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TORONTO — Once the Major League Baseball draft process is complete late Thursday night when the fifth round — yes, the fifth, not the 40th — comes to a close, all 30 clubs will turn their attention to an unprecedented chase of undrafted talent.

With a maximum $20,000 post-draft signing bonus set for those who don’t hear their names called, there is a lot of unknown surrounding what could be a frenzied time as teams try to lure all the talent that would’ve been drafted in the sixth round and beyond.

"We’ve spent a lot of time researching that group that we think will likely fall outside of the top five rounds," Blue Jays director of amateur scouting Shane Farrell said this week. "Our area scouts have done a tremendous job digging and continuing to build relationships with those players, just trying to get a sense of where they’re at in their careers and their education, if they feel like they are done with school and ready to start professionally or are open to signing this year, given the circumstances. That’s something we’ll sit down and really attack when the draft wraps up."

While they may still be lottery tickets with long odds, single digit-round talent is nothing to scoff at, even if a lot of the top prospects will forego turning pro if they have the leverage to do so.

Some notable active players drafted after the fifth round include:

Anthony Rizzo, Boston Red Sox (sixth round, 2007)

Marcus Semien, Chicago White Sox (sixth round, 2011)

Michael Brantley, Milwaukee Brewers (seventh round, 2005)

Justin Turner, Cincinnati Reds (seventh round, 2006)

Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks (eighth round, 2009)

Jacob deGrom, New York Mets (ninth round, 2010)

Whit Merrifield, Kansas City Royals (ninth round, 2010)

Jeff McNeil, New York Mets (12th round, 2013)

Tommy Pham, St. Louis Cardinals (16th round, 2006)

Josh Hader, Baltimore Orioles (19th round, 2012)

J.D. Martinez, Houston Astros (20th round, 2009)

Nelson Cruz, New York Mets (undrafted, 1998)

Kirby Yates, Tampa Bay Rays (undrafted, 2009)

As you’d imagine, it’s a deep list of MLB contributors when you go through the history of the 35 rounds that will not happen this year.

But the talent available to teams for a pittance of $20,000 up front is going to be a market that smart — and rich — teams should take full advantage of. With no limit on how many players one team can sign, we may find out which teams across baseball are solely focused on cost cutting when they show little interest in adding talent past the fifth round.

Even if most of the high school prospects decide to head to college, there could be teams all-in on this talent pool, despite a murky minor-league restructuring coming down the road.

It’s easy to envision ways the playing field could quickly tilt.

What if the New York Yankees use the powerful allure of pinstripes to sign 15 players who were given sixth-round grades?

Even more interestingly, with the $20,000 max bonus, what’s stopping teams from offering premium targets higher weekly salaries throughout their minor-league career as a way to get them to sign?

There could be negotiating wiggle room with multiple teams in on just about every player.

Talking to agents this week about how they expect the process to unfold and how the players who do not have leverage to go back to school will choose an MLB team, they all pointed to two separators: Teams that have strong developmental track records will have players’ trust, while thin systems at that player’s respective position will pique interest.

The Boston Red Sox have already talked publicly about using the Red Sox Nation "brand" as a way to attract players, but each pitch will be different.

The Blue Jays’ pitch will heavily involve the aforementioned opportunity within a still-rebuilding franchise, especially on the pitching side.

Another angle the Jays have working for them is the approximate 50 per cent bumps they handed to minor leaguers organization-wide last year, something that did not go unnoticed across the sport.

Relationships will come into play, too, something Farrell mentioned this week.

"I think the challenge is that it’s likely to be the same offer throughout multiple teams for different players," Farrell said. "That’s once again where these relationships that area scouts have built, they really become the big deciding factor in a player’s decision."

WHERE THEY PICK

Day 1 of the draft goes Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on TSN and includes the first round (37 picks). Rounds 2-5 (123 picks) will begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Here’s where the Blue Jays will pick, and the slot value assigned to that selection:

1st round: Fifth overall　($6,180,700)

2nd round: 42nd overall　($1,771,100)

3rd round: 77th overall　($805,600)

4th round: 106th overall　($549,000)

5th round: 136th overall　($410,100)

TOP 10 OVERALL BONUS POOLS

1. Baltimore Orioles　($13,894,300)

2. Detroit Tigers　($13,325,700)

3. Kansas City Royals　($12,521,300)

4. Miami Marlins　($12,016,900)

5. Pittsburgh Pirates　($11,154,500)

6. San Diego Padres　($10,674,000)

7. Colorado Rockies　($10,339,700)

8. Seattle Mariners　($10,265,500)

9. Toronto Blue Jays　($9,716,500)

10. San Francisco Giants　($9,231,800)