Jays Journal
FanSided

Blue Jays: The All-Time Forgotten Players in Franchise History

By David Corcoran

2 May 1998: Outfielder Jose Canseco of the Toronto Blue Jays in action during a game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California. The Blue Jays defeated the Athletics 7-0. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule Jr. /Allsport
2 May 1998: Outfielder Jose Canseco of the Toronto Blue Jays in action during a game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California. The Blue Jays defeated the Athletics 7-0. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule Jr. /Allsport /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
TORONTO, CANADA – JULY 21: Former player Carlos Delgado #25 of the Toronto Blue Jays sits with his wife and two kids as he is honored in a pre-game ceremony placing his name on The Level of Excellence as Nadir Mohamed, Paul Beeston, Alex Anthopoulos, Cito Gaston, Roberto Alomar, Pat Gillick, Tony Fernandez and George Bell look on while Buck Martinez speaks before MLB game action against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 21, 2013 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA – JULY 21: Former player Carlos Delgado #25 of the Toronto Blue Jays sits with his wife and two kids as he is honored in a pre-game ceremony placing his name on The Level of Excellence as Nadir Mohamed, Paul Beeston, Alex Anthopoulos, Cito Gaston, Roberto Alomar, Pat Gillick, Tony Fernandez and George Bell look on while Buck Martinez speaks before MLB game action against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 21, 2013 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

In the midst of this dead baseball time, I will try and give you a look back at some Blue Jays players you may have forgotten who not only played in Toronto, but did quite well.  This article is your All-Time forgotten Blue Jays, so players that had a quick stint with the team and played really well.

The stipulation was that the player could not play more than three full seasons with the team.  I also did not include Roger Clemens or Dave Winfield as they were two unforgettable on the team in their very short stints.

Catcher – Bengie Molina (2006)
Best Season: 2006 – 20 doubles, 19 home runs, 57 RBI, .281 AVG and .319 OBA

After the 2005 season where the Blue Jays finished two games below .500 they were looking to upgrade on the catching position.  They had had one good catcher in Gregg Zaun, however they cycled through four other catchers during the season.  Toronto signed Bengie Molina to a one-year deal worth $4.5 million and he had a very productive hitting season.

At the plate he had 40 extra base hits, which included one of the most entertaining triples you could see, and I wish I could find it somewhere.  Behind the plate he had his worst season for throwing out runners, as it was the only time he dipped under 23% for catching would-be base stealers, and he threw out just 18%.

After an overall successful season, Molina would leave for San Francisco that offseason when he signed a three year contract worth just over $16 million.

First Base – Matt Stairs (2007-2008)
Best Season: 2007 – 28 doubles, 21 home runs, 64 RBI, .289 AVG and .368 OBA

Two things I need to clear up, one is a lot of people do remember Matt Stairs as he was a Canadian player, playing for Toronto.  The second was Stairs played pretty evenly between first base and left field, with a bit of time in right field.

Now that we have cleared that up, Stairs got a lot of hype as a Canuck playing for baseball’s only Canadian franchise.  He also seemed like a cheerful, hard-working happy guy to be around.  Toronto got a steal of a deal in off-season leading into the 2007 season when they got him on a one-year deal at $850,000.   Stairs finished just five home runs off of the team lead, despite having more than 200 at-bats less than the leader Frank Thomas.

Stairs would sign on for one more year in 2008; however with the team 14.5 games back of the AL East title on August 30 he would be traded to Philadelphia for a player to be named later (Fabio Casto).

Home/Blue Jays All-Time Lists