The many links between the Blue Jays and Giants

Following the San Francisco Giants’ selection of a pair of Toronto Blue Jays in the recent Rule 5 Draft, the list of links between the two franchises grew just a little bit longer. Here are just a few of the recent connections between the Giants and the Blue Jays.

In the larval stages of the Blue Jays’ evolution to a full grown major league franchise, it was rumoured that the team was to become the “Toronto Giants”, stemming from the fact that it was widely believed that the team would be relocating from San Francisco after the team had been sold to Toronto-based group of investors.

Eventually, the sale was squashed and the Blue Jays emerged as an independent baseball club, playing in the American League East opposite the National League West dwelling San Francisco Giants. The connection nevertheless remained, as many who followed the original chase to bring a team to Toronto still often refer to the Giants as the team “that could’ve been”. Since their inception in 1977, the Blue Jays and Giants have only played 19 games against each other, according to mcubed.net, with the majority of those coming from 2007 onward, when interleague play was popularized and included as a more prominent part of the major league schedule.

Still, there exist many, many links between the Giants and Blue Jays, especially in the last decade. Whether it be trades, Rule 5 picks, signings or common players, the Jays and Giants share some entertaining common names, and likely some that the average Blue Jays fan hasn’t heard since the logo displayed on the cap was that of an angry and disgruntled triangular bird.

With that, here are just a few of the names that have been involved in both organizations over the last decade. While some may be minor in influence, every name mentioned has, in some capacity, been associated with both franchises since 2008.