Blue Jays Draft Review, Part 2

Let's keep doing this, huh?  Here's Part 1, in case you missed it.


2006: -0.3WAR, 48 players.
Travis Snider (1-14): Oh yeah, this guy.  He blasted his way through the minors, making his MLB debut in 2008, as a 20 year old.  He played 24 games that year, but hasn't gotten a full season of MLB time yet, despite seeing MLB time in each season between '08 and '11.  He's currently nursing a wrist injury, but is also raking in AAA Las Vegas.  He's been worth 1.4 WAR over 877 PA's with the Jays, and is still only 24.  He might never become a superstar the way we thought he was destined to do, but I'm sure he'll be a quality major leaguer at some point in his career.  This is the spot where I tell you which major leaguers the Jays could  have had instead of Snider, but uhhh, I'm not sure there's anybody else taken after Snider in the first round that I'd prefer.  Trevor Cahill, I guess?

And that's about it.  They drafted Brad Mills and didn't sign him, and they drafted Graham Godfrey, who was traded for Marco Scutaro.  Nobody else made it.  Brian Jeroloman of "Get called up but never play and then get DFA'ed" fame went in this draft, as did perennial spring training guy Jonathan Diaz.  Beyond that, I don't think I've ever heard of most the other 43 guys that the Jays took in this draft.  There is the odd guy toiling around in the Jays system at the moment, but not many.  Having said that, they didn't have a pick in the 2nd or 3rd rounds.  They gave up a 2nd rounder to Baltimore as compensation for signing BJ Ryan, and gave up a 3rd rounder to the Marlins as compensation for signing AJ Burnett.

All things considered, this was a fucking disaster of a draft for JP Ricciardi and the Jays.

2005: 11.4 WAR, 49 players.
Ricky Romero (1-6) was the Jays' first rounder, and has produced almost literally all of the WAR that they Jays got from this draft. Romero is the de facto ace of the Jays' staff, and has been quite good since making it to the bigs in 2009, giving the Jays 684 innings over 3+ seasons.  The Jays extended Romero for 5 years and $30.05MM before the 2011 season.

The Jays took Romero, passing over Tulo, Andrew Mccutchen, Jay Bruce, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Matt Garza.  Justin Upton went 1st overall, and Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Yovani Gallardo and Ryan Braun all went in the top 5.

Robert Ray (7-206): 7 career games out of the bullpen, 0.1 WAR.  Yeehaw.  He signed with the Marlins this offseason, and is currently on their AAA club.

Outside of those two picks, the only other guy to make it to the majors is Brett Wallace, who the Jays took in the 42nd round and didn't sign.  One major leaguer.  Nice.  They gave up their 2nd rounder for Corey Koskie.  Again, I hardly recognize any of the names from this draft.

2004: 7.3 WAR, 52 players.
David Purcey (1-16).  Looked promising for about a week, coming out of the bullpen.  Since then, he was DFA'ed, traded for minor leaguers, traded for Scott Sizemore, DFA'ed again, and released.  He's a lefty and can throw in the mid-90's though, so if Dana Eveland can find work, I'm sure David Purcey can too.  Instead of Purcey, the Jays could have had Gio Gonzalez, Huston Street, Dustin Pedroia or Hunter Pence.

Zach Jackson (1-32) was sent to Milwaukee in the Lyle Overbay trade, and never appeared in a Jays' uniform.  Worth -1.0 WAR for Milwaukee and Cleveland over parts of 4 seasons.  Along with Adam Lind, he was taken as compensation for the loss of Kelvim Escobar.

Curtis Thigpen (2-57) played 57 games for the Jays, and produced -0.3 WAR, with an OBP and SLG under .300.  He was eventually sent to Oakland for cash, and is now out of baseball, as far as I can tell.

Adam Lind (3-83): Recently outrighted off the 40-man roster, he's been worth 2.0 WAR over parts of 7 seasons.  He had that one good year in 2009, where he was worth 3.6 WAR, mostly as a DH, and then he's sucked ever since.  I'm sure there's something there, but he's a defensive liability, and is also an offensive liability until he (re-?)adjusts to big league pitching.

Casey Janssen (4-117): has been worth 4.0 WAR as a starter, reliever and closer, over parts of 6 seasons, and 351 innings.  If your best player from a draft is your 4th rounder, who happens to be a reliever who missed a full season due to injury, you probably didn't draft well. Again.

Jesse Litsch (24-717): Ole Red is currently rehabbing a should injury/infection.  He's put up 3.4 WAR as a starter and reliever over parts of 5 seasons and 417 innings.  176 innings with an ERA under 4 in 2008 is pretty good.  Downhill from there though.

Also taken in this draft were Kristian Bell (later traded for Marco Scutaro) and Chad Beck (didn't sign, but was later acquired in exchange for David Eckstein).