It isn’t every day — or every year, in the case of the baseball draft — when a team can pluck a first-rounder with its fourth-round pick. That’s what the Mariners essentially did today when they grabbed James Paxton, a left-handed pitcher who comes from the Vancourver, B.C., area … and a story.
The Blue Jays took Paxton with a supplemental pick after the first round last year before agent Scott Boras got involved, either literally or figuratively. That’s the point of a lot of contentiousness that ultimately landed Paxton back in this year’s draft and, now, with the Mariners.
Talks last year with the Blue Jays fell apart and Paxton tried to return to the University of Kentucky. His eligibility came into question over the involvement of Boras and it led to a lawsuit. Paxton eventually left school and played independent ball this spring.
Here’s a story about Paxton from the Vancouver Sun.
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