8. Roberto Alomar – 1993
Roberto Alomar was seen as a piece that could help elevate the Blue Jays from a team that was constantly falling just short of their ultimate goal of winning the World Series to finally winning the first one in franchise history. The Jays traded Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez to the Padres in exchange for Alomar and future Jays hero Joe Carter in a move that saw the Jays say goodbye to a franchise icon in Fernandez and a young star in McGriff.
The trade couldn’t have ended up much better for Toronto. We know what Carter did but Alomar was arguably the best player on both of the World Series teams. Alomar was an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner in each of his five seasons in Toronto, but his best offensive season came in 1993.
Following the Jays’ first-ever World Series championship, Alomar slashed .326/.408/.492 with 17 home runs and 93 RBI. In addition, Alomar stole 55 bases which rank second in a single season in Jays history, just five shy of Dave Collins.
Alomar’s 142 WRC+ ranked fifth in the American League and his 7.0 offensive WAR according to baseball reference is the seventh-highest in Blue Jays history.
Thanks to his contributions as a Blue Jay, Alomar was honored with a spot on the Level of Excellence but has since been removed due to his sexual misconduct allegations in recent years.