Former Blue Jays who find themselves with an AL East rival this season

After the trades and transactions these past two weeks, the Toronto Blue Jays and their fanbase are going to be seeing some friendly faces back in the AL East this season.

Some should be featured prominently on the active roster while some enter Spring Training as non-roster invites, looking to secure a spot for the upcoming campaign. That being said, let’s take a look at the former Blue Jays that are currently with an AL East rival and how they got there.

This article will also feature Blue Jays prospects, so some players may not have featured on the active roster but were either drafted by the organization or were with a minor league affiliate at one point in their career.

Baltimore Orioles

Bryan Baker

Acquired from the Colorado Rockies back in mid-2018, relief pitcher Bryan Baker has spent the past three seasons in the Jays organization (did not pitch in 2019 with the cancelled MiLB campaign). He spent the majority of last season with the Buffalo Bisons, crafting a 1.31 ERA through 39 appearances while earning club-high 11 saves. The right-hander posted a 0.847 WHIP and a 10.5 K/9, becoming one of the top arms in AAA. He only made one appearance for the Blue Jays, pitching a clean inning with one hit and one strikeout.

The Baltimore Orioles claimed Baker off of waivers early into the offseason and is currently on the club’s 40-man roster. A strong spring could see the Florida product break camp with the Orioles this year, as the team is projected to be at the bottom of a strong AL East division.

Conner Greene

A seventh-round pick of the Blue Jays back in 2013, pitcher Conner Greene spent five seasons in the Jays minor league organization. The highest level he pitched at with the Jays was with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in AA back in 2017. Greene was traded alongside relief pitcher Dominic Leone to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for outfielder Randal Grichuk during the 2017/2018 offseason.

Greene spent the next few seasons in the minor leagues with the Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Baltimore Orioles, making his MLB debut last season. Through 24 games split between LA and Baltimore, Greene pitched to a 7.11 ERA through 25.1 innings of relief. Greene recently signed a MiLB to rejoin Baltimore for the 2022 season, vying for a spot on the active roster.

Beau Taylor

Catcher Beau Taylor was picked off of waivers by the Blue Jays back in August of 2019. He spent the next month in AAA but was briefly called up to the active roster, where he had two plate appearances with zero hits. He would be designated for assignment days later.

Taylor is with the Orioles on a MiLB contract and was invited to Spring Training for the 2022 campaign.

New York Yankees

Josh Donaldson

Regarded as one of the top five trades in Blue Jays history, third baseman Josh Donaldson was acquired from the Oakland Athletics in the 2014/2015 offseason and became a staple on the active roster over the next four seasons. As a member of the Jays, Donaldson slashed .281/.383/.548 with 116 home runs and a .931 OPS through 462 games. Donaldson would earn MVP honours in his first year North of the border and also earned two Silver Slugger Awards and two All-Star appearances while manning the hot corner.

With the club undergoing a rebuild following the 2016 playoff run, Donaldson would be traded in at the 2018 trade deadline to the Cleveland Indians, where he would finish out the campaign. After a quick one-year stop in Atlanta, the Florida product signed a four-year $92 million dollar contract with the Minnesota Twins. After two campaigns with Minnesota that saw the former Jay earn a .829 OPS, Donaldson was traded to the New York Yankees earlier this week alongside Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt in exchange for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela (also a former Jay).

Tim Locastro

Drafted by the Blue Jays in 2013, outfielder Tim Locastro spent parts of three seasons in the minor leagues, advancing as far as A ball before being traded alongside Chase De Jong to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for international signing slots. Those slots would come in handy, as they would use that additional bonus money to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. the following international free agent period.

Locastro flirted with the Dodgers’ active roster through 2017 and 2018 but found more playing time once he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019. He has split his time between AAA and the MLB over the last few seasons and was traded to the Yankees halfway through last season. The Boston Red Sox would pick him off of waivers after the 2021 campaign but he was non-tendered roughly a month later. He signed a one-year deal with the Bronx Bombers this past offseason.

Jimmy Cordero

Dominican product Jimmy Cordero signed with the Blue Jays as an international free agent back in 2012, spending the next three seasons in the minor leagues before being traded in 2015 to the Philadelphia Phillies that saw Ben Revere come the opposite way.

Cordero would make his MLB debut in 2018 with the Washington Nationals but would rejoin the Jays in 2019 via waivers, appearing in one game and allowing one home run through 1.1 innings. He would be picked off of waivers by the Seattle Mariners days later.

After two years with the Chicago White Sox, posting a 4.16 ERA through 60 outings, the right-hander would miss the entire 2021 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March. He joins the Yankees for the 2022 campaign on a MiLB deal.

Boston Red Sox

Josh Winckowski

A 15th round draft pick of the Blue Jays back in 2016, right-hander Josh Winckowski was starting to find his groove in the Minor Leagues after a couple of rough seasons to begin his pro career. In 2019, Winckowski compiled a 2.69 ERA through 24 appearances split between A and A+ within the Jays’ organization.

The front office would go on to trade the starting pitcher last offseason as part of the package for southpaw Steven Matz to the New York Mets. A couple of weeks later, the Mets included him in a three-team trade that would see him be sent to the Boston Red Sox and was ultimately led by Andrew Benintendi heading to the Kansas City Royals.

As Spring Training begins, the Blue Jays will enter the season with some friendly faces and old friends suiting up with AL East rivals.

Between AA/AAA last year, the Ohio product put up solid numbers, posting a 3.94 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and a 1.232 WHIP through 112.0 outings. He did struggle in the Arizona Fall League through six relief appearances but a strong start to the 2022 campaign could see the Blue Jays face the #20 ranked prospect for the Red Sox later in the year.

Rob Refsnyder

A journeyman for most of his Major League career, Rob Refsnyder’s tenure with the Blue Jays was limited to just 32 games, mostly as a bench piece and pinch hitter. The club acquired him in a trade from the New York Yankee back in July of 2017 and he would be placed on waivers in the following offseason. With the Jays, the South Korean-born Refsnyder collected 10 hits and amassed a .496 OPS.

Refsnyder has bounced around since leaving Toronto and currently finds himself with the Boston Red Sox camp this spring on a Minor League contract with a Spring Training invite.

James Paxton

While James Paxton has never played a game in the Blue Jays minor league system, he was selected by the Jays 37th overall back in 2009 but the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement. No stranger to the AL East after spending two seasons in New York, the Ladner, British Columbia product returns to the division after heading back to Seattle for the 2021 campaign (after spending seven seasons with the Mariners, who drafted him back in 2010). He recently signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox with a club option for a second year.

Paxton will start the season on the 60-day IL after undergoing Tommy John surgery early into the 2021 campaign and could be a factor later on in the season.

Travis Shaw

Nicknamed the “Mayor of Ding Dong City”, infielder Travis Shaw joined the Blue Jays for the 2020 campaign in an effort to rebuild his status after a down year with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2019.

In his lone season with the Jays, Shaw split time between first and third base and hit to a .239/.306/.411 with 6 home runs and a .717 OPS. He joins the Red Sox on a MiLB deal.

Taylor Cole

Drafted by the Blue Jays in 2011, BYU product Taylor Cole spent parts of seven seasons in the organization, eventually making his MLB debut in 2017. That debut would be rough for Cole, as he allowed six hits and four earned runs through 1.1 innings. He would elect free agency and sign with the Los Angeles Angels the following offseason.

Cole enters the Red Sox camp on a MiLB deal with a Spring Training invite.