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 .458/2 HR/7 RBI performance.
Toronto faltered in 1994, but Molitor did not, batting .341 with a seventh All-Star in tow. His third and final season in Toronto saw him slip to .270, but he was still one of the best Designated Hitters in the business. A native of Minnesota, Molitor opted to finish his career with the Twins, where he played for three years before retiring.
Molitor’s stay with the Blue Jays was not long, but it was impactful, with 508 Hits, a .315 Batting Average, and one incredible post-season. He entered Cooperstown as a Brewer, but he won a ring as a Blue Jay.
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 Gruber emerged, Mulliniks’ time decreased, though his injuries and age grew. Although he barely played that year, he was a member of Toronto's 1992 World Series-winning team. Mulliniks retired after, totaling 843 Hits with a .280 Batting Average.
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 as adding a second All-Star. Gruber was fourth in MVP voting, and it appeared that he would get even better, but that was not the case.
Gruber began to deal with injuries afterward and was unable to build on his best year. He was still the starting Third Baseman on Toronto's 1992 World Series Championship Team, but that would be his swansong as a Blue Jay, with the club trading him to the Angels after the season.
Gruber had an even 800 Hits with the Jays, 114 as Home Runs.
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 an All-Star and Silver Slugger. Hill also was 12th in MVP voting and won the AL Comeback Player of the Year.
2010 was inconsistent for Hill, who batted only .205 but belted 26 Home Runs. The Blue Jays, who declined his option the year before, traded the Infielder to the Diamondbacks during the 2011 Season, ending Hill’s stint in Toronto with 881 Hits and 96 Home Runs.