VANCOUVER — Just out of high school and thrust into an alien environment, the teenager was looking for an anchor. So he picked out a burly young man four years his senior. They had chatted. The kid thought he might learn something.



“One day I came up to him and was like, ‘Hey man, I’m just gonna follow you around a little bit for the next couple days. Don’t take it weird. I’m not gonna be wearing your shoes. I’m not gonna follow you to the bathroom. I’m just gonna be near, just kind of watching what you’re doing,” the teenager recalled.



“He was like, ‘All right, that’s cool. If you have any questions, let me know.’”



The teenager: Adam Kloffenstein, then 17, was fresh from collecting a $2.45-million bonus as the Blue Jays’ third-round draft pick in 2018. The elder: Nate Pearson, then 21, had also signed for $2.45 million as a first-round pick a year earlier. Both...