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The Toronto Blue Jays are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They play in the American League East division. Since the Blue Jays' entrance into the league in 1977, the Blue Jays have selected 72 players in the first round. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft",[1] the Rule 4 draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning amateur players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick.[1] In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks.[2] The First-Year Player Draft is unrelated to the 1976 expansion draft in which the Blue Jays initially filled their roster.
Of the 72 players picked in the first round by Toronto, 35 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 26 of them were right-handed, while nine were left-handed. 14 shortstops, 12 outfielders, four catchers and third basemen, and three first basemen have also been selected. The team has never drafted a player at second base in the first round.[3] 38 players were drafted out of high school, while 31 came from four-year college programs and two from junior colleges.[3] They have also drafted two players from Puerto Rico: Alex Ríos (1999) and Miguel Negrón (2000).[3]
Ed Sprague Jr. (1988), who was with the franchise when they won the World Series in 1992 and 1993, is the only pick to win a championship with the team.[4] No picks have won the MLB Rookie of the Year Award, though Shawn Green (1991) and Alex Ríos (1999) finished fifth in the voting in 1995 and 2004, respectively.[5][6] Roy Halladay (1995) is the only first-round pick of the Blue Jays to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, occurring in 2019, and to earn a Cy Young Award with the team, winning in 2003.[7][8] Jay Schroeder (1979) was drafted as a catcher, but ended up becoming a quarterback for ten years in the National Football League.[9]
The Blue Jays have made 23 selections in the supplemental round of the draft and 31 compensatory picks since their entry into the league in 1977.[3] These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season,[2][10][V] or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year.[11] The Blue Jays have failed to sign three of their first-round picks, James Paxton (2009), who opted to return to the University of Kentucky, Tyler Beede (2011), and Phil Bickford (2013).[12] The Blue Jays received the 38th pick in 2010, the 22nd pick in 2012, and the 11th pick in 2015 as compensation.[13]
