Elliott: Griffin named winner of 32nd CBN Scout of the Year
Toronto Blue Jays area scout Patrick Griffin (Oakville, Ont.) taking a rest betwen games, is the winner of the Jim Ridley CBN Scout of the Year.
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
A few years ago a Canadian scout was sitting in his club’s draft war room.
The Canadian scout knew two things:
_ Another scout at the table was close friends with one of the Toronto Blue Jays scouts, who was in the draft room at Rogers Centre.
_ And the Canadian scout knew with only three rounds remaining in the 20 rounds, the Jays had yet to select a Canadian in the annual July draft of high schoolers and collegians.
“You had better tell your pal to pick a Canadian -- and quickly, he’s running out of time,” said the Canadian scout. “It’s obvious your friend does not comprehend the culture. He had better pick a Canadian high schooler -- give a kid a chance -- or people will be upset. Believe me I know the market.”
The Canadian scout was right as the Jays went 0-for-20 rounds drafting Canadians. Many coaches grumbled across the country.
Not this July.
Blue Jays amateur scout Patrick Griffin made sure there was not a repeat performance. He drafted Tim Piasentin in the fifth round and signed him for $747,500 ... $260,000 above the slot value of $503,800. Piasentin (Coquitlam, BC) played for the Okotoks Dawgs and the Junior National Team.
For making that giant step forward, Griffin is the winner of the 32nd Canadian Baseball Network Scout of the Year and the Jim Ridley memorial honor.
You would have to go back a combined six years to find a combined signing bonuses to surpass Piasentin’s. INF Sam Shaw (Victoria, BC) a Victoria Eagles grad, was a Griffin pick in the ninth round in 2023 when he was given a bonus of $285,000 and OF Jean-Christophe Masson (Levis, Que.) of the Academy Baseball Canada and Junior National Team, scouted by Kory Lafreniere, was handed and given a $297,500 as a 26th rounder in 2019.
Years ago Piasentin was at the Futures Showcase. He was a shortstop then, so I told him how excellent a player his coach was. Lee Delfino (Pickering, Ont.) had played short for the East Carolina Pirates and if he had any questions about playing his position, he should ask Delfino.
Moving down the dugout I thought it would be best to inform Delfino too ... give him a heads up. “No chance,” Delfino said after one day of the Showcase. I replied “you don’t think that this boy has a chance?” Delfino said “no chance ... he’ll go to school.” I was stunned before Delfino added “his bat is too good ... someone will sign him.”
And that they did. It was the Blue Jays and Griffin who recognized his bat speed.
Piasentin wasn’t the only Canuck the Jays signed. They signed a record four. RHP Micah Bucknam (Abbotsford, BC) was a fourth rounder from Dallas Baptist, who was given a $678,000. Ontario Blue Jays grad Sam White (Aurora, Ont.) of the West Virginia Mountaineers was given $158,000 as a free agent and before the draft FiledHouse Pirates RHP Aiden Taggart (Grimsby, Ont.) signed for $155,000.
Bucknam was signed by scout Blue Jays scout Brad Jacob, White by Tom Burns, while Taggart by Matt O’Brien and Griffin.
* * *
The fact that Patrick has an eye for talent should not come as as a surprise. His father Richard Griffin has completed his 53th season in baseball: running the public relations department for the Montreal Expos, writing for the Toronto Star as the newspaper’s baseball columnist, working four years in the Blue Jays P.R. department and now three years writing on Substack (Griff’s The Pitch).
And this summer -- after years managing the Oakville A’s at different levels -- Richard was the skipper of Mal Romanin’s Niagara Ironbacks of the Perfect Game college summer league. Managing the Niagara Falls Americans, was former Montreal Expos INF Wil Cordero, who Richard worked closely with for four seasons at Olympic Stadium (1992-95).
His elder son Matt was a catcher for the Oakville A’s. And one night at Greg Cranker Field Matt homered off a right-hander named Bob Elliott, Jr. of the Erindale Cardinals. Bill Lankhof wrote about the match up, which I thought was funny. My son did not see the humor pointing out he struck out Matt in the next at-bat, which was not included in the original story. Matt later coached Guelph University Gryphons.
