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I thought the call up of second baseman Cavan Biggio from the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons last week was a brilliant move by the Toronto Blue Jays’ front office. There was so much negativity surrounding Vladimir Guerrero Jr. not playing at Rogers Centre on Victoria Day that Biggio’s promotion to the majors was a positive distraction.

Having the son of another Hall of Famer (Craig Biggio) playing in Toronto is pretty remarkable. But let’s be clear – this young man isn’t in the major leagues because of his name. Biggio is here because he’s a legitimate prospect.

Like Guerrero, Biggio is a high OBP hitter but he goes about it a bit differently. Guerrero gets there with a high batting average and more walks than strikeouts. Biggio has more swing and miss but he also has much more patience, exemplified by his 100 walks in 2018. He was one of only three minor leaguers to walk that many times. The 24-year-old has also shown the ability to drive the ball to left field and pull it down the right field line.

I was impressed by the young second baseman’s explanation of his first home run that he crushed to the fourth level of Rogers Centre in a 10-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday afternoon. When he was asked what he was thinking about at the plate, Biggio said he noticed that when Freddy Galvis had two strikes against him in a prior at-bat, the pitcher tried to go inside with a fastball. Sure enough, Biggio got the same pitch and he was ready for it. That is advanced thinking for a rookie.

Biggio’s presence makes it clear that the rebuilding process is about more than just Guerrero and Bo Bichette. It is exciting to think that next season Bichette could be leading off, followed by Biggio and then Guerrero. If Rowdy Tellez can keep improving, he could bat fourth. That could make for a very interesting infield and lineup.

Time to shift Sanchez to bullpen

Déjà vu. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sure feels like I have seen this movie before.

Aaron Sanchez had to leave Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays with a finger (nail) issue. This time he suffered what is called a nail avulsion where the nail is lifted from the nailbed and then settles back down on top of a blood blister. It sounds horribly painful. I can’t imagine gripping and throwing a baseball while having to deal with this injury.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It is time for the insanity to stop. The Jays must try something different.

First, I would no longer let Sanchez be a starter. He needs to move to the bullpen. His blister issues don’t seem to flare up after one inning of work but rather in the middle innings of his outings. Let him pitch one inning at a time. Sanchez has the type of stuff that could overpower hitters in short spurts. He has done that before. Try it. 

Secondly, I would consider trying to come up with a different repertoire of pitches. Sanchez’s arm is too good to spend so much time in the training room. It’s time for dramatic efforts. Otherwise, his career will be wasted. I don’t know the exact answer but it’s time to get very creative and think out of the box. Let him be an opener three days a week.

MLB draft on tap

The Major League Baseball amateur draft starts next Monday night.

When it comes to the draft, baseball is not like the NFL or NBA where clubs select players to fill needs for their big-league team. When a player gets drafted in MLB, he is generally anywhere from three to seven years away from making the majors. 

Players need experience to grow and develop in order to play at the highest level. With this in mind, teams take the best talent available when they make their selections. Of course, they will select players at every position throughout the process but they don’t draft to plug major-league holes. Some organizations prefer college players over high school kids. Some are better at drafting and developing pitchers over position players. Some are better the opposite way.

The Jays have shown a willingness to take both college and high school kids in the draft. It’s good to have plenty of kids moving through the farm system in waves and the willingness to select both college and high school prospects helps in that regard. But I fully expect that if they like two players equally, the Jays would take the college player over the high school player. Typically, the college player will move more quickly than the high school player through the minor leagues because they are a bit more mature emotionally and physically.

Like father, like son

Don’t be surprised if the Jays look for more sons of former big leaguers in the draft. They are having luck in that regard with Guerrero, Bichette, Biggio, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Dwight Smith Jr. (traded to the Baltimore Orioles). 

There is a reason that the offspring of major-league players become good players themselves and it is more than just genetics. Kids growing up in major league clubhouses learn about the mental part of the game. They better understand the grind of the season and how to deal with failure and success just by watching and listening to their fathers and their dads’ teammates. The Jays have the 11th overall pick while the Orioles have the top pick in the draft.

Witt Jr. the best bet for Orioles

Indications are that Baltimore is deciding between college catcher Adley Rutschman from Oregon State or high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. from Colleyville (Texas) high school. It will be a tough call for the rebuilding Orioles, who have also considered first baseman Andrew Vaughn from the University of California and outfielder J.J. Bleday from Vanderbilt.

Witt’s father, Bobby Witt Sr., was a former first round pick of the Texas Rangers who had a 16-year career as a right-handed pitcher. He was known for his competitiveness and tenacity on the mound. He is now an agent and will represent his son. 

Witt Jr. is a very athletic shortstop who can crush a baseball and will be an All-Star player. He reminds me of mix between former Atlanta Braves superstar and Hall of Famer Chipper Jones and former Texas Rangers infielder Michael Young (a former Blue Jay minor leaguer).

I would take Witt Jr. if I had the first overall pick.

SPITTING SEEDS

- The MLB draft on Monday won’t just have ramifications for clubs’ minor-league systems – it will also impact a couple of major-league teams. Free agent pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel are anxiously awaiting the first pick on Monday because it will mean they are truly free agents. They were offered and rejected qualifying offers from the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox respectively last fall when they declared free agency, so any team that wanted to sign them would forfeit draft picks. They sat and waited as their markets deteriorated in free agency because they both overestimated their value and the level of interest from clubs. No deals came their way. The deeper they got into the off-season, the less likely it was that they would get multi-year deals. Clubs were interested in offering them one-year deals, but didn’t want to give up a draft pick for such a short-term investment. Once the draft begins the compensation will no longer be attached to their signings. 

- The Braves, Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Rays have been tied to both Keuchel and Kimbrel. There is speculation that the New York Yankees are aggressively pursuing Keuchel who will be willing to sign a one-year deal for a pro-rated $18 million salary. There have also been rumours that the Los Angeles Dodgers would consider signing Kimbrel and adding him to the bullpen in front of Kenley Jansen. The Padres could be a sleeper team for Keuchel, but they will have to decide whether they are truly contenders this season to make such an investment. I would pass if I was them. I predict Keuchel will sign with the Yankees and Kimbrel with the Braves.

- Blue Jays outfielder Jonathan Davis made one of the best catches of the year on Wednesday night against the Rays. He broke on the crack of the bat as Rays outfielder Avisail Garcia ripped a ball in the left centre field gap and laid out fully extended to make the catch. It brought back memories of Kevin Pillar and all of the great plays that he made as a Blue Jay. It remains to be seen whether Davis will hit enough to be a starting player but his athleticism showed he can certainly be a defensive replacement.