Top 50 Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays joined the American League in 1977, becoming the second Canadian team to join the Majors, and are currently the only ones.
First making the playoffs in 1985, the Blue Jays brought the World Series outside the United States in 1992 and were repeat champions in 1993.
They have been to the post-season sparingly since but are Canada's team. No other MLB organization can say that they own a country.
This list is up to the end of the 2023 regular season.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
In the glory days of the early 90s Blue Jays, Devon White was their leadoff man, helping them win their coveted back-to-back World Series Titles in 1992 and 1993. White first tasted Major League action in 1985 as a member of the California Angels and was a starting Centerfielder two years later. White made his first All-Star Game in 1989, but after a sub-par 1990, White was traded to Toronto in a transaction that history favored the Blue Jays. White’s first three years in Toronto were fantastic. A Gold Glove recipient in all five of his Jays years, White led the AL…
The Cooperstown career of Fred McGriff began in Toronto (well, in the Yankees organization, before they traded him as a Minor Leaguer in 1986, appearing in three Games, but the First Baseman appeared in 107 Games the year after, blasting 20 Home Runs, and proving himself as a capable Major League power hitter. Entering 1988, “The Crime Dog” was now one of the better First Basemen in the AL, and he broke out with a 34 Home Run/82 RBI season. 1989 was his best year in a Blue Jays uniform, winning the Home Run (36) and OPS Title (.924) with a…
The son of Baseball Hall of Famer, Vladimir Guerrero, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., was an expected superstar based on his pedigree and skill. He did not disappoint. Guerrero was signed as an amateur Free Agent with Toronto in 2015 and was called up four years later in the 2019 Season. The dynamic First Baseman was sixth in Rookie of the Year voting and belted 15 Home Runs. Guerrero was solid in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, but his 2021 campaign was MVP-worthy had there not been Shohei Ohtani. Guerrero won the Hank Aaron Award, went to his first All-Star Game, captured the Silver Slugger, and led…
Although Tom Henke had the nickname of the "Terminator," he looked more like an accountant, that is, until he pitched. The reliever was plucked from the Rangers in 1985 as a Free Agent compensation pick. Henke had the velocity but not the accuracy, but he had a turnaround in the minors in 1985, was called up for Toronto's playoff drive, and never looked back. Henke, who had 13 Saves for the Blue Jays in '85, had 27 in 1986, and it looked like, after a decade of existence, Toronto finally had their closer. His best season in a Toronto uniform was arguably…
Ernie Whitt was in the Red Sox organization when the Toronto Blue Jays were formed, and they used one of their Expansion picks to take the Catcher, who would appear in 23 games for the parent club that year. Whitt's ascension was slow, playing only 2 Games for the Jays in 1978 and zero in 1979, but the decade of the 1980s was Whitt's time to shine behind the plate. After becoming the primary Catcher in 1980, Whitt often was in a platoon situation as a Jay against right-handed Pitchers, which granted him the heavier load. A favorite of Blue Jays'…
The son of former Colorado Rockies' star Dante Bichette, Bo Bichette was a star at Arizona State, which he parlayed into a Second Round Pick by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2016. Three years later, the second-generation player was called up, and he has taken over where his father left off. Bichette played only in 46 Games that year for the Jays but batted .311 with 11 Home Runs and matched Ted Williams' rookie mark of nine straight games with an Extra Base Hit. Bichette missed a lot of the COVID-shortened 2020 but exploded in 2021, going to the All-Star Game with…
Shannon Stewart's MLB career began with the Blue Jays in 1995, after their back-to-back titles, but still, an era where the SkyDome was rocking. Stewart worked his way to starting at Center in 1998, swiping 51 bases with a .279 Batting Average. His basepath acumen dipped afterward, but Stewart batted over .300 for the rest of his four-and-a-half years in Toronto and showed good power with six straight 10-Home Run years. The Blue Jays were no longer a contender in the early 2000s, and Stewart was traded to Minnesota for their playoff run. Stewart collected 1,082 Hits, and batted .298 with 74…
David Wells was not the best Pitcher in most of the staffs he appeared on, but the man known as "Boomer" was often the most known. The Blue Jays released Wells in 1993 before the season started, but he gradually got better and became one of Baseball's most potent lefthanded starters. Wells began his career with the Blue Jays, with the first strictly in the bullpen. The southpaw split his next three years as a starter and reliever and won a World Series Ring with Toronto but saw limited action in the playoffs. Roger Clemens wanted to play for a contender, and…
Duane Ward only played only 10 Games for the Braves in the 1986 season before he was traded to the Blue Jays straight up for Doyle Alexander. Ward was in the Minors for most of the rest of 1986 and 1987, but by 1988, he was a dependable middle-innings reliever, eventually settling into an eighth-inning role to set up Tom Henke. Henke departed for Texas as a free agent, and Ward took over as the closer, going to his first All-Star Game, leading the league in Saves (45), and helping Toronto repeat as World Series Champions. Ward still had plenty of Save…
