Top 50 Blue Jays Of All Time

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Who are your top 50 Blue Jays of all time? I'm working on mine, will report back later. Post yours if you wish. It's a big task, so take your time. In no particular order or ranking, here are my top 50 Blue Jays of all time. Red highlight = Current Roster. Blue highlight = WS Championship.

Dave Steib
Roy Halladay (RIP)
Jose Bautista
Carlos Delgado
Tony Fernandez
Jimmy Key
Jesse Barfield
Vernon Wells
Pat Hentgen
Lloyd Moseby
Vlad Guerrero Jr.
Edwin Encarnación
Jim Clancy
John Olerud
Roberto Alomar
Josh Donaldson
Devon White
Joe Carter
George Bell
Juan Guzman
Roger Clemens
Fred McGriff
Bo Bichette
Tom Henke
Ernie Whitt
Alejandro Kirk
Aaron Hill
Jack Morris
Shawn Green
Duane Ward
Troy Tulowitzki
Kelly Gruber
Marcus Semien
Kevin Gausman
Paul Molitor 1993 WS MVP
Ricky Henderson (RIP)
Ernie Clement
Dave Winfield
Willie Upshaw
Pat Borders 1992 WS MVP
Russel Martin
Marco Estrada
Kevin Pillar
J.A Happ
Dave Steweart
Mark Eichhorn
Buck Martinez
George Springer
Ricky Romero
David Cone

 

[NinjaBoy]

Basically the 92/93 stacked lineup

 

[glamphotographer]

Basically the 92/93 stacked lineup

Yep, those teams were stacked when the owners had money and bought the best players. The next baseball lockout will be because the owners will want a hard salary cap.

 

[maurice93]

Browsing it, I didn't see any players that shouldn't be in strong consideration for the 50.

A few were "alluring" names on acquisition, but were not that good with the Jays. If its a top 50 based on performance on Jays only they possibly don't make it. But when it gets to filling out the bottom of the top 50, I can see how player allure is relevant especially if they were on a top team (1993 and 2015)

The 2 that stuck out for me in that regard
Dave Stewart had an ERA+ of 98 and 82 in his two seasons (below average_
Troy Tulowitzki had OPS+ of 89, 102 and 80 in his 3 years with the Jays... and was released and fully paid for a 4th year.

I'm going to look over their rosters over the years to see if there any clear omissions in my view.

 

[glamphotographer]

Browsing it, I didn't see any players that shouldn't be in strong consideration for the 50.

A few were "alluring" names on acquisition, but were not that good with the Jays. If its a top 50 based on performance on Jays only they possibly don't make it. But when it gets to filling out the bottom of the top 50, I can see how player allure is relevant especially if they were on a top team (1993 and 2015)

The 2 that stuck out for me in that regard
Dave Stewart had an ERA+ of 98 and 82 in his two seasons (below average_
Troy Tulowitzki had OPS+ of 89, 102 and 80 in his 3 years with the Jays... and was released and fully paid for a 4th year.

I'm going to look over their rosters over the years to see if there any clear omissions in my view.

It's a tough task, and ranking them is even harder. I don't have time to rank them unless TSN pays me to do the in-depth research. Doyle Alexander over Dave Stewart? Damaso Carcia over Tulo?

 

[Insidious Von]

I'm not sure Alex Rios should be on the list, he helped the KC Royals beat us in 2015.

Where are the two charming chaps who taught the Jays how to win back in 83: Doyle Alexander and Cliff Johnson?

When Goose Gossage whined about Jose's bat flip, I was hoping Cliff Johnson would punch his lights out again.

Goose Gossage isn't very smart.

 

[glamphotographer]

R.A Dickey, David Price. Maybe.

 

[maurice93]

Position Players

Alejandro Kirk is the glaring omission - Two Time All Star, now an elite defensive catcher. He should be above Borders, Martin, and maybe Buck Martinez.
Buck is an All-Time Jay, but not much of it is on the field.
Kirk is way better than Pat Borders (yes borders was the WS MVP), but Borders didn't do much else.
He is better than Martin, and was around longer.
He's arguably the Jays best catcher ever. Its close with Whitt.
And in terms of modern players he has had more impact than Ernie Clement

Damaso Garcia - He had two all-star appearances with the Jays. Also another year where he was a Silver Slugger. Hit .300 a few times. That being said he did disappear rapidly, his defence was certainly suspect, and modern day stats probably didn't see him as an All-Star.

