NOT ALL CANADIAN PICKS HIT IT OUT OF THE PARK
The Major League Baseball draft begins tonight and a pair of Canadians will likely be selected in the first or second rounds. Melissa Couto takes a look at how some of the country’s other recent first-round picks have worked out as professionals.
ADAM LOEWEN, 2002
Loewen was selected fourth overall by the Baltimore Orioles and maintains the distinction of being the highest Canadian-born player ever selected in the MLB draft (Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon, who was born in Texas to Canadian parents, went second overall in 2010).
Loewen was drafted as a pitcher but converted to an outfielder over a seven-year span that saw him toiling in the minor leagues. The Surrey, B.C. native attempted another comeback — heading back to the mound in 2015 — but couldn’t get much going to keep himself on a big-league roster. Loewen last pitched in the majors in 2016, appearing in eight games for Arizona and allowing 10 earned runs. The 34-year-old is in Triple-A with Texas this season.
JEFF FRANCIS, 2002
The left-hander from North Delta, B.C., was selected ninth overall by the Colorado Rockies and made his MLB debut in 2004. He finished sixth in NL rookie-of-the-year voting the following season, going 14-12 with a 5.68 earned-run average and striking out 128.
Francis’ best season was 2007, when he won 17 games and pitched 215.1 innings. He started three playoff games for the Rockies that year, with wins in Game 1 of the NLDS and NLCS and a loss in Game 1 of the World Series, which the Red Sox won in four straight. Francis spent parts of 11 seasons in the major leagues, including a 22-inning stint with Toronto in 2015. He retired in December of that year.
BRETT LAWRIE, 2008
Lawrie was selected 16th overall by Milwaukee out of Brookswood Secondary School in Langley, B.C., and spent two seasons in the Brewers’ minorleague system before being traded to Toronto in 2011. The energetic third baseman made his MLB debut with the Blue Jays that season as a 21-year-old and quickly became a fan favourite, in part because of his Canadian roots.
Lawrie was traded to Oakland in 2014 in the deal that sent allstar Josh Donaldson to Toronto. He was traded once more the following off-season, landing with the Chicago White Sox, but they released him ahead of the 2017 campaign. Lawrie remains without a MLB contract.
JAMES PAXTON, 2009
Paxton was originally picked by the Blue Jays out of the University of Kentucky in the first round of the 2009 draft, but the two sides couldn’t come to terms on a signing bonus and the lefthander from Ladner, B.C., chose to return to Kentucky for his senior year. One problem. Then Blue Jays president Paul Beeston let it slip that Paxton used an agent during the negotiations, throwing his NCAA eligibility into question.
Paxton wasn’t able to return to the Wildcats and instead pitched a season in an independent league in Texas before Seattle selected him in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. Paxton made history last month when he threw a no-hitter against the Blue Jays in Toronto, becoming only the second Canadian to pitch a no-hitter in MLB history and the first to do it since 1945. Paxton is 4-1 with a 3.13 ERA for the Mariners this season.
JOSH NAYLOR, 2015
Naylor was selected 12th overall by the Miami Marlins, making him Canada’s top pick of the 2015 draft. The burly first baseman was traded to the Padres in 2016 and is ranked 14th on their prospect list. The 20-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., is batting .313 with nine homers and 45 RBI over 53 games with Double-A San Antonio.
MIKE SOROKA, 2015
Soroka was the second Canadian picked in the first round of the 2015 draft, going 28th to the Atlanta Braves. The Calgary right-hander made his MLB debut this season and is 1-1 with a 3.68 ERA over three starts. Soroka had an impressive first outing for the Braves, going six innings and allowing just one run while striking out five in a 3-2 win over the Mets on May 1. The 20-yearold is on the 10-day disabled list with a right shoulder strain.
CAL QUANTRILL, 2016
The son of former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Paul Quantrill, Cal was the top Canadian selected in the 2016 draft when he went eighth overall to the San Diego Padres. Also a pitcher, the right-hander from Port Hope, Ont., was highly regarded following his three years at Stanford, even after missing the entire 2016 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The 23-year-old is in Double-A this season where he’s 3-3 with a 4.66 earned-run average through 11 starts. Quantrill is ranked as San Diego’s fourth-best prospect.