Top 5 Short-Term Stints in Blue Jays History

After seeing the departure of Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray, here’s an examination of the five best short stints by players in a Blue Jays uniform.

This past week we saw Marcus Semien sign a 7-year deal with the Texas Rangers. Semien was a class act, and I would say almost every Blue Jay fan would have welcomed him back with open arms. His 2021 season saw him produce one of the best stat lines ever from a second basemen. Clubbing 45 homers and winning a Gold Glove award at second base payed off big time. Semien was a quietly impressive player and provided a good influence for the younger Blue Jays on how to carry themselves in a professional sports setting. His impact was felt significantly this season and will continue to be felt as the Jays’ younger players continue to mature.

Robbie Ray also left Toronto, in the form of a five-year contract with the Seattle Mariners. Ray’s relationship with the Blue Jays first began after he was traded there in 2020 from the Diamondbacks. It was such a great fit that he was the first free agent to sign in the following offseason. We all know what followed, a historic season capped off with a Cy Young award.

All this being said, Semien and Ray truly used their short time in Toronto to their advantage. They were able to have a large amount of success in a short period. Over the years the Blue Jays have had their fair share of talented, nationally recognized players. More-often than not these players were retained for an extended period of time. Guys like Jose Bautista, Roy Halladay, Joe Carter, Dave Stieb, and Tom Henke all played five or more seasons with the Jays.

Unfortunately for us fans, other generational talents didn’t stick around for so long. Some came in and led the Blue Jays to championships, while other arrived during rather dull years of fandom but still managed to offer some excitement. Seeing as Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray just cashed in on their fruitful, short journeys with Toronto, this is a list of the five best cameo showings from star Major Leaguers with the Blue Jays. These guys had to have had made an impact with the organization in three seasons or less.

Robbie Ray

Ray is now a Seattle Mariner. This is still something I’m working through, so please be delicate. His short tenure with the Blue Jays was nothing short of remarkable. He arrived to the Jays in a trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Ray was no doubt struggling when he arrived. The version of Ray that was in Arizona was a pitcher with great stuff. However, this stuff was rarely controlled in the strike zone. This resulted in a staggering 7.8 BB/9. Ray had shown potential earlier in his career, being an All-Star in 2017. Regardless, Ray was an inconsistent pitcher to this point in his career.

He did his best to provide a beleaguered pitching staff with innings and consistency. When the bullpen was costing the Blue Jays games, Ray was someone you could confidently expect to work into the sixth inning with regularity. This meant a lot to a fringe playoff team full of young, talented players who were scoring runs on a daily basis.

Then came 2021. Ray re-signed with the Blue Jays on a quick $8 million, 1 year contract. Under the tutelage of Pete Walker, Ray started pounding the zone while using predominantly two pitches. Fangraphs shows that he used his fastball 59.8% of the time and his slider 31% of the time. This simple pitch selection wielded fruitful results, as Ray had a 11.5 K/9 with his BB/9 being at a lowly 2.4. This unprecedented improvement in strike zone management led to his Cy Young award, and eventually his new 5-year deal with Seattle. This short term stint with the Blue Jays was no doubt transformative and impactful. I wish Robbie the best, and truly wish it could’ve been a longer stay.

Marcus Semien

Semien’s time with the Blue Jays lasted an entire 162 games. During his tenure he was the epitome of class. He was a leader, an All-Star, a Silver Slugger, a Gold Glover, and an absolute steal of a free agent signing. He turned the one year, $18 million deal into a seven (!) year deal with the Rangers. Alas, lets review his season, as I truly believe this was one of the best short tenures in team history.

2021 saw Semien club 45 home runs and drive in 102 runs. He didn’t miss a single game, playing 147 of them at second, 21 of them at shortstop, and serving as the DH for a single game. His time at second earned him a Gold Glove, the first of his career. He also mixed in 15 stolen bases for good measure. This well rounded season accumulated a 7.3 WAR. This is quite the figure, as this number managed to even best Vlad’s 2021 WAR (6.8). Semien’s WAR is tied for the fourth best single season mark in team history. Lloyd Moseby and Carlos Delgado recorded a similar number in 1984 and 2000 respectively. Semien’s leadership and consistency helped the Jays to their 91 wins in 2021, and they truly could not have done it without him.

