By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

When Murray Zuk retired from scouting for the San Diego Padres, it made New York Mets scout Claude Pelletier the senior man in terms of service time when it came to Canadian-based scouts.

Scout Walt Burrows selected the all-time best he has seen since 1991 starting off with his home province of British Columbia. The reaction was such that people, scouts, players and fans asked him to pick the best he’d ever seen since 1991 in the province of Ontario.

Burrows (Brentwood Bay, BC) had covered the country for the Major League Scouting Bureau and now for the Minnesota Twins since 1991.

Claude Pelletier, left and Mario Morissette were inducted into the Quebec Hall of Fame with Richard Gladu in 2019.

As we move on ... no one knows the province of Quebec better than Pelletier (Ste-Lazare, Que.).

We asked him to select the best he scouted in his province since he began evaluating for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988.

He had some help narrowing it down but how many Canadian scouts have signed a Cy Young award winner — well aside from Jim Stevenson (Leaside, Ont.) who drafted and signed LHP Dallas Keuchel in the seventh round from the University of Arkansas.

Starters:

RHP Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada/Junior National Team.

Chosen in the first round by the Seattle Mariners (11th overall) in the 2007 draft and was signed by scout Wayne Norton (Port Moody, BC).

In parts of four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, he pitched in 46 games in the majors, including one start, he was 1-6 with a 6.80 ERA. He pitched 43 2/3 innings fanning 42.

LHP Denis Boucher (Lachine, Que.) Lasalle Blue Jays/National Baseball Institute/Canadian National senior team.

Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays and GM Pat Gillick, Canadian director of scouting Bobby Prentice (Toronto, Ont.) and scout Bill Slack (Montreal, Que.) at the Pan Am games in Indianapolis.

In 35 games -- making 26 starts -- in the majors, Boucher had a career record of 6-11 with a 5.42 ERA. He struck out 77 -- mostly with the best curve ball in the park that night -- in 146 innings.

Boucher pitched parts of four seasons with the Montreal Expos, Cleveland Indians and the Blue Jays.

RHP Derek Aucoin (TerreBonne, Que.) College St Sacrement.

Signed as a free agent by Montreal Expos scout Rene Marchand (Trois Rivieres, Que.).

Pitched two games in the majors with the Expos going 0-1, with a 3.38 ERA, striking out one and walking one in 2 2/3 innings. In the minors he was 22-30 with 16 saves and a 4.39 ERA in 305 games as he walked 334 and fanned 504.

In his 10 seasons in the minors, he pitched for the rookie-class Gulf Coast Expos, class-A Jamestown, class-A Sumter, class-A Rockford, class-A West Palm Beach double-A Harrisburg and triple-A Ottawa in the Expos system as well as triple-A Norfolk, double-A Binghamton, class-A St. Lucie and the rookie-class Gulf Coast Mets in the New York Mets system.

RHP Michel Laplante (Val d’Or, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada/Canadian National senior team.

Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1992 and signed by Steve Oleschuk (Sherbrooke, Que.)

Pitched 158 games -- 139 starts -- in affiliated and independent ball, he was 52-49 with a 3.88 ERA. He struck out 729 in 913 2/3 innings.

In parts of 13 seasons, he played with class-A Welland, class-A Augusta, class-A Salem, class-A Lynchburg and double-A Carolina, as well as class-A Greenville and triple-A Richmond in the Atlanta Braves system, as well as triple-A Ottawa in the Montreal Expos chain. He moved to indy ball pitching at Madison in the Northern League and the Quebec Capitales. He was so active in Quebec he became a part owner.

LHP Martin Lavigne (Quebec City, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Signed as a free agent in 1991 by New York Mets scout Claude Pelletier.

In 50 games in the minors, making 48 starts, he was 18-20 with a 4.18 ERA. He struck out 253 in 301 2/3 innings.

Lavigne pitched in the Dodgers’ organization for the rookie-class Gulf Coast Dodgers, class-A Bakersfield and class-A Vero Beach, before moving on to pitch four seasons with Quebec in the Northern League.

