Blue Jays: The All Time Drafted and Developed Team

Right Field: Jesse Barfield

When writing this piece, Right Field stood out as the toughest choice between Shawn Green and Jesse Barfield, but I went with the older guy in Barfield.  In 1977, the Blue Jays were in their first-ever season in the league and as such, it was their first draft.  In the ninth round, 233rd overall they selected high schooler Jesse Barfield out of Central High School in Joliet, Illinois.

Barfield spent five seasons developing through the minors and showed some power in his last couple years playing in AA Knoxville, but didn’t light it up.  It wasn’t until he made the majors that he started to show his real talent.  After being a September call-up in 1981, he became a full-time player in 1982.

In his rookie season, Barfield quickly got a reputation as having an electric arm as he threw out 15 runners and followed that up with 17 in 1983.  Because of the reputation he built, teams just stopped risking trying to stretch an extra base.   At the plate, Barfield hit 18 home runs and had a .246 batting average to help him finish eighth in Rookie of the Year voting.

Barfield became an elite outfielder and had a career season in 1986 that saw him hit 77 extra-base hits which included 40 home runs and 108 RBI while batting .289. That season Barfield was selected to the All-Star Game, was awarded the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award, while finishing fifth in AL MVP voting.

Barfield would play nine seasons in Toronto, winning another Gold Glove and hitting 179 home runs. In 1989, with the team looking for their second AL pennant and requiring some pitching, the Blue Jays traded Barfield to the New York Yankees for Al Leiter.  Barfield currently sits seventh all-time in home runs by a Blue Jay.

Honorable Mention: Shawn Green and Alex Rios

Stay tuned for my next article that will show you the top five starting pitchers that were drafted and developed by the Blue Jays.