Blue Jays: History of the 262nd overall pick in the MLB Draft

For the second time in franchise history, the Toronto Blue Jays will select 262nd overall.

The 262nd overall pick is in the ninth round, and the Jays have found success with ninth-rounders in the past. The most notable is Jesse Barfield, who slashed .256/.335/.466 with 241 home runs in 5,394 plate appearances in his career. He was also an All-Star.

Other notable players selected in the ninth round by the Jays are 2000 World Series winner Glenallen Hill, Aaron Loup, and All-Star Jeffrey Hammonds, who elected to go to Stanford University.

The only time the Blue Jays selected 262nd was back when it was in the 11th round. That said, let’s take a look at the history of the 262nd overall pick. If you missed the last article, we looked at the history of the 232nd overall pick.

Blue Jays selected Dave Baker in 1978

Dave Baker is one of eight players selected 262nd overall who’ve gone on to make the big leagues. Selected in the 1978 draft, Baker played just nine MLB games, slashing .250/.400/.700 with the Blue Jays in 1982.

It appears he retired after the 1982 season, but his younger brother Doug also played in the big leagues and had a slightly better career, winning one World Series as a player and two as a scout. He and Dave were also high school teammates of Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway (who was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 1979).

Other notable players picked 262nd overall

There is one player picked 262nd overall who went on to be an All-Star; in fact, Mike Sweeney was a five-time All-Star. At the turn of the millennium, the long-time Royal earned MVP votes in three consecutive seasons, slashing .325/.399/.541 with 82 home runs in 1,894 plate appearances from 2000 until 2002. Sweeney was an All-Star in five of six seasons from 2000 until 2005.

After 13 seasons with the Royals, Sweeney spent time with the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, and Philadelphia Phillies, finishing his career slashing .297/.366/.486 for a 24.8 bWAR.

Although teams can find an All-Star-calibre player this far down the draft, it doesn’t happen often. The next best player in terms of bWAR is Seth Mejias-Brean, who played just 14 games while accumulating 0.4 bWAR. Lou Frazier (who didn’t sign) also had 0.4 bWAR, but played 309 big league games. Frazier is a former Montréal Expo.

Joe Hall, not to be confused with the Hockey Hall of Famer of the same name, started his career off at a torrid pace, registering 10 hits in his first 16 plate appearances as a 28-year-old. After cooling off a bit, Hall injured his hamstring and missed the rest of the 1994 season. He only played nine more MLB games after that, before retiring after the 1999 season.

Baker is one of just eight players selected 262nd overall who made the big leagues. Unfortunately, he is also one of four players with a bWAR below 0, finishing with a -0.1 bWAR in nine games. Greg LaRocca also had -0.1 bWAR, while Taylor Jordan had a -0.3 bWAR. 

In his 50 games as a pitcher, Jeff Kaiser finished with a -2.2 bWAR thanks to an awful 9.17 ERA and 2.19 WHIP. He picked up two saves in his career.