Marco Estrada struggled as a Starting Pitcher with Milwaukee, but the potential was there. Toronto believed so, and they traded Adam Lind straight up for him before 2015, and it worked out well for Estrada and the Jays.
Estrada’s debut year with Toronto was his best in Baseball, setting personal bests of Wins (13), ERA (3.13), and WHIP (1.044), and he was the American League leader in H/9 (6.7). He got a win in both the ALDS and ALCS, and the Jays were able to resign him as a Free Agent. Estrada had another good year, going to the All-Star Game (his only) while again finishing atop the leaderboard in H/9 (6.8).
His stats dropped afterward, with his ERA ballooning over five in 2018. He signed with Oakland in 2019 but only appeared in five more Games.
With Toronto, Estrada had a 39-40 record with 575 Strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.235.
Lyle Overbay’s best years were with the Blue Jays, though it can be argued that the First Baseman did not live up to the expectations when the team traded for him in the 2005/2006 offseason.
The Blue Jays were in need of a First Baseman when they acquired Overbay, and in his first year North of the border, Overbay had career-highs in Home Runs (22), Batting Average (.312), and OPS (.880). He could not reach those stats again, never batting .300 again, though he did have another 20 HR year in 2010, which was last year with the Jays, as he signed with the Pirates afterward.
Overbay had 672 Hits and 83 Home Runs and batted .268 in his five years in Toronto.
Orlando Hudson came a long way from the 1997 43rd Round Pick to make the Jays roster in 2002, and the defensive-minded Second Baseman used his glove to show his worth on the Majors.
Hudson went into 2003 as Toronto’s starter at Second, finishing the season with a 1.5 Defensive bWAR and batted .268. He then had his best year as a Jay, leading the American League in Defensive bWAR (2.7) with 12 Home Runs and a .270 Batting Average. Hudson then won the Gold Glove in 2005 (he should have won it in 2004) with similar metrics.
Toronto sent Hudson to Arizona in 2006, leaving the Infielder with 437 Hits and a Defensive bWAR of 7.5.
Damaso Garcia was not an original Blue Jay, but for many in Toronto, he was their first infielder who connected with the fans.
After two years in a reserve role with the Yankees, Garcia was traded to Toronto in 1980, where he was still rookie-eligible. He collected 151 Hits, finished fourth for the ROY, and had a respectable Batting Average (.278), and arguably had his best season in 1982, batting .310, swiping 54 bases, and winning a Silver Slugger. After another decent year in 1983 (.307, 31 SB), Garcia went to the All-Star Game in both 1984 and 1985, though his season-end Batting Averages were under .300, though still good (.284 and .282, respectively).
1986 was a disaster for Garcia, who was dropped to ninth in the lineup and slumped. Looking to break out, he burned his uniform in the clubhouse, drawing the ire of Manager Jimy Williams, who ripped him apart in front of his teammates. Garcia never broke out of the slump and was traded to the Braves after the season.
If the rank of Garcia seems low, he was penalized for his lack of power (32 HR in 902 Games), average defense, and weak OBP (.312).