Toronto Blue Jays: Build Your All-Time Draft Roster

As the MLB amateur draft approaches, the Toronto Blue Jays social media team challenged their Twitter followers to “Build their All-Time Draft Roster”.

The rules are simple, the player must have been drafted by the Blue Jays and you may only select one infielder per position, three outfielders, and one starter and closer from the list below.

As you will see, some positions are more stacked than others and there are a few names who may have slipped your mind over the years. I personally completely forgot the Blue Jays drafted Casey Blake in the seventh round of the 1996 amateur draft.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1269736054690586626

Here are your choices:

Catcher:

Pat Borders, J.P. Arencibia, Greg Myers, Danny Jansen

My selection: I think the obvious choice is Borders, perhaps in a few years Jansen will leapfrog the former World Series MVP but for now it’s got to be Borders.

First Base:

John Olerud, Rowdy Tellez, Adam Lind, Josh Phelps

My selection: This is a fairly easy one as well, Olerud is my unanimous pick in this category. Anyone who skips the minors completely and hits .363 in a season has my vote.

Second Base:

Aaron Hill, Jeff Kent, Orlando Hudson, Cavan Biggio

My selection: This was a pretty stacked position but Kent has my vote, the former 20th round selection hit 377 career homers over the span of a 17-year career.

Shortstop:

Bo Bichette, Chris Woodward, Felipe Lopez, Alex Gonzalez

My selection: I have to go with the youth movement on this one, Bichette is just too talented to pass up and should surpass the other three in short order statistically.

Third Base:

Ed Sprague, Danny Ainge, Casey Blake, Ryan Roberts

My selection: Blake is probably more deserving and had a better career WAR, however, Sprague gets the nod due to his longevity in Toronto. Blake only played 14 games for the Blue Jays while Sprague stuck around for the better part of eight years.

Outfielders:

Lloyd Moseby, Shawn Green, Reed Johnson, Vernon Wells, Shannon Stewart, Glenallen Hill, Jesse Barfield, Alex Rios, Derek Bell

My selection: This is a tough one, especially considering that Johnson was my guy. I am gonna go Green, Barfield, and Wells here. I debated Moseby over Wells but it is hard to deny VDub and his 270 career round-trippers.

Starting Pitcher:

Roy Halladay, Dave Stieb, Pat Hentgen, Jimmy Key

My selection: This is arguably the most talented group with four homegrown studs. It comes down to a two-horse race between Stieb and Halladay for me with the Hall of Famer getting the nod.

Closer:

Mark Eichhorn, Mike Timlin

My selection: Since neither Tom Henke or Duane Ward were drafted by the Blue Jays, I’m going to have to go with Mark Eichhorn here. His rookie season when he posted a 1.72 ERA 157 innings doesn’t get talked about enough, and he also picked up 10 saves that year.

My Team:

Here is how my team shaped up:

Borders- C

Olerud- 1B

Kent- 2B

Bichette- SS

Sprague- 3B

Green- OF

Wells- OF

Barfield- OF

Halladay- P

Eichhorn- CL

Let’s see how all your respective rosters in the comments below.

As the MLB amateur draft approaches, the Toronto Blue Jays social media team challenged their Twitter followers to “Build their All-Time Draft Roster”.

Here are your choices:

Schedule