Draft Shit & Game Threat: Jays (32-27) @ Rangers (33-23)

With the way teams have been shying away from older players in favour of players from within their own systems in recent years, I really should be way more up to speed on the draft—which takes place tomorrow, with the Jays picking 20th. But I’m not. Our friend Keith Law does some fantastic work, and that’s pretty much my only source on this stuff. So, I’m not going to pretend like I have a fucking clue what I’m talking about here—I’m just going to link to KLaw’s latest mock draft, which has the Jays now picking Chad Jenkins, a right-hander from Kennesaw State, though “they're hanging in on Chad James, several other college arms and are on the fringes with Pollock,” he says.

There’s a scouting video on Jenkins (subscription only), and here’s KLaw’s scouting report:

Jenkins is a strong, thick-bodied right-hander who'll touch 93 and sit 89-92 and was still up to 91 in the eighth inning of his start on Saturday. He throws a hard slider at 83-85 mph with good tilt but a somewhat early break and a straight changeup at 82-85 that might be more effective if he could take a little more off it. His delivery is rough, and he looks unschooled; his arm is way up above his shoulder, he lands on a very stiff front leg and his arm slot varies from three-quarters to low three-quarters. He has a starter's build and starter's stuff, but a team drafting him may have to work on his mechanics to leave him in the rotation. He has a chance to develop into a No. 2 or No. 3 starter, but not without some significant improvements. He has been rumored to be a candidate for a signability pick in the first round and won't see the end of the second round.

And here’s an interesting note from Jeff Blair’s latest column in the Globe and Mail: “The Blue Jays will not likely ‘apply’ for [currency equalization] money this year, sources say. That’s because one of the ways the Blue Jays ‘earned’ their currency equalization in recent years was by being good lads during the amateur draft and not paying players over slot.”

“If just one team goes over, we’ll go over,” Paul Beeston reportedly told Bud Selig. And seeing as it’s a given that the Nationals will pay just about anything they have to in order to get Stephen Strasburg, it sounds like the Jays days of obeying the commissioner’s office are over.

Tonight’s Game…

Tonight Casey Janssen (1-2, 5.82) will try again to make me not look like an idiot for trumpeting his return so heavily, and will hopefully miss a few bats for once in Texas’s hitter-friendly park. He faces Scott Feldman (5-0, 3.79)—Feldman!—who has been excellent since joining the Rangers' rotation, but, come on, we know is a fucking shitbag.

Josh Hamilton won’t play this series, but that won’t make the Rangers’ lineup all that much less intimidating, especially since Halladay won’t make an appearance this series. Frankly, just a couple wins out of these four games would be a little bit nails, and it’s about time for Janssen to get his shit together—which I insist he’s capable of doing—and get this thing off on the right foot. And fuck, with Derek Holland (1-3, 6.54) slated for the last game of the series, you can feel pretty good about your chances with that one. Could a win tonight spark something? After they leave Texas the Jays have 9 of 12 games against Florida, Washington and Cincinnati, and even though they’ve struggled with the NL in recent years, those are three teams you don’t exactly mind seeing on the horizon.

Toronto Blue Jays

M. Scutaro ss
A. Hill 2b
A. Rios rf
V. Wells cf
A. Lind lf
S. Rolen 3b
L. Overbay 1b
K. Millar dh
R. Barajas c

Texas Rangers

I. Kinsler 2b
M. Young 3b
H. Blalock dh
N. Cruz rf
D. Murphy lf
M. Byrd cf
C. Davis 1b
J. Saltalamacchia c
E. Andrus ss