Thanks for the insight to the Vancouver team. Out of curiosity is the BC Dome able to be set up for MLB exhibition games? I know the Jays used to do the odd one there years ago but there was an issue with the lights not being bright enough iirc. Would love another MLB team or two in Canada with Vancouver being there with Montreal as expansion possibilities.

Not sure about BC Place. I haven't heard much talk about any baseball there recently John. The big thing is World Cup soccer. Stadium was basically built anew in 2011.

Haven't seen or heard of any other baseball plans for MLB type games in Vancouver.

Too bad. It'd be nice to get, say, a pre-season game between Seattle and the Jays there someday. Found a brief video from 31 years ago when the Expos with Larry Walker played the Mariners there. Another article mentioned the issues with the scoreboard being too low, thus in danger during a game. They said 2015 would be the earliest for a game at that time. But that is all I can find in Google. Weird as I remember watching Jays games on TV played in Vancouver but cannot recall who was on the team at the time thus hard to lock in a time frame. Probably late 90's, early 00's given the Expos game there.

Apparently Shane Farrell going to Tigers. Hopefully Jays can get top notch scouting director. They need it.

Getting a promotion on the Tigers to farm director.

Weird. You wouldn't think that the Jays' problems with drafting and player development would good for anyone's chances of promotion.

Farrell is scouting not player development. I think it's way too early to tell how his drafts went but general current impression is that they were OK. Not great not terrible. Definitely will be some major leaguers and potentially some stars even and Jays were able to use first two picks to get Berrios and Chapman.

The Jays issue is more player development than drafting. Not sure how much Farrell is involved in the former. Either way removing anybody involved in scouting and player development from 2020-present is a good thing at this point, they need a fresh set of eyes in every facet of that in the organization.

I was convinced by a few Bauxites that the scouting director (S Farrell) has limited influence in the 1st round selection. I remember Richardi choosing Ricky Romero instead of Tulo which the scouting people preferred.

So I judge the scouting people from the 2nd pick onwards. I am quite sure that the scouting people try to speak to the player being selected prior to the selection being made. Something like a heads up that we will/may pick you when our turn comes and will you sign for approximately X$. I get this information and other great information from C's Plus Baseball.

Seems like neither Toronto or Minnesota have been able to unlock Austin Martin - maybe just a bad pick even though he was highly regarded - maybe the other drafting teams knew what they were doing.

Hard to measure scouting directors success/failure as there are so many variables. A player could succeed or fail due to the development team which is after being drafted. I'd look at who the Jays took vs a generic 'ranking' you can get for free or nearly free from 1001 websites (Baseball America, MLB.com for two obvious examples). Or just look at how the player is ranked after a few years. Does he progress? Does he fail? Did he climb into the Jays top 30 rankings (or MLB's top 100) or did he disappear? By the time they reach the majors in most cases the scouting director has moved on or been fired (can take 5+ years to reach, up to another 5 years of bench vs regular for a half decent player, stars go quicker of course).

So doing a quick check what do we see?

• 2020: Farrell's first season: Just 5 picks, Martin the star (-1 WAR), CJ Van Eyk by any measure is a failure (5.41 ERA in minors lifetime, K/9 down to 7.4 last year with a 3.6 BB/9 - no way you want him called up), Trent Palmer sucked royally this year (9.88 ERA) and has a 6 BB/9 vs 10.9 K/9 lifetime (31 BB in 27 IP this year). Nick Frasso looked good and was traded to LAD as part of the Mitch White deal but missed all of 2024 due to injury and has yet to throw 100 IP in a single season - might be a good reliever but his starting career might be over before it got going. Zach Britton stalled out in AA, 2 1/2 years there now, 602 OPS last year as a C (8% CS)/RF. I don't see a future for him.
• 2021: Gunnar Hoglund #1 traded to Oakland as part of the Chapman deal, 3.44 ERA in 130 2/3 IP last year, should be on their staff at some point in 2025. Ricky Tiedemann we all know - injuries and a 5.19 ERA in '24 might kill his career. he did make the top 30 on multiple prospect lists though and could've been traded for a lot pre-2024. Chad Dallas reached AAA in '24 but sucked (6.34 ERA there) so I don't hold out a lot of hope there. Irv Carter was the 5th round pick and hasn't got past A+ yet, but did show some signs of hope. The rest haven't done enough to be of note imo.
• 2022: Brandon Barriera injured, sigh. Josh Kasevich looking good - high end D with a 815 OPS in AAA (173 PA) so some hope there. Tucker Toman in A ball with a 619 OPS last year, ugh, but only age 20 last year so if you squint you might see hope. Cade Doughty had a solid 23 in A+ 801 OPS, but just a 535 in AA this year so might be a long time. Alan Roden might make the Jays in '25 after a 916 OPS in AAA (286 PA). Ryan Jennings is old (25) but had a 1.93 ERA in '24 over 60 2/3 IP, reaching AA so he might sneak into the pen soon (4th round pick that'd be nice from). Mason Fluharty 3.63 ERA in AAA (pen) 10.2 K/9 vs 3.4 BB/9 - has a real shot at making the majors this year in some fashion.
• 2023: Arjun Nimmala - the next great hope. Juaron Watts-Brown 4.72 ERA in A/A+ with over 11 K/9 but 5.2 BB/9 - the old million dollar arm with no idea where the ball is going. No one else jumps out at me.
• 2024: Trey Yesavage we have high hopes for (was ranked higher than drafted). But all of this draft is WAAAAAAY too soon to judge.

So I'd say Nimmala, Roden are the big 2 who might make Farrell look smart. Kasevich & Yesavage (although he seemed a no-brainer to draft at that point) too. The rest look to be bit players imo. From what I see right away losing Farrell is not a big deal. Lets hope the Jays can steal a young up and comer from a strong organization - say, St Louis, Houston, LAD, Pittsburgh, or Oakland - each has their own challenges and each has done well iirc.