A First Round pick in 1999, Alex Rios debuted with the Blue Jays in 2004 as their starting Rightfielder. Rios was fifth in Rookie of the Year voting (122 Hits, .286 BA) but did not show any power, with only one Home Run. He improved in that aspect, peaking with 24 Home Runs and 85 RBI, his second of two All-Star years. Rios also developed into a solid hitter, batting over .290 three years straight (2006-08), with an added speed game, swiping a career-high 32 bases in 2008. He looked like a potential superstar, but 2009 was an implosion for Rios. Rios's numbers…
The Toronto Blue Jays used their 2003 First Round (13th Overall) to take LSU star Aaron Hill, who only needed two years to work his way through the Minors to make the parent club. Hill played 104 Games in the infield as a rookie but only sat out seven Games over the next two seasons (2006 & 2007), batting .291 in both years. Showing skill offensively and defensively, Hill was injured for most of 2008 but had his most remarkable year in 2009. This was the year where he had career-highs in Home Runs (36), RBIs (108), and OPS (.829), and he was…
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Plucked from the Cleveland Indians in the 1983 Rule 5 Draft, Third Baseman Kelly Gruber would work his way up the ranks to become a starter in 1987. Beloved by the women of Toronto, Gruber had his breakout in 1988, with his first 150-Hit year, with 16 Home Runs and a .278 Batting Average. He slightly improved his stats in 1989 (18 HR,.290) and was named to the AL All-Star Team. This bled into Gruber's best year, where he had career-highs in Home Runs (31), RBIs (118), and OPS (.842), and was named a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winner, as well…
In his first five years in the Majors, Rance Mulliniks saw limited action, three with California and two with Kansas City. A trade to Toronto was just what Mulliniks needed, and for most of the 1980s, he was the main Third Baseman, often in platoons against right-handed pitching. With the Blue Jays, the versatile Mulliniks had at least five years where he accrued 100 Hits and 10 Home Runs, batting over .300 in three of those years. He was a competent defensive player, and though he would never be a megastar, he would not be a liability either. As Third Baseman Kelly…
When the Toronto Blue Jays won the 1992 World Series, their Designated Hitter was future Hall of Famer Dave Winfield. They would upgrade that for 1993 with another eventual Cooperstown resident, Paul Molitor. Molitor had more left in the tank than Winfield did, and in his first year as a Blue Jay, he had his best season in years. Batting .332, Molitor led the American League in Hits (211), won the Silver Slugger (he had a career-high 22 Home Runs), and was second in MVP voting. The Blue Jays repeated as World Series Champions, with Molitor winning the World Series MVP from a…
A 1991 First Round Pick in 1991, Shawn Green first made it to the Majors as a September call-up in the 1993 World Series winning season. Green did not play in the post-season and was in the minors for most of 1994, but he was the starting Rightfielder going into 1995, a position he would keep for the rest of the decades. Green was a middle-of-the-road starter at RF for the Blue Jays for a few years but had an elevated stat line in 1998, belting 35 Home Runs with 1000 RBIs. That was the type of season that the Blue Jays…
Kevin Pillar was the best player at California State University, where he set a Division II school hit streak record with 54 Games. As good as he was, Pillar still played in Division II and dropped to the 32nd Round of the 2011 Draft, but Pillar defied the odds and first made the Blue Jays in only two years. Pillar entered the 2015 season as Toronto's starting Centerfielder, and he batted .278 with 163 Hits and a Wilson Platinum Glove. The Blue Jays were contenders, with Pillar providing the occasional clutch hit. Toronto reached the ALCS in 2015 and did so again in 2016,…
One of the few Canadians to play for a Canadian team, Paul Quantrill's hometown was London, Ontario, two hours away from Toronto. The Pitcher played collegiately at the University of Wisconsin and then professionally for the Red Sox and Phillies before the latter traded him to Toronto after the 1995 Season. Quantrill's first year with the Blue Jays was dismal, going 5-14 with a 5.43 ERA and going back and forth as a starter and reliever. Going into 1997, Quantrill was assigned to the bullpen, and it was a good fit for him, as he kept his ERA low (1.94 in 1997…
Willie Upshaw was taken from the Yankees organization via the Rule 5 Draft, with the Blue Jays hopeful that he would be the First Baseman of the future, and by 1982, four years after, he was their starter. Upshaw was one of Toronto’s building blocks, and he had three straight 150 Hit years, the first two where he belted over 20 Home Runs. His best season was in 1983, where he had career-bests in HR (27), Hits (177), RBI (104), and the Slash Line (.306/.373/.515) and received votes for the MVP, finishing 11th. Upshaw could not reproduce that year but was a…
Marcus Stroman was considered one of Toronto's top prospects since he was a First Round Pick in 2012, and it only took him two years to make the Jays starting rotation. It was a promising rookie year for Stroman, who went 11-6 with a 3.65 ERA and 111 Strikeouts, though a torn ACL in 2015 Spring Training hampered his growth. The Blue Jays were an improving club in 2015, and Stroman was able to come back late in the season, winning all four of his decisions and helping Toronto reach the ALCS. Stroman was not as good in 2016 (9-10, 4.37 ERA)…