RealGM

Winter’s wallop may have struck most of North America this week, but soon the sights and sounds of baseball in Florida and Arizona will signal the impending arrival of spring.

A pair of Canadians who less than two years ago looked to be on the path to the big leagues will not be among them.

In 2009, the Toronto Blue Jays selected University of Kentucky pitcher James Paxton of Ladner, B.C., 37th overall in baseball’s June amateur draft.

It was the highest the Blue Jays had ever taken a homegrown prospect since Canadian players were included in the draft in 1985.

Just 31 picks later, Toronto selected Newmarket high school pitcher Jake Eliopoulos with a second-round choice.

No general manager, scouting director or player would suggest 20 months is any kind of time frame to evaluate a baseball draft pick given development often takes four to six years.

But nearly two years later, both Paxton and Eliopoulos are unsigned and waiting to take the next step in their baseball careers.

Eliopoulos’ story is a very different one, starting with his being drafted out of high school.

Adopted from the Ukraine at an early age by former Blue Jays bullpen catcher Jim Eliopoulos and his wife Lea, the left-hander starred as a pitcher with John Jepson’s Toronto Mets organization.

Many in baseball considered the pick a reach for a hometown kid.

The Blue Jays offered Eliopoulos more or less what is known as slot money — the amount recommended by the commissioner’s office for a particular draft position. In this case it was a little bit more than $500,000.