Blue Jays: Who should we cheer for? Playoff bound former Jays

Now that the playoff picture is officially set, which former Blue Jays will be participating with other teams? And who do we cheer for?

For a couple of glorious years in 2015 and 2016, the Blue Jays made the postseason and brought a great deal of excitement to Canadian baseball fans in the month of October. After a more than two decade long drought, the Rogers Centre was bumping in a way we hadn’t seen in years, and TV ratings were through the roof. Baseball fever was back in Canada, which even took from some of the excitement of a fresh NBA and NHL season.

That’s not the case this year in Toronto, as the Blue Jays finished with a record of 73-89, good for fourth in the AL East and just (!) 35 games back of the Red Sox. who set a franchise record for wins in a regular season this year.

While the Blue Jays may not be participating in this year’s playoffs, there are several former players who will be. There are some who left in free agency prior to this year, and plenty more who were moved prior to the trade deadline, and will now get an extended season because of it.

For me, this is often the determining factor in who I cheer for the in the playoffs, but to each their own. It’s a weird year in that the Blue Jays made trades with both the Red Sox and Yankees this summer as well, so it’s not a rule that automatically applies for me, to be sure.

Let’s have a look at the former Blue Jays who will be playing this year’s playoffs.

The AL East Qualifiers

Boston Red Sox

I already mentioned the two AL East teams that have qualified for the playoffs, so I may as well start there when talking about former Blue Jays.

I also mentioned that the Blue Jays had made a deal with them earlier this year, which sent Steve Pearce to Boston in exchange for minor league shortstop Santiago Espinal. Pearce had spent roughly one and a half seasons in Toronto before the trade, and has made a pretty strong impact in Boston for his relatively inexpensive price.

The second Red Sox who formerly played in Toronto would be David Price, who will look to change his playoff reputation this year in Boston. He’s had a really solid year in Boston going 16-7 with a 3.58 ERA in 30 starts, but he’ll have to prove he’s better than the career 2-8 and 5.03 ERA he’s posted in the postseason in order to really win the hearts of Red Sox fans.

New York Yankees

One of the best value signings the Blue Jays have made in the last five years was bringing J.A. Happ back to Toronto. He was quietly excellent through his 2.5 seasons on this contract, and was even named the team’s top pitcher this season despite being traded to New York in July.

Since his arrival in the Bronx he’s been just as good or better, sporting a record of 7-0 in a new jersey, and an ERA of 2.69 in 11 starts. While the Yankees had some question marks in their rotation in the second half, Happ was the steady force they needed in order to pace the Wild Card picture. There’s even some talk that he could get the ball on Wednesday in the AL Wild Card game, though that honour likely goes to Luis Severino.

The other former Blue Jay in New York would be Adeiny Hechavarria, who played his first MLB games in Toronto back in 2012. He was later traded to Miami in the big deal that brought Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes and more back, and eventually landed in New York this year to serve as depth in the middle infield.

More AL contenders

Houston Astros

The defending World Series champions are the AL West winner once again, and they’ll face off against the Cleveland Indians in their ALDS series.

With a strong rotation and a lineup full of young, in-their-prime stars, the Astros could be serious contenders again this year, and they’ll have a couple old Blue Jays in tow. Jake Marisnick should make the roster as a valuable contributor on defence, and there’s a chance they bring Joe Smith along for the ride in the crowded bullpen picture.

The third and main name that Blue Jays fans will focus on will be Roberto Osuna, which is likely to cause plenty to turn on the Astros during this year’s postseason. It’s hard to stomach the idea of Osuna getting a ring in the same year the team felt like they had no choice but to trade him due to off-field/legal issues, so here’s hoping we don’t have to talk about that all winter long.

Oakland A’s

The surprising Oakland A’s might even be a better version of ‘Moneyball’ than the one that turned into movies and a borderline baseball revolution. They’ll get a chance to take down the mighty Yankees on Tuesday in the Wild Card game, and I’m sure plenty of Blue Jays fans will cheer for them for that reason alone.

Aside from that there are a few former Jays like Brett Anderson, who had a brief stint in Toronto last year, and Edwin Jackson, who was a Blue Jay just long enough to get traded to St. Louis way back in the Colby Rasmus deal. The third would be Franklin Barreto, who was just a young prospect while with the Blue Jays organization. He was arguably the highest ceiling piece that went back to Oakland in the Josh Donaldson trade, and is their best chance of making that transaction look a little less painful.

*Note- I missed Liam Hendricks as well, who returned later in the year and pitched well after being DFA’d earlier this summer. It even looks like he might get the ball in the AL Wild Card game as the “opener”.

Feeling very torn about this one

Cleveland Indians

If there’s one team that might divide the Blue Jays fan allegiances during this year’s playoffs, it’s the Cleveland Indians.

They have the most former Blue Jays on their roster, and of course, the freshest wound with their acquisition of Josh Donaldson before the trade deadline. He’s healthy and contributing now, and could be a key to their postseason hopes if he can get hot at the right time.

There’s also Edwin Encarnacion, who left after the 2016 season to head for Cleveland in a controversial free agent situation. Fans around Toronto still love and miss “Edwing”, so there’s a good chance there will be several others rooting for him.

Beyond the big two there are others like Melky Cabrera, who played in Toronto from 2013 and 2014 as the every-day left fielder. He started the season without a contract and had to spend some time in Triple-A, but his career continues. The ageless wonder that is Rajai Davis also played in Cleveland again this year, and is on the bubble for a playoff roster spot. With his speed there’s a good chance that they keep him around, but match-ups will be key as the postseason progresses.

Lastly there is one more in Yan Gomes, who was traded to Cleveland along with Mike Aviles in exchange for Esmil Rogers, in one of the worst trades in recent franchise history. Rogers was a decent pitcher, but Gomes has gone on to establish himself in Cleveland since, even earning an All-Star selection this season.

While I completely understand any Blue Jay fan who choose to cheer for Cleveland this fall, I just can’t bring myself to do it.

Atlanta Braves

Well this one is easy. Combing through the roster, I didn’t find anyone that had formerly been a Blue Jay, and that’s the product of a very talented young team. Most of the fellas in their 20’s understandably haven’t played anywhere but Atlanta so far.

There are two connections though, if you do choose to cheer for the Braves for those reasons. First, Alex Anthopoulos is their Team President, and would get the World Series ring that he was very close to securing while in Toronto. While they are an extremely talented group, I would expect that they’ll be even stronger contenders in 2019, and for several years after that though, so ‘AA’ may get that ring one of these years.

The other would be Jose Bautista, who would get a ring from the Braves if they happened to go the distance and win some hardware. He appeared in 12 games for them earlier this season before he ended up with the Mets, and was eventually traded to Philadelphia, but he would still get a ring if Atlanta won (assuming they choose to include him). It wouldn’t be the way he’d want to earn one I’m sure, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubbies were unable to hold on to their division lead against the surging Milwaukee Brewers, and will now have to face off against the Colorado Rockies in the Wild Card game tonight.

There aren’t a lot of connections to the Blue Jays on this team, but the bullpen does have a couple of familiar faces. Jesse Chavez was absolutely dominant after arriving in Chicago, posting a 1.15 ERA in 39 innings and virtually guaranteeing himself a spot on the postseason roster. The other pitcher would be Jaime Garcia, who could be a long shot to pitch in the playoffs after arriving in a deal with Toronto earlier this summer.

*Note- I admittedly missed Brandon Morrow, who has been shut down for the year and will not pitch in this year’s playoffs.