Mariners' late-round MLB Draft pick will make Blue Jays fans feel ancient

Toronto Blue Jays fans have grown used to seeing this franchise acquire players whose fathers used to be MLB big leaguers. From Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to Bo Bichette to Daulton Varsho, there’s been an influx of current Blue Jays who have familial ties to guys who played in the 1990’s and into the 2000’s. However, we’re now seeing players get drafted whose fathers were in the majors in the 2010’s. For some people, that decade feels like it was just yesterday, before you stop and realize it’s been 15 years since Jose Bautista re-wrote the Blue Jays record for home runs in a season. 

The other thing that’s happened in the last 15 years? Players from that era have had kids who are now getting drafted. When Isaac Lyon was selected in the 10th round (No. 302 overall) he was yet another player whose dad played in the big leagues, with ties to the Blue Jays. His father, Brandon Lyon, played in the Majors for 12 seasons, including a couple of stints with Toronto. 

A 14th round draft pick in 1999, Lyon rose through the Jays system and made his big league debut on August 4, 2001. He pitched 7.1 innings, striking out five, walking one, giving up one earned run in a 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles. 

Lyon would start 11 games during the end of the 2001 season pitching to a 4.29 ERA in 63 innings. He followed that up by getting into 15 games in 2002, where he posted a 6.53 ERA in 10 starts, and 62 innings pitched, before he was put on waivers by the Jays.

He bounced around with several teams over the next ten years until he was brought back to the Blue Jays at the 2012 trade deadline in a deal with the Astros. He returned to Toronto with David Carpenter and J.A. Happ and in return the Blue Jays sent a package of six players to Houston with the biggest name being Joe Musgrove.

Lyonn threw 25 innings down the stretch for Toronto, with a 2.88 ERA and 28 strikeouts. He was granted free agency at the end of the year, and lasted one more year in the big leagues, pitching in 37 games with the Mets, finishing with a 4.98 ERA. His final big league game came just a little over 12 years to the day when his son was drafted to the Mariners, with Lyon’s last appearance - a 1.1 inning outing against the Diamondbacks on July 4, 2013. 

Now his son, Isaac, will look to follow in his fathers footsteps as a pitcher in the big leagues. The younger Lyon is a right handed thrower who racked up 88 strikeouts in 86 innings with a 4.19 ERA with Grand Canyon. If seeing Vladdy already take part in his fifth All-Star game doesn’t make you feel old, following the career of a guy who was traded in a recent Blue Jays trade deadline might do the trick.