Top 10 Best Toronto Blue Jays Players of All Time

One of the newer franchises in Major League Baseball, the Toronto Blue Jays have still had some incredibly talented players over the years. Since their first season in 1977, the Blue Jays have won both World Series that they reached in 1992 and 1993. Listed below are the greatest Toronto Blue Jays players of all time.

Who Are the Best Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Players of All Time?

1. Dave Stieb
2. Roy Halladay
3. Carlos Delgado
4. Jose Bautista
5. Tony Fernandez
6. Vernon Wells
7. Jim Clancy
8. Roberto Alomar
9. Jimmy Key
10. Lloyd Moseby

1. Dave Stieb

• Seven-time All-Star
• 1985 AL ERA Leader
• 2005 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee

Sitting atop many of the Blue Jays all-time pitching leaderboards, Dave Stieb deserves the title of greatest Blue Jay of all time. Stieb played the first fourteen seasons of his career in Toronto from 1979-1992 before returning for one final season with the club in 1998. In those fifteen total seasons, Stieb was selected to seven All-Star teams (1980, 1981, 1983-1985, 1988, 1990). While he never won a Cy Young Award, Stieb did lead the American League in ERA with a mark of 2.48 in 1985.

In terms of Blue Jays all-time ranks, Stieb ranks first in wins (175), strikeouts (1,658), complete games (103), shutouts (30), innings pitched (2,873), and pitcher WAR (56.9). He also managed to finish with the third-lowest ERA (3.42), fifth-lowest hits/nine innings (7.97), and eighth-lowest WHIP (1.24). While Stieb was never selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame, his career will always be remembered by those in Toronto.

2. Roy Halladay

• 2003 American League Cy Young Award Winner
• Six-time All-Star
• 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee

Close behind Dave Stieb on the Blue Jays pitching leaderboards is fellow Toronto great Roy Halladay. Halladay pitched the first twelve seasons of his career with the Blue Jays from 1998-2009 before pitching his final four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. During that twelve-year time period, Halladay won the 2003 American League Cy Young Award and was voted onto the All-Star team six times (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009). He also managed to finish in the top five in Cy Young voting four years in a row from 2006-2009.

On the Blue Jays all-time lists, Halliday ranks second behind Stieb in several categories,  including wins with 148, strikeouts with 1,495, shutouts with 15, and WAR for pitchers with 48.9. Halladay also sits in third in complete games (49) and innings pitched (2,046 ⅔). Tragically, Halladay died in a helicopter accident at just 40 years old in 2017. He was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.

3. Carlos Delgado

• Two-time All-Star
• Three Silver Slugger Awards
• 2015 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee

The first position player to make this list, Carlos Delgado is one of the most feared power hitters of his generation. After having two at-bats late in the 1993 season, Delgado came up for good in 1994 and played twelve total seasons in Toronto from 1993 until 2004. 

Delgado ranks number one in quite a few different offensive categories for the Blue Jays,  including home runs (336), runs scored (869), doubles (343), total bases (2,768), walks (827), and RBIs (1,058).

Delgado also ranks third in hits (1,413) and third in WAR (36.8). Moreover, Delgado was selected to the All-Star team twice in 2000 and 2003, as well as winning three silver slugger awards (1999, 2000, 2003). He may have not been selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Delgado is still one of the greatest players to ever wear the Toronto uniform.

4. Jose Bautista

• Six-time All-Star
• Three Silver Slugger Awards
• MLB Home Run Leader in 2010 and 2011

Another incredible power hitter, Jose Bautista was a terrific player for Toronto in the late 2000s-early 2010s. Bautista was traded to the Blue Jays in 2008 and played there for ten seasons until leaving in 2017. Bautista was able to hit the second-most home runs (288), drive in the third-most RBIs (766), score the second-most runs (790), have the highest WAR (38.3), record the sixth-most hits (1,103), and collect the third-most total bases (2,210) in Blue Jay history. 

He was selected to six straight All-Star teams from 2010-2015, and he won three Silver Slugger awards in 2010, 2011, and 2014. His 54 home runs in 2010 and 43 home runs in 2011 each led the Majors during their respective seasons. While he may not have had the required sustained success to reach the Hall of Fame, few have ever reached the peak that he had while in Canada.

5. Tony Fernandez

• Four-time All-Star
• Four Gold Glove Awards
• 1993 World Series Champion

One of the fastest players to ever wear a Blue Jay uniform was Tony Fernandez. Fernandez had three separate stints with the Blue Jays that totaled twelve seasons. He first was with the team from 1983-1990, came back for part of the 1993 season, and played two final seasons with the club in 1998 and 1999. Through all of those years, Fernandez made four All-Star teams (1986, 1987, 1989, 1999) and won four Gold Glove awards in a row from 1986-1989. 

On the Blue Jays all-time leaderboards, Fernandez has the most hits with 1,583, the most triples with 72, the fifth-most runs scored with 704, the second-most WAR with 37.5, the third-most doubles with 291, and the eighth-most RBIs with 613. Lastly, he was a key player on the 1993 Blue Jays World Series team, recording seven hits and scoring two runs in the six-game series that year. 

