2013 MLB Draft: Latest Expert Predictions on Who Blue Jays Will Select

With the MLB First-Year Player Draft nearly two weeks away, expert mock drafts have been popping up all over the web. Listed here are the latest first-round projected picks for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Recently, the Blue Jays have been known to choose the best available player—focusing more on potential rather than position.

There does not appear to be a consensus No. 1 pick in this years draft, and the trickle down effect is noticeable. Some analysts have the Blue Jays selecting Austin Meadows at No. 10, others have Meadows going first overall. Some mocks have Trey Ball falling to the Blue Jays, others have him being selected as high as No. 4.

Austin Meadows is a prospect out of Grayson High School in Georgia. He is an outfielder with an exceptionally high ceiling, but as most prospects out of high school are, his talent is extremely raw. His talents lie mainly at the plate where his effortless swing has scouts taking notice. However, some scouts worry that his weak arm may relegate him to a corner outfield position.

According to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, general manager Alex Anthopoulos made a personal visit to watch Trey Ball play this season. Depending on if he liked what he saw, Ball could find himself within the Blue Jays organization to start next year.

Here are picks made by experts around the web. Naturally, it all depends on what happens with the nine picks before the Blue Jays are on the clock, but hopefully this will give you a sense of who the Blue Jays are targeting.

Analyst	Organization	Player
Mike Rosenbaum	Bleacher Report	Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson HS
Adam Wells	Bleacher Report	Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson HS
Keith Law	ESPN	Reese McGuire, C, Kentwood HS
Jim Vassallo	Rule 4 Draft	Colin Moran, 3B, North Carolina
Chris Crawford	MLB Draft Insider	Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson HS
Jonathan Mayo	MLB.com	Trey Ball, LHP/OF, New Castle HS
Dave Perkin	SI.com	Ryne Stanek, RHP, Arkansas
Daniel Schmelzer	Rant Sports	Trey Ball, LHP/OF, New Castle HS
Jim Callis	Baseball America	Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson HS
Joshua Vadeboncoeur	Baseball News Source	Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson HS
John Sickels	SBNation	Trey Ball, LHP/OF, New Castle HS
Matt Grabusky	Big League Futures	Trey Ball, LHP/OF, New Castle HS
Kiley McDaniel	Scouting Baseball	Austin Meadows, OF, Grayson HS

MLB

prospects—save for the rare consensus No. 1 pick and difference maker—are hard to project into MLB lineups. They are usually drafted at a very young age, with a lot of development left before they are major league ready.

They are then thrown into an extremely large player pool. Think about how many players there are in all of Single-A, Double-A, Triple-A and the MLB combined. Rookies in baseball become one of a couple hundred players within an organization once drafted, compared to a sport like basketball where picks become one of approximately 25 players within the organization.

No matter who the Blue Jays draft, I'm sure there will be critics and supporters alike.

Here are a couple videos for your viewing pleasure.

Austin Meadows:

Trey Ball:

Reese McGuire:

As always, let's talk baseball: Follow @applebyinc