Blue Jays: Top 10 International Free Agents

Drafting is one way of developing your team, but another way is going the International Free Agent route.  Over the course of the Blue Jays franchise they have acquired a handful players that have been cornerstones of the organization.  Here is a list of the top 10 Blue Jays international free agent signings.

10. Miguel Castro
The Blue Jays signed Miguel Castro just two weeks after his 17th birthday back in 2012 for just $43,000.  Three years after his signing and at just 20-years of age, Castro was closing out games to start the 2015 season for the Blue Jays.  After just 18 appearances and four saves, Castro was showing signs of struggling with control and was sent back down to the minors to develop a little more.  Toronto would be in a playoff hunt by mid season and used Castro as part of the package to acquire Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins.

To date, Castro has pitched in over 200 big league games between Toronto, Colorado and now Baltimore.  Now at the age of 25-years old, Castro has established himself as a full-time bullpen arm with the Orioles pitching in over 60 games the last two seasons.

9. Cesar Izturis
In the summer of 1996, the Blue Jays signed 16-year old Venezuelan middle infielder Cesar Izturis and he developed through the Blue Jays organization.  In 2001, after batting .292 in AAA, Izturis was called up and played 46 games for the Jays batting .269, going 8-9 in stolen bases and striking out just 15 times to go with eight extra base hits.

After that season, the Blue Jays fell into the J.P. Ricciardi years and he started making trades including their All-Star reliever (Paul Quantrill) and Izturis for Luke Prokopec.

Izturis would go on to play in over 1,300 major league games, winning a gold glove and being named to the All-Star Game in 2005.  Prokopec would start 12 games and come out of the bullpen for 10 more in 2002 with a 6.78 ERA and never pitch in the major leagues again. Izturis also has the distinction of being traded for Greg Maddux straight up.

8. Gustavo Chacin
The Blue Jays signed left-handed Venezuelan pitcher Gustavo Chacin at the age of 17 in 1998.  In 2004, he was a late season call up and got two starts in the back end of September, throwing seven innings in both games and collecting his first career victory in the first game, which was against the New York Yankees.

The two appearances helped Chacin earn a full-time spot in 2005 and made 34 starts during the year throwing over 200 innings and picking up a 13-9 record with a 3.72 ERA.  Chacin would finish fifth in Rookie of the Year voting. Chacin would pitch to more seasons with the Blue Jays and finish up with a 25-15 record over parts of four seasons, but wouldn’t be able to stay in the pros much longer. He was granted free agency at the end of the 2008 season and would bounce around the minor leagues after that before making a return in the Houston bullpen in 2010.

7. Luis Leal
The records are a little thin on when Luis Leal signed with the Blue Jays, all I can tell you is that it was before 1979.  Another Venezuelan pitcher, the Blue Jays found a solid arm in Leal.  Leal was one of the main starting pitchers for the Blue Jays through the early to mid-80s.  He had three consecutive seasons of double digit win seasons and threw more than 217 innings in all of those seasons.

After the 1985 season, Leal was traded along with Damaso Garcia to the Atlanta Braves, however he never pitched again after that.  Leal currently sits 11th on the All-Time Blue Jays list in wins with 51 and finished his career with a 4.14 ERA.

6. Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
While most of the popular international free agents are signed in their teens, the Blue Jays signed Lourdes Gurriel Jr. shortly after his 23rd birthday.  Gurriel had already played six professional seasons in Cuba so he did not need much seasoning in the minor leagues, and after just 115 games he was called up part way through the 2018 season.

After his first stint with Toronto where he played in 63 games, he looked like a future middle infielder on the club as he hit .281 with 11 home runs over 65 games.  However, after he famously had a poor start to the 2019 season that saw him make a couple errors and batted .175 over 13 games with no home runs, he was sent back to the minors for a month where he developed as an outfielder.  When he returned, despite a long-term injury he still batted .292 for the remainder of the season with 20 home runs in just 71 games.

All things look like Gurriel Jr. will be the long term left fielder that can bat near the top of the order. Through his first 149 games, Gurriel Jr has 31 home runs 85 RBI and a .279 batting average.  He still has three years left on his contract that averages around $5 million per season.

5. Kelvim Escobar
The relief pitcher, turned starting pitcher, turned closer, turned back to starting pitcher, Kelvim Escobar was signed as a 16-year old out of Venezuela in 1992.  Escobar would play seven years in the Toronto organization and bounced back and forth between the bullpen and starting rotation.  He first came up midway through the 1997 season where he led the team with 14 saves to a 2.90 ERA.  He would split the next season in both the rotation starting 10 games as well as coming out of the bullpen for seven games.

Escobar would spend the majority of his next two seasons as a starter winning 14 and 10 games, but would come out of the bullpen the year after.  In 2002, Escobar pitched the entire season as the closer as he picked up 38 saves.  In 2003, in his last season Escobar would start 26 games picking up 13 wins which included a complete game shutout, but at the same time he also picked up four saves.

Escobar would finish his seven year career with the Blue Jays with 58 wins and 58 saves.  He started 101 games and came out of the bullpen for 200.  After the 2003 season, Escobar left to the Anaheim Angels in free agency.  Escobar currently sits 10th in team wins and seventh in shutouts.

2. Tony Fernandez
The late Tony Fernandez was an absolute magician for the Blue Jays over the span of two decades and 12 seasons in Toronto.  Fernandez was signed as a 17-year old in 1979 and excelled through the minors batting near the .300 mark over five seasons in the minor leagues.

Fernandez had a 17-year big league career that saw him have four different stints with the Blue Jays.  He won the Gold Glove Award four consecutive years in the late 1980s, as well being named to five All Star Games (four with Toronto).

Fernandez is currently third all-time in Offensive WAR and first in Defensive WAR in the Toronto history.  He is the all-time hits and triples leader and sits fifth in career batting average (.297). His name and #1 sits on the Blue Jays Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre.  Had he played his career with the New York Yankees, I strongly believe he would have received a stronger consideration for the Hall of Fame.

1. Carlos Delgado
The Blue Jays signed Carlos Delgado at the age of 16 from Puerto Rico in 1988.  It took some time for the Blue Jays to figure out where to play him, as he originally came up as a catcher, turned into outfielder, and finally settled at First Base.  Delgado is the All-Time Blue Jays home run leader with 336 and also has more home runs than any other Puerto Rican born player.  The fact Delgado is not in the Hall of Fame or received more consideration is one thing that is wrong in the major leagues.

Delgado is just one of six players in MLB history to have 10 consecutive seasons of 30+ home runs.  For a career, Delgado averaged 38 home runs, 120 RBI and a .280 average over a 162 game season.  His career season was 2003, when he hit 42 home runs and led the league in RBI with 145 and OPS with 1.019, yet finished second in MVP voting.

Delgado won three Silver Sluggers and played in just two All-Star Games over his career despite 473 home runs and 1,058 RBI.

Honorable Mentions: Adeiny Hechavarria and Henderson Alvarez