DETROIT – Its the annual rite of the first week of June, baseballs amateur draft, where clubs take part in a three-day, 40-round marathon, selecting more than 1,000 players they hope will improve their fortunes in the years ahead. The Blue Jays had two picks in Thursday evenings first round – ninth and 11th overall – and used them to take a pitcher and a catcher. First, the club took right-hander Jeff Hoffman, a 21-year-old from Latham, New York, who attended East Carolina University. Two selections later, the Blue Jays selected Kennesaw State University product, 21-year-old catcher Max Pentecost from suburban Atlanta. Major League Baseball uses a slotting system – a recommended signing bonus value based on where a player is taken – and the Blue Jays, if they pay in full, will be on the hook for about $6 million for their two picks. Hoffman is an interesting case. He has a plus fastball, mid-90s miles per hour which can top out in the high 90s, a strong curveball and a developing changeup. But, just last month, Hoffman underwent Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. The procedure, now so routine its rarely flawed, was hardly a concern to Torontos front office and top scouts. "We just felt like the talent was too big to walk away from," said Blue Jays director of amateur scouting, Brian Parker. "This guy was going to go top three, top four picks prior to his injury and we just felt like even with the Tommy John, we felt this was a good gamble for us." Pentecost was a seventh round draft pick of the Texas Rangers in 2011. He was projected to go higher but suffered a stress fracture in his throwing elbow, which dropped his stock. He didnt sign with Texas, choosing to go to school instead. The first catcher the Blue Jays have taken in the first round since, take a breath, J.P. Arencibia in 2007, Pentecost is a versatile player who projects to be a good hitter, although more gap-to-gap than for power. A.J. Jimenez is the Jays top catching prospect, currently toiling at Double-A New Hampshire more than a year removed from Tommy John surgery of his own, and the Blue Jays have shipped out catchers like Arencibia, Travis dArnaud (to the New York Mets in the R.A. Dickey trade), Yan Gomes (to Cleveland for Esmil Rogers) and Carlos Perez (to Houston in the J.A. Happ deal) in recent years. "Taking Max had nothing to do with any of those trades or getting rid of any of those players," said Parker. "When you pick nine and 11, you just have to line up your board and take the best player and thats what we did. We like Max, we scouted him pretty hard from last summer in the (Cape Cod League) and throughout this spring. Hes an athletic, two-way position player and we like the bat. I think theres a lot of positives with him. Obviously, a guy at a premium position that can help out offensively and defensively is something that attracted him to us." In two of the last three drafts, the Jays have failed to sign their first round pick. In 2011, it was Tyler Beede, who instead chose to go to Vanderbilt University and was drafted by the San Francisco Giants 14th overall on Thursday night. Last year, the Jays failed to land right-hander Phil Bickford, who instead went to California State-Fullerton. The pick that landed Pentecost was compensation for missing out on Bickford. Going with two college kids, including one coming off an injury, increases the likelihood of the player being willing to sign. Neither has a full school ride to fall back on. Hoffman, who is pleased with the progress hes making early in his rehabilitation from elbow surgery, sounds eager to put pen to paper. Chris Kline, the Blue Jays area scout in the Carolinas, did most of the legwork on Hoffman. Mike Pidick, an area scout whose region includes Georgia, watched Pentecost. Cheap Shoes Free Shipping . Pressley missed all of last season with Cincinnati because of a knee injury, but the 5-foot-10, 249-pounder had been expected to fill a need on Clevelands roster. Wholesale Nike Shoes . According to bodog.ca, Cleveland moved up to grab the best odds to win the Larry OBrian trophy at 4-1 on Friday. By comparison, the Miami Heats odds plummeted from 3-1 favourites before LeBron left, to 50-1. https://www.wholesaleshoesusa.com/. “The fact that he was willing to do the deal the way we wanted it to be done showed that he wanted me to be a part of something great," Lowry said, noting that Ujiri willingness to sign off on the proposal that both Lowry and his agent presented to the GM was the final straw that convinced him to return. Cheap