And Patrick followed in his brother’s footsteps. I saw him tickle the chain-link fence in Oakville to knock in the game-winning runs with a game-winning double, against the mighty Georgetown Eagles in 2008. After playing for the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, Patrick was looking for something to do.
He joined the Blue Jays affiliate with the Vancouver Canadians in 2017-18 as a video scout, working his way up. Under Rich Miller, the Canadians beat the Spokane Indians in straight games in the best-of-three series and then beat the Eugene Emeralds in the best-of-fivbe 3-1 in 2017. Also with the C’s were future major leaguers: C Riley Adams, INF Samad Taylor, LHP Travis Bergen, RHP José Espada, RP Jake Fishman, RP Dany Jiménez, LHP Zach Logue and RHP Nate Pearson, a former first rounder (28th over-all).
The first game he ever scout on his own was watching TJ Zeuch throw a no hitter.
Former Blue Jays scouts to win:Ed Heather (Cambridge, Ont.) 1997, Walt Jefferies (Paris, On) 1999, Andrew Tinnish (Burlington, Ont.) 2012 and Jon Lalonde (Midland, Ont.) 2024.
He is also one of the men responsible for scouring the country looking for the top 160 players to invite to the annual Canadian Futures Series Showcas.
In summation ... Jim Ridley would have admired Patrick Griffin’s work ethic
.* * *
Canadian Baseball Network Scout of the Year
Re-Named Jim Ridley Award In 2009
Year Winner Hometown Club
1994 Bill Scherrer, Buffalo, NY, Florida Marlins
1995 Bill MacKenzie, Ottawa, Ont., Colorado Rockies
1996 Tim Harkness, Hampton, Ont., San Diego Padres
1997 Ed Heather, Cambridge, Ont., Toronto Blue Jays
1998 Wayne Norton, Port Moody, BC, Baltimore Orioles
1999 Walt Jefferies, Paris, Ont., Toronto Blue Jays
2000 Claude Pelletier, Ste-Lezare, Que., New York Mets
2001 Jim Kane, Brampton, Ont., Atlanta Braves
2002 Ken Lenihan, Bedford, N.S., MLB Scouting Bureau
2003 Dick (The Legend) Groch, St. Clair, Mich. Milwaukee Brewers
2004 Jim Ridley, Burlington, Ont., Minnesota Twins
2005 Walt Burrows, Brentwood Bay, BC, MLB Scouting Bureau
2006 Alex Agostino, Montreal, Que., Philadelphia Phillies
2007 Howie Norsetter, Sydney, Australia, Minnesota Twins
2008 Greg Hamilton, Ottawa, Ont., Baseball Canada
2009 Jim Ridley, Burlington, Ont., Minnesota Twins
2010 Jay Lapp, London, Ont., Milwaukee Brewers
2011 Doug Mathieson, Langley, BC, Arizona Diamondbacks
2012 Andrew Tinnish, Burlington, Ont., Blue Jays
2013 Murray Zuk, Souris, Man., San Diego Padres
2014 Wayne Norton, Port Moody, BC, Seattle Mariners
2015 Jim Stevenson, Tulsa, Oak., Houston Astros
2016 Doug Mathieson, Langley, BC, Arizona Diamondbacks
2017 Chris Reitsma, Calgary, Alta., Baltimore Orioles
2018 Bill Byckowski, Georgetown, Ont., Cincinnati Reds
2019 Matt Higginson, Grimsby, Ont, Oakland A’s.
2020 Lonnie Goldberg, Overland Park, Kan., Kansas City Royals.
2021 Takeshi ‘T-Money’ Sakurayama, Hartford, Conn., Texas Rangers.
2022 Chris Kemlo, Oshawa, Ont., San Diego Padres.
2023 John Castleberry, Orleans, Mass., San Francisco Giants/Cincinnati Reds.
2
024 Jon Lalonde, Midland, Ont., Toronto Blue Jays.
2025 Patrick Griffin, Oakville, Ont., Toronto Blue Jays.
(BOLD denotes a member of the Canadian Hall of Fame in St. Marys.)