Anthopoulos confident in signing top Draft picks

TORONTO -- The Blue Jays appear to be closing in on agreements with their top picks from the 2014 First-Year Player Draft.

Right-hander Jeff Hoffman (No. 9) and catcher Max Pentecost (No. 11) remain unsigned, but general manager Alex Anthopoulos appears confident that will change in the near future.

"They're going very well, we're very optimistic," Anthopoulos said when asked about the state of negotiations. "We feel very confident that they will get done. They're not done yet, but it definitely looks [good]."

Toronto has officially signed six of its 11 picks from the first 10 rounds of the Draft. The only other players who have yet to agree to a deal are left-hander Nick Wells (third round), left-hander Grayson Huffman (sixth round) and outfielder Zack Zehner (seventh round).

Anthopoulos' confidence will come as welcome news to Blue Jays fans. The club was unable to sign its first-round pick in two of the past three years after Tyler Beede and Phil Bickford opted to go to college instead of turning pro.