Blue Jays happy to hold 12th overall pick in MLB draft

TORONTO Amateur scouting director Steve Sanders wouldn’t tip his hand Thursday on the type of player the Toronto Blue Jays might be looking for with the 12th overall pick in next week’s MLB Draft.

Mock drafts from the Bleacher Report and MLB are predicting that Wisconsin high school outfielder Jarred Kelenic will go at No. 12, while the CBS Sports website thinks Stetson University pitcher Logan Gilbert will get the nod.

“Our focus is really on getting the best player available to us and it’s hard to anticipate where that player is going to come from — whether it’s a college or a high school player — or what position that guy is going to play,” Sanders said on a conference call. Former Toronto reliever Duane Ward and scout Matt O’Brien will represent the Blue Jays on Monday night in Secaucus, N.J., during the first two rounds of the draft. Rounds 3 through 10 are set for Tuesday and rounds 11 through 40 go Wednesday. Auburn University right-hander Casey Mize is a favourite to go first overall to the Detroit Tigers.

The San Francisco Giants have the second pick and the Philadelphia Phillies own the third overall selection. Toronto also has a secondround pick at No. 52 and a third-rounder at No. 88.

The 2017 draft was the first with the Blue Jays for Sanders, a former assistant director of amateur scouting with the Boston Red Sox.