Relievers

LHP Eric Cyr (Montreal, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 30th round in 1998 from Seminole Community College, after originally being drafted by the Montreal Expos and scout Alex Agostino (St. Bruno).

In five big league games, Cyr posted a 10.50 ERA and struck out four in six innings.

Cyr was with the 2002 Padres making his debut against the New York Yankees by retiring Jason Giambi on a fly ball and then striking out Bernie Williams to end the seventh. With the score tied 2-2 in the eighth he retired Robin Ventura on a fly ball.

RHP Steve Green (Greenfield Park, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Selected by the Anaheim Angels in the 10th round in the 1997 draft from Fort Scott Community College.

Green pitched one game in the majors in a spot start, but it was a good one. Recalled from triple-A Salt Lake City he pitched six innings, allowing two runs and the next day he was headed back to Utah. The second call never came.

The day Canada upset Team USA 8-6 in which Green pitched a scoreless ninth he emerged from the dugout for batting practice a fan gave him an embossed copy of the New York Times. (The main art work were players congratulating Green after the save.) “I’m Steve Green,” said Green.

RHP Jesen Therrien (Montreal, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 17th round in the 2011 draft and signed by scout Alex Agostino (Ste-Bruno, Que.).

Pitched in 15 games in relief with the Phillies going 0-0 with an 8.35 ERA. He struck out 10 in 18 1/3 innings.

He made his major league debut in the sixth inning on July 29, 2017 with his Phillies trailing the Atlanta Braves 3-1 at Citizens Bank Park. Johan Camargo welcomed Therrien to the majors with a lead-off double. But the reliever escaped damage by striking out Micah Johnson looking, retired Ender Inciarte on a grounder and Brandon Phillips on a comebacker. The Phillies scored a walk-off win in the 11th.

RHP Karl Gelinas (Montreal, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Selected by the Anaheim Angels and scout Alex Messier in the 47th round of the 2002 draft from Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

In 198 games in affiliated and indy ball, he was 85-59 with a 3.26 ERA. He struck out 945 in 1,230 innings.

Over his 17-year career, he pitched with the rookie-class Arizona League Angels, rookie-class Provo, class-A Cedar Rapids, class-A Rancho Cucamonga and triple-A Salt Lake in the Angels system. He pitched part of one season in Mexico and 13 seasons with the Quebec Capitales in the Can-Am League.

LHP Philippe-Alexander Valiquette (Montreal, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Chosen by the Cincinnati Reds in the seventh round of the 2004 draft and signed by scout Raimondo Callari.

He was 18-26 pitching in affiliated and independent ball. He had a 4.89 ERA in 265 games -- 28 starts -- with 25 saves. He struck out 336 in 425 1/3 innings.

In nine seasons in the minors, he pitched for rookie-class Billings, class-A Dayton, class-A Sarasota, double-A Carolina and triple-A Louisville in the Reds system. He also pitched for class-A Brevard County and double-A Huntsville in the Milwaukee Brewers organization, before turning to indy ball in the Can-Am League with Trois-Rivieres.

RHP Fernando DaSilva (Montreal, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada/St. Hubert Diplomates.

Drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 43rd round in 1991 and signed by Rene Marchand (Trois Rivieres, Que.).

In 195 games -- 104 starts -- in minor league and indy ball he was 50-44 with a 3.86 ERA. He struck out 581 hitters in 800 1/3 innings.

Over his seven seasons he pitched for the rookie-class Gulf Coast Expos, class-A Albany, class-A Burlington, class-A Jamestown, class-A West Palm Beach and double-A Harrisburg in the Expos chain, plus one season with Allentown in the independent Northern League.

Closer

Eric Gagne (Mascouche, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada/Team Canada.

Signed as a free agent by Los Angeles Dodgers scout Claude Pelletier (Ste-Lazare, Que.) from Team Canada and Seminole State in 1994.

Was 33-26 with 3.47 ERA in 402 games picking up 187 saves, including 55 in 2003 when he earned Cy Young award honours.

In his 10-year career, Gagne spent parts of eight seasons with the Dodgers, as well as a year with the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers and Boston Red Sox.