6. Vernon Wells

• Three-time All-Star
• Three Gold Glove Awards
• 2003 Silver Slugger Award

Vernon Wells is another terrific early 2000s Blue Jay hitter and he played the first twelve seasons of his career in Canada from 1999-2010. In those twelve seasons, Wells collected three All-Star appearances (2003, 2006, 2010), three Gold Glove awards (2004-2006), and a 2003 Silver Slugger award for outfielders. 2003 was certainly his best year, when he led the American League with 215 hits (which led all of the Major Leagues) and 49 doubles. 

On the Blue Jays leaderboards, Wells has the third-most runs scored (789), second-most hits (1,529), the second-most doubles (339), second-most total bases (2,597), fourth-most home runs (223), and the second-most RBIs (813). Wells would go on to play two years with the Los Angeles Angels and one with the New York Yankees, but his best years were certainly north of the border with the Blue Jays. 

7. Jim Clancy

• 1982 All-Star Selection
• Twice Led MLB in Games Started
• Member of first ever Blue Jays squad

A member of the first ever Blue Jays team in 1977, Jim Clancy is also the third greatest pitcher the team ever saw. Clancy made his major league debut for the expansion Blue Jays in 1977, and he went on to pitch for the team for twelve seasons until 1988.  While the team struggled mightily during the early years, Clancy was often a bright spot. He made his lone All Star appearance in 1982, when he led the majors in games started with 40. He would accomplish that same feat in 1984 when he made 36 starts. 

Clancy currently sits third in several Blue Jay pitching categories, such as wins (128) shut outs (11), and strikeouts (1,237), as well as being second in complete games (73) and innings pitched (2,204 ⅔). He also managed to rack up the fifth-most WAR of all Blue Jay pitchers at 24.7.   

8. Roberto Alomar

• Five-time All-Star
• Five Gold Glove Awards
• Two-time World Series Champion

As a member of both Blue Jays World Series teams, Roberto Alomar is definitely one of the greatest outfielders to wear the Toronto jersey. He would certainly be higher up if he had been with Toronto longer, but he only played five seasons for the club from 1991-1995. Despite only being with the team for that short a time period, he still collected the fifth -most triples (36), the ninth highest WAR value (22.3), and the second-most stolen bases (206). He also has the second-highest career batting average of any Blue Jay at .307. 

Alomar made the All-Star team and won a Gold Glove award all five seasons he was with the Blue Jays from 1991-1995. He even managed to collect a Silver Slugger award in 1992. In the two World Series, Alomar combined for sixteen hits, seven runs scored, and eight stolen bases. A lot of that damage came in 1992 when he was named MVP of the series. After his seventeen-year career with seven different teams, Alomar made the Hall of Fame in 2011. 

9. Jimmy Key

• Two-time All-Star
• MLB ERA Leader in 1987
• Runner-up in 1987 Cy Young Voting

The fourth-greatest Toronto Blue Jays pitcher of all time was left-hander Jimmy Key. Key was a member of the Blue Jays for nine of his fourteen big league seasons from 1984-1992. He managed to make two All-Star teams in that time in 1985 and 1991. While he did not make the team in 1987, he likely deserved it, as he led the majors with a 2.76 ERA and a 1.057 WHIP. He went on to finish second in the Cy Young award voting that season to Roger Clemons. 

As for his Blue Jay ranks, Key racked up the fourth-most wins (116), sixth-most strikeouts (944), the fourth-most shutouts (10), third-most WAR (29.7), and the fifth-most complete games (28). Lastly, Key was the team's best pitcher in the 1992 World Series, winning two games and only allowing six hits and one earned run while striking out six in nine total innings of work.

10. Lloyd Moseby

• 1986 All-Star Selection
• 1983 Silver Slugger Award winner
• AL Triples Leader in 1984

Ten of Lloyd Moseby’s twelve great MLB seasons were with Toronto from 1980-1989. Exemplifying his great speed, Moseby has more stolen bases than any other Blue Jay in franchise history, with 255 stolen bags. He also has the second-most triples (60), the fourth-most hits (1,319), the sixth-most WAR (26), the fourth-most runs scored (768), the sixth-most total bases (2,128), and the fourth-most doubles (242).

Throughout his ten seasons north of the border, Moseby made one All-Star team in 1986 and won one Silver Slugger award in 1983. His fifteen triples in 1984 led the American League, showing that he was one of the best speedsters throughout baseball, not just for the Blue Jays. Moseby finished out his career with two solid years with the Detroit Tigers, and while it was not quite a Hall of Fame career, it was quite the career nonetheless.     

Honorable Mentions

• Jesse Barfield
• George Bell
• Joe Carter
• Josh Donaldson
• Edwin Encarnacion
• Juan Guzman
• Pat Hentgen
• Fred McGriff
• John Olerud
• Devon White

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