Blue Jays have plenty of ties to the Hall of Fame ballot

This year’s crop of eligible candidates for baseball’s Hall of Fame has been announced, and there are several players with ties to the Toronto Blue Jays.

It’s that time of year again, when baseball’s Hall of Fame ballot is announced, and we start arguing about who should be enshrined at the 2018 ceremony next summer. It’s a drawn out discussion every year, and adding the “Steroid Era” to the debate makes things even more complicated. No matter what though, it’s always fun to look back at the best players of recent generations and be reminded of their contributions to the game before the announcement in January.

Among the candidates this year, there are several that have ties to the Blue Jays. In fact, there are nine among the 33 candidates that had some sort of experience with the organization, so we here at Jays Journal thought it might be fun to look at the careers of those players, their Hall of Fame candidacy, and also their time with the Blue Jays.

Unfortunately the late, great, Roy Halladay is not yet eligible for the vote this year, but he will be a candidate on next year’s ballot, and hopefully a first time inclusion. Halladay was tragically lost a few weeks ago in a plane crash over the Gulf of New Mexico, and passed away at the age of 40.

For now, let’s have a look at those who are eligible and their time in Toronto, whether it was several seasons, or a blip on the radar.