Ranking the 10 greatest infielders in Blue Jays history

9. Fred McGriff

The former Yankee draft pick was acquired in a trade by the Blue Jays in one of the better trades throughout franchise history. After a cup of coffee in 1986, Fred McGriff stepped into more of a full-time role as a DH and hit 20 home runs.

Once McGriff became a full-time first baseman in the 1988 season, he slashed .282/.376/.552 with 34 home runs and 82 RBI. He then followed that up by hitting a league-leading 36 home runs and posting a league-leading .924 OPS. He finished sixth in the MVP balloting and won the Silver Slugger award that season.

McGriff followed that up with his best season yet in the Major Leagues, amassing a .300/.400/.530 slash line with 35 home runs and 88 RBI.

In a three-year span from 1988 to 1990, McGriff had a 157 WRC+. This was second in the American League, only behind Jose Canseco. His 105 home runs also led the American League.

McGriff doesn’t have longevity with the organization which is why he isn’t higher on the list, but he still posted three terrific seasons in Toronto. Hitting 30+ home runs three years in a row with an OPS over .920 in each of those seasons is not an easy feat.

He’s eleventh in franchise history in home runs despite only playing four full seasons with the Blue Jays. He’s third in franchise history in OBP, slugging percentage, and OPS.

8. Kelly Gruber

One of the top Rule 5 picks in Blue Jays history was infielder Kelly Gruber. In his nine seasons playing for the Jays, he slashed .259/.307/.431 with 114 home runs and 443 RBI. The Indians originally selected Gruber tenth overall in 1980 but the Blue Jays picked him up in the 1983 Rule 5 Draft. He played in just 15 games that season and made only 16 plate appearances.

The following season saw Gruber only suit up in five games with the club. He didn’t really have a full-time role until the 1987 season. He didn’t impress very much posting a .682 OPS in 135 games but did enough to earn a full-time role the following season.

In 1988, he finally took a full hold on the third base job. He posted a 113 WRC+ and hit 16 home runs. He also had the best defensive season of his career. His 2.1 dWAR was fourth in the American League that season, and the best amongst third basemen.

The 1990 campaign was when Gruber really came into his own offensively. He slashed .274/.330/.512 with 31 home runs and 118 RBI. He made the All-Star team again, won the Gold Glove Award, and took home a SIlver Slugger as well. He ended up finishing fourth in the American League MVP balloting. The 130 WRC+ he posted was the highest in his career by far and was twelfth in the American League. It was the second-highest amongst third basemen.

Unfortunately, the seasons that followed were plagued by injury and his production dipped as a result. He was traded to the Angels after the 1992 season. At least he ended his time in Toronto with a well-deserved World Series ring.

7. Paul Molitor

When coming up with a top 10 list for a franchise, it’s important to consider many factors. Longevity is very important. So is production. Paul Molitor wasn’t a Blue Jay for very long, but boy was his presence in the lineup impactful.

After the Blue Jays won their first World Series title in 1992, they signed Paul Molitor to a three-year $13 million dollar deal. Molitor was already a five-time All-Star before signing with the Jays, so Toronto was getting a big-time impact bat to add to their lineup.

Molitor only played in Toronto for those three seasons but they were three of the better seasons in Jays’ history. He slashed .315/.387/.484 with 51 home runs and 256 RBI through 405 games. Molitor was a rare example of a first baseman who didn’t have a ton of power but prioritized making contact and setting the table for the big boppers in a lineup.

In his first season in Toronto as a 37-year-old, Molitor compiled a .332/.402/.509 line with 22 home runs and 111 RBI. He also tacked on 22 stolen bases, another rarity for a first baseman. He was an All-Star, won the Silver Slugger Award, and finished second in the American League MVP balloting.

In the Postseason, Molitor was even better. In the ALCS he slashed .391/.481/.696 with one home run and five RBI in the six-game series victory. Somehow, he was even better in the World Series. He would end up going .458/.536/.917 with two home runs and seven RBI in the six-game series victory. Molitor ended up winning World Series MVP and was on base for the memorable Joe Carter series-clinching home run.

He’d follow that season up with a .341 batting average and a .927 OPS in the 1994 lockout-shortened season.

Molitor is the franchise leader in career batting average at .315 as a Blue Jay. He’s also fourth in OBP and ninth in slugging percentage. It was only a three-year run for Molitor but he was outstanding during his time in Toronto and is very deserving of a spot on this list.

6. John Olerud

Like Paul Molitor, John Olerud was not a traditional first baseman. He was not a guy who was up at bat trying to hit a 450 foot home run every time up. He was just trying to set the table for the guys behind him to drive him in or come through with a clutch run-scoring single if needed.