Shoes From China . Luke Wileman and I stood in the corridor outside of the Vancouver Whitecaps dressing room at BC Place in Vancouver. Discount Shoes For Sale . On paper, it looks a little like Andre the Giant taking on a midget wrestler. It has all the makings of a rout with the Americans adding an eighth win in nine outings of this biennial event. The Yanks have eight players in the top 15 in the world while the Internationals have just one. WINNIPEG -- Ilya Bryzgalov didnt have to say anything Monday night as the Winnipeg Jets fans did all the talking. Bryzgalov, who is rarely short of words off the ice, stopped all 24 shots his way and Charlie Coyle scored the games only goal as the Minnesota Wild blanked the Jets 1-0. The Russian goaltender was serenaded on more than once occasion by the home crowd with chants of "Il-Ya". He answered the catcalls with a series of arm gestures. "I want to show them get louder," said Bryzgalov, who Minnesota acquired at the trade deadline from Edmonton. "It sounds like a good tradition. "It became a good tradition every time I play here," he added. The Wild victory all but clinched a Western Conference wild-card berth. Minnesota (41-26-12) would need to lose its final three games with Phoenix winning four straight in order to miss the playoffs. Coyles one-timer off a pass from Zach Parise at 1:05 of the second period came just after a penalty to Winnipeg defenceman Mark Stuart had expired. "Mikko (Koivu) made a nice pass down to Zach and Zach just put it through a guy and found me," Coyle said, "And I just tried to throw it on net and it happened to go in, so it was a great play by those guys." The Jets (35-35-10), who will miss the playoffs for the seventh straight season stretching back to their time as the Atlanta Thrashers, iced an injury-depleted lineup. With two games remaining and 80 points to their credit, the Jets are assured of finishing behind their 51-point pace of the lockout-shortened 2013 season, which would have extrapolated to 87 points in a full campaign. Michael Hutchinson, a 24-year-old rookie who began the season in the ECHL, made his first career NHL start with regular backup Al Montoya still suffering from a lower-body injury. He wasnt asked to make many difficult stops, but Hutchinsons only blemish on 17 shots came on Coyles one-timer. "I thought I played pretty well," Hutchinson said. "Theres some times where nerves get the best of you and you start over thinking certain situations, but overall I think I gaave the team a chance to win the game.dddddddddddd" Bryzgalov wasnt much busier, but did have a higher degree of difficulty as he picked up his fourth shutout of the season. Bryzgalov is now 6-0-3 since joining his new club. "They keep the game simple for mea let me see the shots. They block a lot of shots," Bryzgalov said about his teammates. "I just go on the ice and play hard to try to give the team a chance to win the game. The guys play in front of me unbelievable." The shots were 7-6 Jets in the first period and 7-5 Wild in the second, as neither team could generate any offence. The third period was wide open by comparison, with Winnipeg sending 12 pucks at Bryzgalov. Even four power-play chances couldnt help the Jets find the back of the net. "Whenever your goalie is giving you performances like that your penalty kill is going to be better," said Wild coach Mike Yeo, who added that hes pleased with the improvement his teams penalty kill has shown in the stretch run. Winnipeg winger Evander Kane, who was a healthy scratch Saturday night in Toronto for reportedly being late to a team meeting, was back in the lineup. He managed just one shot on goal and was on the ice for Coyles goal. "Theyre an aggressive penalty kill, like ours," Kane said. "Special teams is what won the game tonight. Its tough when you lose 1-0, because youve got to score at least one to win." The Jets wrap up their home schedule Thursday night against Boston, and finish their season the next night in Calgary. Minnesota returns home to face Boston, St. Louis and Nashville. Notes: Jets captain Andrew Ladd missed his first game due to injury since the 2010-11 season, while Dustin Byfuglien (torn muscle) is done for the season. a Still on the Jets injured list were forwards Chris Thorburn and Mark Scheifele and defencemen Keaton Ellerby and Zach Bogosian. a Minnesota was without forwards Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker and defencemen Clayton Stoner and Keith Ballard. a Jets centre Jim Slater played in his 500th career NHL game. ' ' '