The Blue Jays sign seven draftees from the third day of the draft

2 months ago

The Blue Jays have signed the majority of their prospects.

On Tuesday night, Baseball America’s draft tracker updated who the Blue Jays have signed from rounds 11-20. Jays Prospectus on Twitter has done great job with the draft, and he’s a must follow.

Instead of doing a single article for all of these, let’s run through the stats of each player and whatever information I can find. It’s worth noting that none of these players’ bonuses will count towards the remaining $999,632 of bonus pool money remaining.

11th-rounder, Grant Rogers

The Blue Jays signed the 22-year-old college pitcher to a $150,000 signing bonus, e slot value for all these picks.

Last season, Rogers pitched for McNeese State University, posting a 1.82 ERA in 103.2 innings pitched. His K% only sat at 21.8%, but he showed excellent command and control of his pitches with a 4.5 BB%.

His junior year was only his second at McNeese, as he had transferred from Panola College, a NJCAA school. He stands at 6’7”, 230 lbs, a good pitching body.

12th-rounder, Chay Yeager

Chay Yeager is a 20-year-old who was a two-way player for his junior college school, Pasco Hernando Community College. It’s worth mentioning that he would have transferred to Georgia State University, which is a Division I school, rather than a second division junior college.

Yeager signed for a bonus of $150,000, and had 69.1 innings pitched with 102 strikeouts for a 13.24 K/9. Overall, he had a 3.76 ERA, two complete games, but has some issues with walks.

He sits in the low-90s with his fastball (but has touched 95-96 mph), has nice fade and sink to his changeup, and his breaking ball is his best pitch.

13th-rounder, Brennan Orf

We looked at Brennan Orf in his own separate article, but he signed for a bonus of $150,000.

Last season with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, he slashed .351/.506/.759 with 19 homers in 253 plate appearances. The 21-year-old outfielder also had more walks (54) than strikeouts (40).

For his collegiate career, he slashed .324/.471/.674 with 33 homers in 497 plate appearances, along with 94 walks and 86 strikeouts.

He has posted great exit velocities and was one of Mason McRae’s draft darlings, you can read that article here.

15th-rounder, Kelena Sauer

Kelena Sauer is a 20-year-old right-handed reliever who pitched three seasons with San Diego State University, and signed for a bonus of $150,000.

Last season, he posted a 4.22 ERA in 32 innings pitched, along with a 25.9 K% and a 7.9 BB%. For his entire collegiate career, he had a 4.70 ERA in 90 innings pitched, along with a 23.6 K% and an 11.8 BB%.

As for his pitch-mix, he has a low-90s fastball with deception, along with a sweeping slider and a fading changeup.

16th-rounder, Jackson Hornung

Jackson Hornung was one of the more intriguing selections of the third day of the draft. Two sport athletes are quite common heading into the draft, but not when his other sport was hockey.

Hornung played for the NCAA Division III school Skidmore College, where he slashed .424/.560/.803 slash line with 12 homers in just 175 plate appearances. Moreover, he walked 37 times compared to 21 strikeouts, so that’s a good sign. For his entire collegiate career, he slashed .430/.540/.735 with 22 homers in 441 plate appearances, along with 75 walks and 61 strikeouts.

He also had some success in summer ball in 2022, slashing .363/.429/.621 with nine homers in 210 plate appearances. Like every player except for the next one we’ll look at, Hornung signed for a bonus of $150,000.

19th-rounder, Aaron Munson

Aaron Munson was the only draftee selected on the third day that didn’t receive a signing bonus of $150,000, as the 21-year-old signed for a bonus of $100,000.

He pitched with the NCAA Division II school Angelo State University, owning a 3.63 ERA in 101.2 innings pitched, along with a 27.6 K% and a 6 BB%. This season helped propel the Angelo State Rams to their first NCAA Division II championship.

For his entire collegiate career, he had a 4.06 ERA in 228.1 innings pitched, along with a 24.1 K% and a 5.9 BB%.

20th-rounder, Kai Peterson

Hey look, another draftee that signed to a bonus of $150,000..

Kai Peterson is a left-handed pitcher who pitched for Sierra College in 2023, a junior college. He amassed 84 innings pitched, finishing with a 3.86 ERA and a 13.61 K/9, along with 62 walks. If he can sort of his command, there’s a lot to like.

The 20-year-old has a three-pitch mix, a low 90s fastball, a curveball, and a changeup.

Who’s left:

Out of the 19 players the Blue Jays drafted in 2023, only four haven’t signed yet.

Of course, Juaron Watts-Brown is the most notable of the bunch, and will get most of the remaining $999,132 bonus pool. His slot value is worth $771,500, so I think they’ll have some left over money.

The rest of the draftees were selected on day three of the draft. Pitcher Joe Vogatsky will likely sign, and his deal will probably be $150,000. Sam Kulasingam could also sign, but there’s a good chance that some of his bonus will eat into the bonus pool money.

Chase Brunson is the only prep player that hasn’t signed a bonus, and there’s a 99% chance he doesn’t sign with the Jays. The 19th-rounder recently changed his university commitment from Loyola Marymount University (Nick Frasso went there) to Texas Christian University, as announced on his Twitter and Instagram. So I don’t think he’ll be signing.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads @Brennan_L_D.