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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. Nmd R1 Cheap . The team said Saturday that the 36-year-old Robidas is expected to miss four to six months, jeopardizing his return this season. He was injured when he slid hard into the boards in the second period of a 2-1 shootout loss to Chicago on Friday. Yeezy Boost 350 China . Cincinnati has lost back-to-back games in overtime, wasting a chance to take a commanding lead in their division. http://www.fakeyeezyscheap.com/wholesale-yeezy-boost-350.html . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (5) - Simply put, Lundqvist was brilliant. Cheap Fake Jordan 1 .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Vapormax Off White Fake For Sale . "Its embarrassing what were doing here," leading scorer Phil Kessel said Wednesday. The most recent failed season came with even more pain than the six that preceded it. There was no hint of an impending implosion when the Leafs came roaring out of the all-star break with back-to-back games against Pittsburgh -- a 5-4 shootout loss followed by a 1-0 win the next night.Russell Westbrook inspired a second-half fightback as Oklahoma City Thunder came from behind to beat Golden State Warriors 108-102 in the opening game of the Western Conference finals on Monday. Westbrook potted 27 points as Thunder overturned a 60-47 half-time deficit to snatch victory in a pulsating clash between two of the most potent attacking units in the NBA. Westbrook also chipped in with 12 assists and six rebounds, while team-mate Kevin Durant finished with 26 points, with the visitors silencing Golden States home crowd at the Oracle Arena.Westbrook said: Its a game of two halves, man. My job was to stay in attack mode and find a way of getting my team-mates going.Were a great team. We didnt play our best game but we came out with a win.Warriors coach Steve Kerr added: I thought when we lost our aggressiveness and our momentum offensively in the second half, a lot of that had to do with [Westbrooks] speed and aggressiveness.Golden State looked to be sprinting away to a one-sided victory with Stephen Curry - who finished with 26 points - leading the charge.But Thunder re-emerged after the half-time interval a different side, with Westbrook compiling 19 points in the third quarter to reduce the deficit to threee points (88-85).ddddddddddddOklahoma City opened a 101-93 lead before the reigning NBA champions Warriors clawed their way back to within one point at 101-100.Just when it looked as if Golden State were poised to pull off another Houdini act, Thunder regrouped and edged clear once more.Kerr bemoaned a loss of composure during the final quarter when the Warriors made only one of 10 attempted three-pointers.Kerr pointed out: There were a lot of quick shots, way too many quick shots, which took us out of our rhythm.Five minutes left in the game and were down four points, and we were acting like we had 20 seconds left.Five minutes is an eternity. We know how we have to play. We have to pass and move and create rhythm for ourselves.Meanwhile, Thunders head coach Billy Donovan praised his sides problem-solving abilities: I thought in the second half we did a much better job, took much better care of the basketball which enabled us to get back in transition and play better defence.Its one game and well have to take a look at the film and figure out how we can play better on Wednesday.Were not a perfect team but these guys really battle and fight and compete.Game two in the best of seven series takes place in Oakland on Wednesday. ' ' '