Toronto Blue Jays: The franchise’s best-ever player at every position
In an earlier article, we looked at the five greatest outfielders to ever take the field for the Toronto Blue Jays. That article, however, also got us thinking about the best players to ever play at every position for the Blue Jays.
So we took a look at all nine positions on the diamond and dug through the record books to find which players had had the biggest impact for each position in Toronto franchise history. For this article, we examined WAR (Wins Above Replacement) according to Baseball-Reference.com, as well as other factors such as individual statistics and accolades. Additionally, for players to have been considered as the best at a various position, that player had to actually play more than 50 percent of his games with Toronto at that position.
These are the best players at each position in Toronto Blue Jays franchise history
Who was the best catcher in Toronto Blue Jays franchise history?
Ernie Whitt — 19.3 bWAR
No catcher in Blue Jays history had a bigger impact on the franchise than Ernie Whitt, who racked up 19.3 bWAR while playing 12 seasons (1977-1989). He would hit 131 of his 134 homers in a Blue Jays uniform, including a very memorable one in his final season with the team.
Take a look at this home run swing, with a grand slam off the bat of Whitt completing a Toronto rally from 10 down at Fenway Park. By the way, Whitt hit the monster bomb off Hall of Fame relief pitcher Lee Smith.
Whitt would slash .253/.327/.420 in 3,977 plate appearances covering 1,218 games with Toronto.
Other candidates: Gregg Zaun (10.8 bWAR), Russell Martin (8.3).
Who was the best pitcher in Toronto Blue Jays franchise history?
Dave Stieb — 56.9 bWAR
Pitching for Toronto in all but four games of his 16-year career, Dave Stieb racked up 56.9 bWAR in 2,873.0 innings for the Blue Jays. He is Toronto’s all-time leader in innings pitched, strikeouts (1,658), games started (408), complete games (103), shutouts (30), and wins (175).
Maybe, just maybe, it’s time for the Blue Jays to retire his number?
Stieb was a seven-time All-Star and paced the American League with a 2.48 ERA in 265 innings over 36 starts. That was the second consecutive season where Stieb held an ERA under 3.00 (2.83 in 1984) while making 35 or more starts.
Over the course of nine consecutive seasons, Stieb showed his ability to be a workhorse in Toronto, making 31 or more starts in each campaign.
Other candidates: Roy Halladay (48.4 bWAR), Jimmy Key (29.7)
Who was the best first baseman in Toronto Blue Jays history?
Carlos Delgado — 36.8 bWAR
In 12 seasons with the Blue Jays, Delgado became the team’s all-time leader in home runs (336), RBI (1,058), total bases (2,786), extra-base hits (690), and plenty of other categories.
Delgado led all of baseball in an All-Star season of 2003 with 145 RBI and paced the American League that season with a 1,019 OPS and 161 OPS+.
Other candidates: John Olerud (22.6), Fred McGriff (19.4)
Who was the best second baseman in Toronto Blue Jays history?
Roberto Alomar — 22.3 bWAR
Roberto Alomar has the highest bWAR of any Blue Jays second baseman in Toronto history, but has been placed on MLB’s ineligible list following a sexual misconduct investigation. Toronto has also severed its relationship with the 12-time All-Star (five times while with the Blue Jays between 1991 and 1995) over the investigation’s findings.
Alomar is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and posted the second-highest career batting average of any qualified Blue Jays player (.307). His hitting prowess was on display in the 1993 World Series when he slashed .480/.519/.640 in 27 plate appearances as Toronto captured its second consecutive title.
He was a Gold Glove winner in each of his five seasons in Toronto.
Other candidates: Aaron Hill (17.1 bWAR), Orlando Hudson (12.6)
Who was the best shortstop in Toronto Blue Jays history?
Tony Fernandez — 37.5 bWAR
A five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, Fernandez played in 1,450 games over his 12 seasons with the Blue Jays. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in singles (1,160) and triples (72) on his way to being the all-time hits leader for the Blue Jays (1,583).
Of all of the positions on this list, there is no wider gap between the player earning the most bWAR at the position and the player in second than shortstop, showing just how dominant Fernandez was during his time and how the Blue Jays have had trouble replacing him.
Other candidates: Marco Scutaro (9.8 bWAR), Alex Gonzalez (9.7).
As a note, Bo Bichette has already racked up 9.3 to place fourth on the list.
Who was the best third baseman in Toronto Blue Jays history?
Josh Donaldson — 19.5 bWAR
The “Bringer of Rain” brought plenty of magical moments to the Blue Jays during his four years with the franchise. Between the start of the 2015 campaign (his first after being traded to Toronto by Oakland) to the 2018 late August trade that sent him from Toronto to Cleveland, Donaldson slashed .281/.383/.548 and hit 116 home runs while logging a combined 148 OPS+, his highest number with any franchise.
In the 2016 postseason, his final one with the team, Donaldson went 15-for-36 (.417) with seven extra-base hits.
Other candidates: Kelly Gruber (16.1 bWAR), Rance Mulliniks (15.8)
Who was the best left fielder in Toronto Blue Jays history?
George Bell — 21.2 bWAR
Bell suited up for nine seasons in Toronto between 1981 and 1990, earning the American League MVP in 1987 after slashing .308/.352/.605 and leading all of Major League Baseball with 369 total bases. His 134 RBI that season paced the American League and was one of a stretch of three out of four years with 104 RBI or more in a season.
During his Toronto career, he logged a cumulative .286 batting average, tying him for eighth all-time in franchise history.
You can read more about Bell in our look at the greatest Toronto outfielders here.
Other candidates: Shannon Stewart (18.7 bWAR), Reed Johnson (8.6)
Who was the best center fielder in Toronto Blue Jays history?
Vernon Wells — 28.7 bWAR
Center field is perhaps the deepest of all outfield positions in Toronto history, and Wells stands out even in this star-studded group.
Drafted fifth overall by the Blue Jays in the 1997 MLB draft, Wells earned three All-Star Game appearances during his 12 seasons in Toronto. One of those came during a 2003 campaign where he led all of Major League Baseball with 215 hits, including an American League-high 49 doubles.
His 5,963 plate appearances ranks second all-time for Toronto, and you can read more about his accomplishments with the Blue Jays here.
Other candidates: Lloyd Moseby (26.0 bWAR), Devon White (22.3)
Who was the best right fielder in Toronto Blue Jays history?
Jose Bautista — 38.3 bWAR
According to the numbers, Bautista wasn’t just the best right fielder in Toronto history, but he was also the best position player to ever suit up for the Blue Jays.
Bautista and his memorable bat flips earned six consecutive All-Star Game appearances between 2010 and 2015. He also ended up with a place in the top eight American League MVP vote-getters in four of those campaigns.
You can read more about Bautista’s contributions in Toronto here.
Next. The moment John Olerud knew he was no longer a two-way player. dark
Other candidates: Jesse Barfield (29.5 bWAR), Alex Rios (20.4)