The spoils of reaching the World Series usually means a later first-round pick. For the Toronto Blue Jays that pick will be even later than usual.
There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball, but a variety of factors can alter the first-round order. Some teams receive compensatory picks based on not paying into competitive balance tax. Some teams receive compensatory picks based on their development of top prospects. Others go to the back of the line because they spend too much money. That’s where the Blue Jays are in 2026.
Because the Blue Jays are payors into the CBT for multiple seasons, their first-round pick is 10 picks later than it would normally be. So, while they went to the World Series and would have had the No. 29 pick overall. The CBT penalty pushes them back to No. 39.
But there is still talent and the Blue Jays ended up with a long-term prospect in Connor Comeau, per Baseball America (subscription required) and its first MLB mock draft after the draft lottery during the MLB winter meetings.
Who is Connor Comeau?
With a stacked MLB roster and a rock-solid minor league system, it makes sense for Toronto to go after a prep prospect in Comeau, who plays shortstop and outfield at Anderson High School in Austin, Texas.
He’s a left-handed hitter who is already committed to nearby Texas A&M. Baseball America pointed out his frame — 6-foot-4, 180 pounds — and noted that he has plenty of room to put on muscle and add power at the professional level. The Blue Jays have done well with prep prospects of late and Comeau won’t be 18 until after the draft.
Recent Toronto Blue Jays First-Round Picks
Toronto struck gold with its 2024 first-round pick Trey Yesavage, a polished college pitcher from East Carolina who started 2025 with Class-A Dunedin and reached the Majors in September. He was part of Toronto’s World Series run and is expected to be part of the rotation in 2026. Other first-round picks are still developing.
Arjun Nimmala, Toronto’s first-round pick out of Strawberry Crest High School in Dover, Fla., played all season at High-A Vancouver and just turned 20 years old. The shortstop one of the highest-rated prospects in baseball. Toronto selected another shortstop with their first-round pick last July, grabbing JoJo Parker out of Purvis, Miss.
Toronto went mostly with pitching from 2019-22. Alek Manoah was their 2019 first-round pick out of West Virginia. He is now out of the organization, but he put together an All-Star season before control issues and injuries derailed him. Austin Martin, who played shortstop at Vanderbilt, was Toronto’s first-round pick in 2020. He was traded to Minnesota in 2021 in the Jose Berrios deal.
Ole Miss pitcher Gunnar Hoglund was the first-round pick in 2021, and American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) prep pitcher Brandon Barriera was the first-round pick in 2022. Hoglund was part of the Matt Chapman trade in 2022. Barriera is working his way back from Tommy John surgery in 2024.
