Blue Jays 40 Greatest Players: Omissions and Snubs

Sportsnet compiled a panel of experts and Toronto Blue Jays prognosticators to rank the 40 Greatest Players to ever wear a Blue jays jerseys. Although the list was very well thought and compiled there were still a couple of obvious snubs and omissions who deserved to crack the Top 40.

Below is the list of the Top 40 Players or you have can access the rankings by clicking HERE:

1. Roberto Alomar, 2. Dave Stieb, 3. Roy Halladay, 4.Carlos Delgado, 5. Jose Bautista, 6. Tony Fernandez, 7. George Bell, 8. Joe Carter, 9. Jimmy Key, 10. Josh Donaldson.

11. Pat Hentgen, 12. Tom Henke, 13. Edwin Encarnacion, 14. John Olerud, 15. Devon White, 16. Jesse Barfield, 17. Paul Molitor, 18. Fred McGriff, 19. Roger Clemens, 20. Lloyd Moseby.

21. Duane Ward, 22. Vernon Wells, 23. Juan Guzman, 24. Kelly Gruber, 25. Jim Clancy, 26. Dave Winfield, 27. Shawn Green, 28. David Wells, 29. Jack Morris, 30. Pat Borders.

31. Ernie Whitt, 32. Willie Upshaw, 33. Damaso Garcia, 34. David Cone, 35. Shannon Stewart, 36. Dave Stewart, 37. Alfredo Griffin, 38. Russell Martin, 39. Rance Mulliniks, 40. Alex Rios.

Snubs and Omissions:

Jose Cruz: This may be the most glaring snub of all as Cruz spent 6 seasons with the Blue Jays and hit more than 30 homers on two occasions including a 34 homer/ 32 stolen base season in 2001. He held the record for most homers by a switch hitter up until last week when Justin Smoak surpassed his mark. During his tenure in Toronto, the outfielder would slash .250/.331/.462 with 122 homers and 85 stolen bases. The panel dropped the ball on this one.

Adam Lind: The first-baseman spent 9 seasons in Toronto hitting over 20 home runs 4 times including 35 round trippers in 2009. Overbay would end his career as a Blue Jay with a .273/.327/.466 slash line with 146 home runs. Way more deserving to be on the list than many including Rios and Mulliniks.

Reed Johnson: There may be a little personal bias with this one as Johnson was one of my favourite players however the numbers he put up in 5 years took Mulliniks nearly 10 years to accomplish. In 5 seasons with the Jays’ Johnson slashed .281/.342/.410 with 42 home runs and 28 stolen bases. The outfielder always left it on the field giving 110% on every play and led the majors in hit by pitches in 2006 with 21, that has to get you in the Top 40 on its own.

Todd Stottlemyre: The hurler spent 7 seasons with the Blue Jays and was present for both World Series victories. He is 69-70 with a 4.39 earned run average in 206 games as a Blue Jay and is best known for his postseason slide into third base that left him bloodied. If David Cone made the list with only 25 games in a Blue Jays uniform than Stottlemyre has to be on the list.

Billy Koch: The closer only spent 3 seasons north of the border however in those campaigns he saved 100 games for the Blue Jays. Koch would be dealt to Oakland for Eric Hinske and Justin Miller but earned a tidy 3.57 earned run average in 193 appearances for the Jays.

John Mayberry: The power hitting first baseman spent 4 seasons as a member of the Blue Jays slugging more than 20 homers on 3 occasions. Mayberry would finish his Jays career batting .256/.352/.450 with 92 home runs in 549 contests.

Next: Blue Jays must end the Joe Biagini experiment

Who are you omissions and snubs? comment below and let us know what you thought of the Top 40 list.

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