Blue Jays: 10 stars the club missed out on that would've changed franchise history

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Earlier this year, Cincinnati Reds’ general manager Nick Krall had mentioned that if his team was out of playoff contention by the time the 2023 trade deadline approached, he would consider trading Joey Votto to his hometown team the Toronto Blue Jays if he requested it. Whether that will come to fruition down the road is anyone’s guess, but this hasn’t been the first time the name of a notable star player was being linked to the Jays. As a matter of fact, there were many instances in the past in which the Jays came close to acquiring or signing a star-caliber, game-changing player, but ultimately failed to do so.

Here, we will take a look at 10 players from the past that almost became a Blue Jay but, to the disappointment of Jays’ fans, never worked out in the end. To be considered on this list, the player must be someone the Jays tried to either sign or acquire through a trade, and had never played in the Jays’ organization at any level.

Randy Johnson

Can anyone believe that the Jays’ at one time could have acquired “the Big Unit”, Hall of Famer Randy Johnson? It sure came very close back in 1993, when the Jays were deep in the pennant race, and looking to add a late season upgrade to bolster their chances for the playoffs. They were in talks with the Oakland Athletics on Rickey Henderson, the MLB all-time leader in stolen bases, and at the same time, the Seattle Mariners on Randy Johnson. In return, both teams focused on the centerpiece in Steve Karsay, a top Jays' prospect at the time.

Because the Mariners’ GM Woody Woodward was away from the phone golfing at a particular crucial moment in time, the Jays ended up securing the services of Rickey Henderson for the World Series run, but mainly as a rental player. Henderson didn’t end up helping that much in the regular season or the postseason, as he hit .227 in the World Series, with five walks and only one stolen base. But he did score on what eventually became the series winning home run for the ages by Joe Carter, so there was that memory to keep. However, had the Jays acquired Johnson instead, he could have been a key cornerstone for the franchise, and could have led to more successful years than the quick downfall the Jays had after their 1993 championship winning season.

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Jon Lester

During the 2014 offseason, it was reported that the Jays had offered Jon Lester a five-year, $125 million contract. Lester was just coming off an All-Star season in which he also finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting as well. The Jays’ starting rotation at the time was led by Marcus Stroman, R.A. Dickey, and Mark Buehrle, so adding an ace-calibre starter in Lester would have solidified their rotation to make them strong contenders from the start of the 2015 season and the years beyond. But Lester at the time was looking for more term and eventually settled with a six-year deal with the Chicago Cubs.

Had the Blue Jays landed Lester to start the 2015 season, they may not have ended up needing to empty the prospect cupboard to acquire David Price and others to make the successful playoff push that they eventually had. In doing so, the Jays remained competitive for that year and the following year in 2016, but ultimately the moves led to their dismantling starting in 2017. But if you look at it in the bigger picture, we might not have Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and others now if that did not happen, so at least it helped establish our current team makeup, even though the Jays had to endure a few rebuilding years in doing so.

Tim Lincecum

This one hurt a bit, as “The Freak” Tim Lincecum almost became a Blue Jay back in 2007. At the time, the Jays thought about acquiring Lincecum from the San Francisco Giants for Álex Ríos, who appeared to be heading towards stardom at the time, as he ended up hitting .297 with 24 home runs and 85 RBI for the 2007 season. Lincecum would have joined Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett to form a scary three-headed monster for their starting rotation for years to come. The Giants had a strong interest in Ríos as well, but were hesitant to give up Lincecum (and rightfully so).

However, the trade speculation eventually fell through, and Lincecum would go on to become a four-time All-Star, capture two NL Cy Young awards, and become a part of three World Series championship runs with the Giants. On the plus side, Lincecum did begin to struggle in the latter part of his career, but in his prime, he was literally unstoppable. Ríos eventually was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 2009, and got his World Series ring in 2015 with the Kansas City Royals. So both players did have the impact that was expected of them to help lead their teams to the Holy Grail, but just unfortunately it wasn’t with the Jays in doing so.

Justin Verlander

Just as recent as 2021, after the Jays failed to make the postseason by one game, they looked to upgrade their starting rotation as both Steven Matz and Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray were heading towards free agency and were most likely not being retained. As a result, the Jays made a big pitch for two-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander. He was just coming off Tommy John surgery at the time that put him out for all of the 2021 season, and at the same time, would be turning 39 before the 2022 MLB season began. Indeed, it would have been a big gamble for the Jays to take upon Verlander, but with his prior star-power pitching prowess and consistency over the years, they were willing to take the chance to help bolster their rotation.

In the end, Verlander decided to sign a one-year deal worth $25M, with an option for a second season, with the Astros. However, in a later interview with ESPN, Verlander mentioned that the Jays were very proactive about it and that it really came down to the Jays and the Astros, whom he had previously made the postseason with three times, including a World Series win in 2017. The Jays did recoup an excellent, reliable starter that same offseason in Kevin Gausman, whom now serves as the de-facto co-ace with Alek Manoah. So it may not feel the same as nabbing the big fish in Verlander, but still a strong difference maker in Gausman has helped the Jays enough to offset some of what Verlander could have brought to the club. But one thing is for sure, there is no question that with the pedigree of Verlander, he would have been the Game 1 starter in the 2022 AL Wild Card series against the Mariners, and who knows how that series would have turned out.

David Wright

Back in 1997, the Blue Jays had acquired an up-and-coming ballplayer in José Cruz Jr. from the Mariners, in exchange for Paul Spoljaric and Mike Timlin. From there, Cruz rapidly improved his play over the next few years, including producing a 34 HR, 88 RBI campaign in 2001 to go along with 32 stolen bases. This had caught the eye of the New York Mets’ management in 2002, and they were interested in acquiring Cruz by offering up a promising young prospect in David Wright. However, Cruz was highly regarded by Jays’ GM J.P. Ricciardi at the time and felt that the trade offer was quite lopsided, hence was unwilling to make the move.