Position Players

Catchers

Pete LaForest (Hull, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 16th round in 1995 by scout Alex Agostino, but doctors would not approve the signing. Signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from Fort Scott Community College in 1997.

Batted .196 in the majors with six doubles, two homers and 14 RBIs in 68 games with a .545 OPS.

He played parts of three seasons with the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and the Rays.

Maxime St. Pierre (Levis, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 26th round in 1997 and signed by scout Bill Buck.

St. Pierre hit .222 with a double and a .556 OPS in six games in the big leagues..

He was with the 2010 Tigers after playing for the rookie-class Gulf Coast Tigers, class-A Oneonta, class-A West Michigan, class-A Lakeland, double-A Erie and triple-A Toledo in the Tigers system. He also caught at double-A Huntsville in the Milwaukee Brewers organization and finally Quebec in the Can-Am League. He spent 15 seasons in the game catching 1,072 games.

First base

Vincent Guay (Sherbrooke, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 44th round in 1991 by scout Alex Agostino (St-Bruno, Que.)

Second base

Ivan Naccarata (Montreal, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada/Junior National Team.

Originally drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 40th round in 2000 from ABC. Two years later he was selected in the 21st round by the Houston Astros out of Chipola College. He opted to go to LSU and was signed by the New York Mets as a free agent by scout Claude Pelletier.

Naccarata hit .302 with 84 doubles, 12 triples, 26 homers, 200 RBIs and an .809 OPS in 378 games of affiliated and indy ball.

He played at class-A Brooklyn, class-A Kingsport and class-A St. Lucie in the Mets system, plus rookie-class Ogden in the Los Angeles Dodgers chain and Quebec in the CanAm League.

Third basemen

Abraham Toro (St-Laurent, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Drafted by the Houston Astros in the fifth round in 2016 from Seminole State College by scout Jim Stevenson (Leaside, Ont.).

Has hit .180 with five doubles, two triples, five homers, 18 RBIs and a .594 OPS in 56 games in the majors.

Toro has played parts of two seasons with the Houston Astros. On the way up he was with class-A Greenville, class-A Quad Cities, class-A Tri-City, class-A Buies Creek, double-A Corpus Christi and triple-A Round Rock.

Dominic Therrien (Trois-Rivieres, Que.) Canadian Junior National Team.

Signed as a free agent by Atlanta Braves scout Bob Isabelle in 1991.

In the minors, he hit .291 with 52 doubles, five triples, 14 homers, 116 RBIs and a .757 OPS in 245 games.

Therrien played parts of four seasons at Rookie-class Idaho Falls, rookie-class Pulaski, class-A Macon and class-A Durham in the Braves system. He also played for class-A High Desert, a co-op team.

Pat Scalabrini (Waterford, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Signed as a free agent by the Baltimore Orioles from the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the independent Northern League, after attending the University of Hawaii.

Playing in affiliated and independent ball he hit .293 with 160 doubles, four triples, 74 homers, 397 RBIs and an .802 OPS in 650 games.

Played with class-A Frederick and class-A Delmarva in the Orioles system, as well as playing Indy ball with St. Paul, Quebec and Winnipeg.

Jonathan Jones (Montreal, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Drafted in the 23th round in 2011 by San Franciso Giants scout Raimondo Callari (Côté St-Luc, Que.).

In the minors and indy ball he hit .234 with 33 doubles, two triples, 15 homers, 84 RBIs and a .719 OPS in 160 games.

In five seasons he played for the rookie-class Arizona League Giants and class-A Salem-Keizer in the minors, plus a season at Trois-Rivieres in the Can Am league.

Shortstops

Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada/Junior National Team.

Drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 35th round in 2000 and scout Alex Agostino (St. Bruno, Que.), then again two years later by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 17th round from Chipola College by scout Clarence Johns.

Martin hit .248 with 255 doubles, nine triples, 191 homers, 771 RBIs and hit .746 in 1,693 games and is on his way to a spot in St. Marys and the Canadian Hall of Fame.

In his 14-year career Martin played with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who converted him to behind the plate after his first season, the Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees.

Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 33rd round in 2013 and by the Texas Rangers in the fourth round in 2016 from University of Pittsburgh.

In the minors, he hit .282 with 86 doubles, 20 triples, 27 homers, 248 RBIs and a .749 OPS in 525 games.

In four seasons he has played for class-A Spokane, class-A Hickory, class-A Down East and double-A Frisco in the Rangers system.

Jonathan Malo (Laval, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada/Associés De Laval.

Drafted by the New York Mets in the 40th round in 2002 and a year later by the Mets in the 48th round from Northeast Oklahoma A&M College. He was signed by Claude Pelletier and Larry Chase.

Malo batted .258 with 176 doubles, 25 triples, 65 homers, 442 RBIs and a .708 OPS in 1,130 games in the minors and indy ball.

He played for class-A Brooklyn, class-A St. Lucie, double-A Binghamton and triple-A Buffalo in the Mets system and seven years with Quebec in the Cam Am league.

Outfielders

Ntema Ndungidi (Montreal, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Drafted in the first round (36th over-all) by the Baltimore Orioles and signed by scout Wayne Norton (Port Moody, BC).

He batted .240 with 78 doubles, 18 triples, 33 homers, 219 RBIs and a .720 OPS in 518 games.

Played seven seasons with the rookie-class Gulf Coast Orioles, rookie-class Bluefield, class-A Frederick, class-A Delmarva and double-A Bowie in the Baltimore Orioles system, plus double-A San Antonio in the Seattle Mariners system and one season with Quebec in indy ball.

Marc Griffin (Quebec City, Que.) National Baseball Institute/Canadian National Senior team/Ste-Foy Patriotes.

Signed as a free agent by Los Angeles Dodgers scout Claude Pelletier.

Hit .264 with 48 doubles, 21 triples, seven homers, 149 RBIs and a .666 OPS in 484 games minor-league ball.

Played five seasons in the minors at class-A Vero Beach and class-A Bakersfield in the Dodgers system and class-A West Palm Beach and double-A Harrisburg in the Montreal Expos system.

Ben Pelletier (Montreal, Que.) Patriotes Rive Sud/De Mortagne High School.

Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 34th round in 2015 by scout Alex Agostino (St-Bruno, Que.).

Hit .249 with 48 doubles, seven triples, 25 homers, 116 RBIs and a .712 OPS in 249 minor-league games.

Played four seasons with the rookie-class Gulf Coast Phillies, class-A Williamsport and class-A Lakewood in the Phillies system.

Marc Bourgeois (Granby, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada.

Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 42nd round in 2009 from Chipola College and then attended University of Southern Mississippi.

He hit .256 with 38 doubles, 13 triples, 11 homers 65 RBIs and a .723 OPS in 147 games in the minors and independent ball.

Played three seasons with class-A Yakima, class-A South Bend and class-A Visalia in the Arizona Diamondbacks system, plus five games with Quebec in the CanAm loop.

Designated hitter

Edouard Julien (Quebec City, Que.) Academie Baseball Canada/Junior National Team.

Drafted in the 18th round by the Minnesota Twins and scout Walt Burrows (Brentwood Bay, BC) from Auburn University in 2019. He was previously drafted in the 37th round in 2017 by the Philadelphia Phillies and scout Alex Agostino (St-Bruno, Que.).

There wasn’t any minor leagues for Julien to make his debut this summer due to the virus. However, the man the Twins gave a $493,000 signing bonus to did not miss a thing ... as he underwent Tommy John surgery.

Staff

General manager _ Michel Laplante (Val D’Or, Que.)

Manager _ Richard Emond (Verdun, Que.)

Pitching coach _ Ian Jordan (Montreal, Que.)

Bench coach _ Alex Agostino (Ste-Bruno, Que.)

Hitting coach _ Rene Marchand (Trois Rivieres, Que.)

Infield coach _ Danny Despres (Trois Rivieres, Que.)

Others

Walt Burrows’ all-British Columbia team he has seen since 1991.

Walt Burrows all-Ontario team he has scouted since 1991.