Semien is now gone to Texas. His third place finish in MVP in 2021 earned him a massive payday. As a baseball fan, you have to love watching hard working players flourish. Semien earned every cent of his new deal, and he will no doubt be very missed.

Paul Molitor

Molitor took over for Winfield as the Blue Jays’ DH following the 1992 season. Before his time north of the border he had been a perennial All-Star and MVP finalist, and had been a Milwaukee Brewer for 15 years. He signed a three year deal with the Blue Jays beginning in 1993. His Blue Jays tenure mostly saw him as the DH, with some time playing first base.

He was an integral part of the repeating World Series champion 1993 Blue Jays. You couldn’t have WAMCO without Molitor. Between White, Alomar, Carter, and Olerud, he had the second highest OPS+ amongst them at 143. He trailed only Olerud, who had an historic season himself. Looking at the rest of the league, he led in both plate appearances and hits. This success didn’t end with the regular season, he was a menace in the postseason. He hit .391 in the Championship Series while driving in five runs. He followed this with a World Series MVP winning performance. During the Fall Classic he hit two home runs and drove in seven runs to the tune of a .458 batting average and a 1.452 OPS. These are team-carrying numbers, and he truly had one of the most impactful single seasons in club history.

The two years that followed were par for the course. In the shortened 1994 season he played in all 115 games and hit .341 with a 138 OPS+.  The Blue Jays stumbled into that season’s labour strike at a 55-60 record, despite Molitor’s best efforts. The following 1995 season wasn’t much better. A 56-88 record and a fairly pedestrian season from Molitor concluded his time as a Blue Jay. His OPS+ in 1995 sat at 101, a point above league average.

Nevertheless, his time as a Blue Jay was impactful. A World Series MVP, two All-Star games, an OPS+ of 128, 51 home runs, and 54 stolen bases over the course of 405 games in three seasons (one of them being full) is a remarkable stat line. Molitor left his mark in a big way, despite only spending three seasons in Toronto.

Roger Clemens

Whatever your opinion on Roger Clemens is, he was a generational talent and the best pitcher in baseball during his time as a Blue Jay. The Jays gave him a four year deal heading into the 1997 season. What followed was two years of pure domination, awards, disappointment, and a trade.

During his first season in Toronto he was the league leader in almost every pitching category and took home a Cy Young award, the fourth of his career. His Baseball Reference page is covered in bold. His 21 wins, 2.05 ERA, 2.25 FIP, nine complete games, three shutouts, 292 strikeouts, and 1.03 WHIP all led the league. His 11.9 WAR from this season is the highest single season mark from a pitcher in franchise history. Despite this brilliance, the Blue Jays finished 5th in their division with a 76-86 record.

The following season saw a second consecutive Cy Young award. He again led in a variety of pitching statistics. His WAR finished at a total of 8.1. This year wasn’t quite as good as his last, but it was still ridiculous. An ERA of 2.65 and a K/9 at 10.4 both led the league, again. He also won 20 games. There was nothing Clemens couldn’t do, and the fact he was in a Blue Jays jersey was nothing short of surreal. The only thing that didn’t happen however, was a playoff appearance. The Blue Jays finished third in the division with a record of 88-74-1. While this was an improvement, Clemens wasn’t enjoying himself.

After the 1998 season Clemens requested a trade. He didn’t feel like Toronto would be competitive enough and he wanted a World Series ring. He would be traded to New York where he went on to have continued success and win two rings with the Yankees.  Despite the unceremonious ending, Clemens mark in Toronto was definitely felt. Although he only played two seasons, he ranks 19th (!) in all time Blue Jays WAR at 20.1. For reference, this is more accumulated WAR than Russell Martin, Adam Lind, Shawn Green, Joe Carter, Josh Donaldson, Fred McGriff, and other long time Blue Jays. Clemens was just SO good in his two seasons that he was statically more valuable to the team than these other great, all-time players.

This written piece was meant as a reflection of players that were here for a good time, not a long time. Let’s not lament the loss of Semien and Ray, instead let’s appreciate their time here. I truly hope the best for them. Nevertheless, 2022 should be a fun year to be a Blue Jays fan.