The first time a Blue Jays scout saw Gabriel Moreno in Venezuela, he was playing second base and shortstop. The scout looked at the 15-year-old infielder and saw a catcher.



So the scout, Francisco Plasencia, asked Moreno to catch one day during a workout. Plasencia liked what he saw. But for the next several months, Moreno kept playing the infield. That’s what he’d always done. He was quick, he could pick it and he was flashy, a fun-loving kid who’d never thought of hiding behind a mask.



Then Plasencia brought Sandy Rosario, the Jays’ director of Latin American scouting, to watch Moreno at a workout in Valencia.



Put on the gear and get out there, they said. They liked what they saw. Moreno became a catcher. A year later when he was 16, Toronto signed him.



The Jays made it worthwhile for him to convert. They gave him $25,000, which is not eye-popping by North American standards. But it is in Venezuela, where the average annual...