Olerud is also someone who did not play in the minor leagues before debuting at the MLB level. After being drafted the Blue Jays in 1989, Olerud appeared in six games down the stretch, getting three hits in eight at-bats.

In his first full season at the big league level, he played 111 games and finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year balloting. In his first three full seasons in Toronto, Olerud seemed like a hitter who was a little bit above average. Not horrible, but nothing that’s overly exciting.

The 1993 season is when Olerud really came onto the scene. He slashed .363/.473/.599 with 24 home runs and 107 RBI. He was an All-Star for the first time and finished third in the MVP voting. Olerud led the league in batting, OBP, OPS, and doubles (54) that year. The most impressive stat to me is he walked 114 times and struck out only 65 times, nearly twice as many walks as strikeouts. He was hitting over .400 through August 2nd but fell off just a tad down the stretch.

An argument can be made that he should’ve won the MVP. Even though he didn’t hit 41 home runs like the winner Frank Thomas, he led the league with his 179 WRC+ amongst many other categories.

The next couple of seasons were shortened due to the lockout and Olerud never quite got back to that 1.072 OPS player that he was in 1993 but he was still very good, consistently posting OPS+ numbers between 110-120.

Olerud was never a great defender, usually putting up league average defensive metrics but that doesn’t take away from his offensive production.

With Carlos Delgado emerging in the minor league system, the Jays decided to trade Olerud to the Mets for Robert Person in a trade that did not fare well for the Blue Jays.

Olerud finished his eight-year tenure in Toronto with a .293/.395/.471 slash line,109 home runs, and 471 RBI through 920 games. He’s eighth in Jays’ history in bWAR and is the franchise leader in OBP.

Olerud played a big role in both of the Blue Jays World series teams and is one of the best first basemen the team has ever employed.

5. Edwin Encarnacion

Edwin Encarnacion was not the main target for the Jays to take back when they traded away Scott Rolen. They acquired pitchers Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart along with Encarnacion in a deal for the third baseman. Roenicke and Stewart both underperformed drastically with the Jays but the throw-in turned out to be an unbelievable acquisition.

Encarnacion was a decent player for the Reds. He even hit 26 home runs in the 2008 season. However, he was nothing special until he came to Toronto. In his eight seasons with the Blue Jays he slashed .268/.355/.522 with 239 home runs and 679 RBI. He made three All-Star teams and made an appearance on four different MVP ballots.

Encarnacion was initially a third baseman but was not very good at the hot corner. He began his tenure with the Jays there but later moved to a first base and DH role. Edwin was actually DFA’d multiple times but thankfully cleared waivers each time and found his way back up with the team.

He burst onto the scene in Toronto with his outstanding 2012 season. He slashed .280/.384/.557 with 42 home runs and 110 RBI. This came after he hit just 17 long balls the season prior. That was the first of five straight 30+ home run seasons with the Jays.

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The Jays lineup when the Dominican slugger was with the team was one of the league’s best. They had arguably the two best power hitters in the American League in Encarnacion and Jose Bautista hitting in the middle of their lineup alongside players like Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki.

The Jays made playoff runs in 2015 and 2016 with Encarnacion helping to lead the way. He hit the memorable walk-off home run off Ubaldo Jimenez in the 2016 AL Wild Card Game to win the game for the Blue Jays.

Encarnacion was not known for his defense whatsoever which is why he was primarily at DH during his time in Toronto but he did rank in the top 10 in DRS amongst first basemen twice according to Fangraphs, in both 2015 and 2016.

His offense, as good as it was, was underrated. Bautista and Donaldson seemed to get most of the attention, but from 2012-2016, Encarnacion had a 146 WRC+ which was fourth in the American League, ahead of his star teammates.

Edwin ranks seventh in bWAR, fourth in slugging percentage, and third in home runs in franchise history. He’s one of the more feared hitters to ever wear a Blue Jays uniform as any opposing pitcher was susceptible to seeing his parrot go for a walk around the bases.

4. Josh Donaldson

Josh Donaldson is another guy who wasn’t with the organization for very long but he was so impactful in his time in Toronto that he has to be on this list. In his three and a half seasons as a Blue Jay, he slashed .281/.383/.548 with 116 home runs and 316 RBI.

He was acquired in what turned out to be one of the best trades the Jays have ever made. They sent Brett Lawrie, Kendall Graveman, Franklin Barreto, and Sean Nolin to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for the Florida product. This is after Donaldson had a 29 homer season and made his first All-Star game with the Athletics.

Lawrie was a decent third baseman, but he was nothing compared to Donaldson. Graveman wasn’t really relevant until this season as a reliever for two of the Athletics division rivals, and Barreto and Nolin haven’t done much at the Major League level.

Simply put, the Jays stole Josh Donaldson from the Athletics.