I'd probably put Garcia over Tulo, but I wouldn't fight it much either. What sours me with Tulo was his last few years here - he clearly was cashing it at the end.

Starting Pitchers

There are 2 starters not on the list that I think should be on for sure - Doyle Alexander and David Wells. They would replace 2 of the following 4 - Happ,Estrada, Romero, and Dave Stewart. I'd probably take out Happ and Estrada. Then it comes down to Marcus Stroman or Ricky Romero.. could go either way.

Alexander had a 13.5 WAR over 4 years, with an AS performance. Its a step above Estra, Romero and Happ. Wells had 15 WAR over a longer period -- but there was a 20 win season and 3rd place in Cy Young season.

Stewart is a hard case.
- He was the ALCS MVP on a World Series team, so that's impossible to dismiss. He also stink in the World Series in 1993, and he had a WAR of 2.5 over 2 years in the Regular Season.

Morris is similar to Stewart.... but one 20 win season, and he is a Hall of Famer.

David Cone really was only here for one season, But 6.0 War over that one season - he was very good, but someone could argue that he is out for longevity reasons.

Some stats:
Marco Estrada - 9.5 WAR, 4 Years, 1 All-Star
Ricky Romero - 10.0 WAR, 5 Years, 1 All-Star (1 great season of 6.4 WAR)
Happ - 10.2 WAR, 6 Years
Stewart - 2.5 WAR, 2 Years
Cone - 6.0 WAR, 13-9 3.14, 183 Innings
Morris - 1.3 WAR, 2 Years, but a 20 win World Series season, and a Hall of Famer.

Wells - 15.1 War, 8 years, All-Star, 3rd in Cy
Alexander - 13.5 WAR, 4 years, 1 All-Star
Stroman - 12.5 WAR, 6 years, 1 All-Star

 

[glamphotographer]

Position Players

Alejandro Kirk is the glaring omission - Two Time All Star, now an elite defensive catcher. He should be above Borders, Martin, and maybe Buck Martinez.
Buck is an All-Time Jay, but not much of it is on the field.
Kirk is way better than Pat Borders (yes borders was the WS MVP), but Borders didn't do much else.
He is better than Martin, and was around longer.
He's arguably the Jays best catcher ever. Its close with Whitt.
And in terms of modern players he has had more impact than Ernie Clement

Damaso Garcia - He had two all-star appearances with the Jays. Also another year where he was a Silver Slugger. Hit .300 a few times. That being said he did disappear rapidly, his defence was certainly suspect, and modern day stats probably didn't see him as an All-Star.

I'd probably put Garcia over Tulo, but I wouldn't fight it much either. What sours me with Tulo was his last few years here - he clearly was cashing it at the end.

Starting Pitchers

There are 2 starters not on the list that I think should be on for sure - Doyle Alexander and David Wells. They would replace 2 of the following 4 - Happ,Estrada, Romero, and Dave Stewart. I'd probably take out Happ and Estrada. Then it comes down to Marcus Stroman or Ricky Romero.. could go either way.

Alexander had a 13.5 WAR over 4 years, with an AS performance. Its a step above Estra, Romero and Happ. Wells had 15 WAR over a longer period -- but there was a 20 win season and 3rd place in Cy Young season.

Stewart is a hard case.
- He was the ALCS MVP on a World Series team, so that's impossible to dismiss. He also stink in the World Series in 1993, and he had a WAR of 2.5 over 2 years in the Regular Season.

Morris is similar to Stewart.... but one 20 win season, and he is a Hall of Famer.

David Cone really was only here for one season, But 6.0 War over that one season - he was very good, but someone could argue that he is out for longevity reasons.

Some stats:
Marco Estrada - 9.5 WAR, 4 Years, 1 All-Star
Ricky Romero - 10.0 WAR, 5 Years, 1 All-Star (1 great season of 6.4 WAR)
Happ - 10.2 WAR, 6 Years
Stewart - 2.5 WAR, 2 Years
Cone - 6.0 WAR, 13-9 3.14, 183 Innings
Morris - 1.3 WAR, 2 Years, but a 20 win World Series season, and a Hall of Famer.

Wells - 15.1 War, 8 years, All-Star, 3rd in Cy
Alexander - 13.5 WAR, 4 years, 1 All-Star
Stroman - 12.5 WAR, 6 years, 1 All-Star

I thought I had Kirk on the list. I will correct that.