the only Canadian player the Jays had signed was infielder Jonathan Fernandez, a 34th-round choice and Toronto-born son of former Jay Tony Fernandez.
As legendary scout Bobby Mattick used to say: "Drafting players is easy, signing them is hard."
The Jays entered the final 14 hours before the midnight deadline yesterday with five of their top eight picks unsigned. President Paul Beeston, assistant general manager Alex Anthopoulos and scouting director Jon Lalonde went over slot to sign two picks (plus two others).
Lalonde signed the Jays' No. 1 pick Chad Jenkins of Kennesaw State for $1.359 million US last week, but the Jays' next three picks were unsigned as both sides could not come to an agreement.
Headed back to Kentucky University for his senior year is lefty James Paxton of Ladner, B.C., whom the Jays chose 37th overall with a sandwich pick.
He was the top Canadian player selected in the draft.
Headed off to school, either Chipola College or Long Beach State University, is Newmarket lefty Jake Eliopoulos, who pitched for the Brantford Red Sox and the Canadian Junior National Team. Eliopoulos was the Jays' second-round pick, chosen 69th.
And headed to Arizona State is right-hander Jake Barrett, the Jays' third-rounder.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder Paxton was 5-3 with a 5.86 earned run average at Kentucky. Paxton walked 20 and fanned 115 in 781/3 innings this spring. He ranked third in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (13.2), behind No. 1 pick Steven Strasburg of San Diego State and Mark Serrano of Oral Roberts.
Paxton was represented by Scott Boras, who said at the all-star game he had told teams not to draft Paxton unless they were willing to spend: "A lot more than a million." The Jays have not had a Boras client since Robbie Alomar, who fired Boras in 1991.
Boras negotiated a four-year, major-league $15.67-million deal with the Washington Nationals for Strasburg before midnight.
Earlier in the Jays signed:
- Jacob Marisnick, a Riverside, Calif., high school outfielder for $1 million, three times the amount of the suggest slot money and was the third-highest bonus of the round. MLB assigns dollar amounts to each slot and insists that scouting directors stay within the salary guidelines.
The 6-foot-4, 200-pounder has plus speed and power was selected in the third round and had planned on attending Oregon. Going into the draft after hitting .397 with five homers, 26 RBIs and 21 stolen bases, he was rated the 39th best high school prospect in North America by Perfect Game scouting service.
- K.C. Hobson, a Bakersfield, Calif., high school outfielder for $500,000. The son of Butch Hobson, who had committed to Texas A&M is the son of former Boston Red Sox manager Butch Hobson. The Jays gave the sixth rounder three times the recommended $150,000 max for picks after the fifth.
- Andrew Hutchison, a Lakeland, Fla., high schooler, selected in 15th round.
- Daniel Webb, a Northwest Florida State Junior College righty for $450,000 bonus. The 18th rounder had his fastball clocked at 94 m.p.h. but was not consistent.
The other Canadian selections are heading to school: Quebec City outfielder Jonathan Gilbert (40) is going to Chipola, Peterborough catcher Mike Reeves (42) is off to Florida Gulf Coast, Toronto infielder Maxx Tissenbaum (43) Stoney Brook, righty Brandon Kaye (45th) Langley, B.C., University of British Columbia, East York's Jeffrey Gibbs (48th) Maine and Burke Seifrit (50th) of Spruce Grove, Alta. Southern Nevada.
The Jays will get compensatory picks next June.
In all 17 Canadians signed.