His first season with the Blue Jays went just about as well as it could have gone. He slashed .297/.371/.568 with 41 home runs and 123 RBI. He led the American League in RBI and his 122 runs scored also led the league. He was an All-Star, won the Silver Slugger Award, and took home the American League MVP Award.

His 154 WRC+ from 2015-2017 ranked fourth in baseball and second only behind Mike Trout in the American League.

The Donaldson, Bautista, Encarnacion 2-3-4 punch in the lineup was the best in the game and struck fear in everybody. Donaldson had many memorable big hits but the moment I remember most in his career was when he scored the series-winning run in Game 3 of the ALDS in 2016 from second base thanks to a Rougned Odor error.

Donaldson played just 36 games for the Blue Jays in 2018 and did not appear to be the same hitter at all. The Jays traded him midseason to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Julian Merryweather.

It’s unfortunate that he was only in Toronto for a little over three seasons but he had as good of a three-year run as anyone has wearing a Blue Jays uniform.

3. Roberto Alomar

After once again failing to get over the hump and win their first World Series title, the Blue Jays figured it was time to make a big trade to help win them a championship. They did that when they sent Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez to the Padres in exchange for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. This kind of trade is very rare as usually, a team would trade prospects for stars, not swap major league talent.

At the time, that deal didn’t look great. Fernandez was a Jays icon and McGriff had an unbelievable start to his career. However, it ended up paying off big time for the Jays.

In his five seasons as a Blue Jay, Alomar was an All-Star each season and won five Gold Gloves as well. He won the Silver Slugger Award in each of his first three seasons in Toronto and finished sixth in the MVP balloting in each of those three seasons as well.

He slashed .307/.382/.451 with 55 home runs and 342 RBI for the Blue Jays. His best season as a Blue Jay came in 1993 when he posted a .326/.408/.492 line with 17 home runs and 92 RBI. The unreal offensive production along with what he could do in the field made Alomar one of the best players in the game, which is one reason why he is in the Hall of Fame.

He’s second in franchise history in batting average and stolen bases. He had been honored with a spot on the Level of Excellence but was removed due to his sexual misconduct allegations in recent years.

2. Tony Fernandez

The best shortstop in Blue Jays history without a doubt is Tony Fernandez. In his 12 seasons in Toronto, Fernandez slashed .297/.353/.412 with 60 home runs and 613 RBI. He also tacked on 246 stolen bases.

In his first full season as a starter, Fernandez posted a .289 batting average with two home runs and 51 RBI. He did this while mostly hitting ninth in the order. After that, he became the full-time leadoff hitter and that move paid dividends for the Jays.

Fernandez is the only shortstop in Blue Jays history to win a Gold Glove award. His best defensive season came in 1989 when he had a 2.4 dWAR, a mark which was fourth in the American League.

He was a consistent 5 bWAR player which put him amongst the elite shortstops in the game.  Fernandez was a guy the Jays could rely upon to make contact and play good defense. He did that consistently in his 12 years with the club.

Fernandez is the franchise leader in games played, defensive WAR, hits, and triples. He’s also second in bWAR, fifth in batting, and fifth in runs scored. He has his rightful spot on the Level of Excellence and is one of the best players to ever play for the Blue Jays.

1. Carlos Delgado

In my opinion, the best infielder to ever play for the Blue Jays is Carlos Delgado. It’s unfortunate that he was dropped from the Hall of Fame ballot in his first year of eligibility, but he really had an outstanding career, most of which came with the Blue Jays.

In his 12 years with the club, Delgado posted a .282/.392/.556 slash line with 336 home runs and 1,058 RBI. From 1996-2004 he posted a 142 WRC+ which was eighth in the American League during that span. He had established himself as one of the elite hitters in the game.

Delgado is without a doubt the best hitter in Jays history. He’s the franchise’s leader in home runs, RBI, runs, doubles, and OPS. He might not have been the best player in the sport at any given moment, but he consistently was hitting 30+ home runs and driving in 100+ runs. He was one of the best power hitters in the game for sure.

The Blue Jays have employed a bunch of really solid infielders in their 45-year history. These are the 10 best to play for the franchise.

Delgado’s best season came in 2000. He slashed .344/.370/1.134 with 41 home runs and 137 RBI. He was an All-Star for the first time, won the Silver Slugger Award, and finished fourth in the MVP balloting. He set the single-season Jays records in slugging, OPS, doubles, total bases, and extra-base hits. It was one of the best seasons in Blue Jays history. His 179 WRC+ was third in the American League, only four points behind the leader Jason Giambi.

He was not a very good defender but the fact that he put up a 7.3 bWAR in 2000 shows just how good he was at the plate. He had an 8.1 oWAR which was third in the American League.

Delgado has his rightful spot on the Level of Excellence as well and his rightful spot as number one on this list.