There is volatility inherent to every pick in the baseball draft, usually more so for high school players than collegians, for younger players than older ones, which is why the Toronto Blue Jays’ selection of prep shortstop Arjun Nimmala at No. 20 overall is so intriguing.
SEATTLE – There is volatility inherent to every pick in the baseball draft, usually more so for high school players than collegians, for younger players than older ones, which is why the Toronto Blue Jays’ selection of prep shortstop Arjun Nimmala at No. 20 overall is so intriguing.
At 17, he’s one of the youngest players eligible this year, which can layer in another element of variance on the spectrum of possibility for the product of Strawberry Crest High School just outside of Tampa.
But Nimmala’s proximity to the club’s Player Development Complex in Dunedin, Fla., meant the team’s scouts could gather a deep volume of looks at his at-bats. They met with him three times, in the summer, fall and spring, and he visited the club’s facility. They were able to closely monitor how “as he’s added strength to his wiry frame (and) his tools have taken a jump,” as Baseball America wrote in its scouting report on him.
The Red Wings signed the two-time 41-goal scorer DeBrincat to a four-year extension with an average annual value of US$7.875 million.
The initial condition on the first-round pick is as follows: the Red Wings will have the option of sending their own 2024 first-round pick or Boston’s 2024 first-round pick (previously acquired on March 2, 2023) to Ottawa.
However, if the Bruins’ 2024 first-round selection is an eventual top-10 pick (following the annual draft lottery), Boston will have the option of retaining the pick and transferring its 2025 unprotected first-round selection to Detroit. The Red Wings will then have the option of sending that draft pick or their own first-round pick in 2024 to the Senators to complete this trade.
The 27-year-old Kubalik skated in all but one of the Red Wings’ 82 regular-season games in 2022-23 and established a new career high in assists (25) while falling one point shy of matching his career high in points (45) by way of also tallying 20 goals while tying for third in team scoring.
The 21-year-old Sebrango, a native of Ottawa, split last season with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins and the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. He recorded 12 points (one goal, 11 assists) in 23 games with Toledo and seven points (four goals, three assists) in 39 games with Grand Rapids.
Sebrango was an alternate captain with Team Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton and helped the Canadians capture a gold medal, recording two points (two assists), while skating in each of his team’s seven tournament games.