Jose Cruz came from a baseball pedigree as the son of the Astros star of the same name.  Also playing in the Outfield, the younger Cruz went to the Jays from Seattle as a rookie, and though there were high hopes for Cruz, the Mariners dealt him for pitching help in their playoff run.  He finished the year as the American League runner-up for the Rookie of the Year with a 26 HR year.

Cruz looked poised for greatness after his rookie year, but the next two seasons, it did not come to fruition, with Cruz missing Games due to injury with diminished power numbers (25 HR in 211 Games) with a Batting Average barely scraping .250.  His next two years were much better, belting 31 and 34 Home Runs, respectively, but with the exception of 2001, his OPS never breached .800, though he was a 30-30 player that year.  He regressed again in 2002 and left for the Giants after as a Free Agent.

Cruz might have disappointed, but he did manage to belt 122 Home Runs with 640 Hits as a Blue Jay, which is more than many can claim.

Over his seven seasons in Toronto, Venezuelan hurler Kelvim Escobar tried every role on the mound.

Debuting in 1997, five years after he was signed as an Amateur Free Agent, Escobar saved 14 Games as a rookie, but two years later was a starter, going 14-11, though his ERA was a bloated 5.69.  He again had an ERA over five in 2000 (10-14), going back and forth from starter to reliever, and was finding a groove in late relief in 2001.  

Toronto promoted Escobar to their closer in 2002, and though he had 38 Saves, the 4.27 ERA was not good, and they tried again in 2003 to figure out what to do with Escobar, who bounced between roles.  Escobar signed with the Angels in 2004, and though Escobar’s career as a Blue Jay was inconsistent and somewhat chaotic, he belongs on this list.

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.