A look back at 4 Blue Jays prospects who got away

Kris Bryant 

Finally, the Jays really missed out on a potential game changer during their most critical stretch for the franchise in Kris Bryant. Following the trend of Houck and Nola above, Bryant was also originally drafted by the Jays, this time in the 18th round of the 2010 MLB Draft. Also unwilling to forego college to sign with Toronto, the Chicago Cubs ended up taking the phenom 2nd overall in the 2013 MLB Draft. That was how good he actually became with those three years.

By the time all was said and done, Bryant took home NL Rookie of the Year honours in 2015, NL MVP honours in 2016, as well as becoming a four-time All-Star in the process. With the ability to average 30 home runs and 80 RBI on a yearly basis, he would have been an offensive juggernaut in the Jays’ lineup for potentially the past decade. In total, Bryant has compiled a solid .274 career average with an .855 OPS, along with 665 runs scored, 231 doubles, 184 home runs and 547 RBI in 1043 games played.

Despite his decline in recent years, Bryant was arguably at one time one of the top players in the league. That time just so happened to be when the Jays were legitimate postseason contenders back in 2015 and 2016. Had he been with the Jays on their deep playoff runs during those couple of years, who knows how far they could have gotten. Especially when he ended up helping the Cubs to their first World Series win in over 108 years in 2016. Looking back, maybe there wouldn’t even have been a rebuild for Toronto, with the ability of Bryant to continue carrying the team after Josh Donaldson and José Bautista. Nevertheless, we are only left with frustrating thoughts of what could have been if the Jays had Bryant during this whole time.