Cruz would eventually leave the Jays following the 2002 season by signing with the San Francisco Giants through free agency, whereas Wright would go on to become a major contributor to the Mets’ franchise both offensively and defensively for the next decade. The Jays had the likes of Eric Hinske, Corey Koskie and Shea Hillenbrand man third base during the same era, but none of them were anything close to what Wright could have brought to the ballclub, who definitely would have been a huge difference maker during the early parts of the late Roy Halladay’s prime years.

Xander Bogaerts

This may come more of a surprise to Blue Jays’ fans, but it was revealed by agent Scott Boras that the Jays were one of the teams that went hard after Xander Bogaerts during the 2022 offseason. With the Jays’ priorities this past offseason focused primarily on upgrading the outfield, defense, and acquiring lefty bats, Bogaerts would not fall under any of those needs at all. As a matter of fact, the two positions he could mainly play are third base, where the Jays had Matt Chapman already, and shortstop, which Bo Bichette currently occupied as well.

So if they were indeed in on Bogaerts, either he would serve as the full-time DH for the team, which does not seem like the best possible setup, or he would need to bump Bichette to second base, which would probably not sit too well with Bichette. Nevertheless, with Bogaerts' track record of being a perennial All-Star, as well as a Silver Slugger, while maintaining close to a .300 AVG with 17 HR and 75 RBI each year, his consistent production would be a warm welcome to the Jays’ ballclub that was already quite strong in firepower, and may help answer the current question marks they still have at DH and second base.

Zack Greinke

Back during the offseason of 2010, the Blue Jays had the opportunity to trade for Zack Greinke, as they were believed to be the frontrunner at the time for his services. Roy Halladay had been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies just the year before that and the Jays’ No. 1 at the time, Shaun Marcum, was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers for Brett Lawrie. Greinke was just coming off a subpar season in which he pitched to an ERA over 4.00. However, he was just one year removed from his Cy Young winning year and the Jays believed he could help anchor their young rotation to bring them back into their contending ways.

However, Greinke was dealt to the Brewers instead for an underwhelming package. Reports later revealed that Greinke actually executed his no-trade clause to reject any possible trade to the Jays, and actually preferred to go to the National League because he would be able to perform statistically better in preparation for free agency when it hits a couple years later. If he was a big game pitcher, that should not even be a thing of consideration, but perhaps to Greinke, it was more important to secure a big, long term paycheck than to take on the challenge to show that he was one of the best pitchers in the game for that era. Unfortunately for the Jays, they ended up having to suffer a few more years of mediocrity before finally becoming strong contenders again.

Prince Fielder

Speaking of those struggling years: back during the 2011 offseason, the Jays had another chance to upgrade their team, this time offensively, in trying to sign Prince Fielder, the son of former Blue Jay Cecil Fielder. Prince would have teamed up well with José Bautista to provide big time power in the heart of the Jays’ lineup for years to come, and would help make up for some of the deficiencies they had in pitching at the time. Fielder had a strong proven track record with three All-Star appearances, two Silver Slugger awards, as well as being a finalist for NL MVP for two of the years.

What made the contract talks fall through was the fact that the Jays were unwilling to offer a multi-year contract beyond five years, which appeared to be an ongoing problem with Jays' management as the similar issue arose with the aforementioned Lester situation. In the end, Fielder went with the Detroit Tigers who gave him a whopping nine-year, $214M contract. The Jays did end up with a great consolation prize, as it coincided with Edwin Encarnación filling the void by having a breakout year in 2012, making the miss on Fielder a bit more tolerable.

Yu Darvish

Following along that same timeline of Fielder and Greinke, the Jays once again had an opportunity to land a star pitcher in Yu Darvish to help significantly bolster their starting rotation during the 2011 offseason. The Jays at first were reportedly the frontrunners to win the bid to sign Darvish. However, unlike previously where term often appeared to be the issue, this time money turned out to be their demise.

The Jays were unwilling to go over $51M in posting fees for Darvish, even though it was believed they were going to pay whatever cost it took to sign him. In the end, Darvish went to the Texas Rangers instead and quickly led the Rangers with three consecutive All-Star appearances, along with being a Cy Young finalist in just his second year in Major League Baseball. Darvish would not only have made a difference for the Jays to help balance their offensive attack with formidable pitching, but also become a strong, marketable face for the franchise in the ever-so multicultural city of Toronto.

Kris Bryant

This presented one of the most intriguing cases of notable players that fit into the “almost Blue Jay” category. Believe or not, Kris Bryant at one time was temporary associated with the Jays when they selected him in the 18th round of the 2010 MLB Draft. During that same draft, they also ended up drafting the infamous Lansing Trio of Noah Syndergaard, Aaron Sanchez, and Justin Nicolino, as well as promising young star Dalton Pompey and first-round blunder Deck McGuire. Because of the strong draft the Jays had, the bulk of their signing money went to most, if not, all of those players, leaving no money left to sign Bryant. At the same time, Bryant, who was coming out of high school when he was drafted, was uncertain if he was planning to go to college instead to further his development.

Whatever the circumstances was, he went back into the draft in 2013 as a well-established and polished player after his time with the University of San Diego, and the Chicago Cubs promptly selected him second overall. Making his MLB debut with the Cubs in 2015, he would go on to win the NL Rookie of the Year, and the NL MVP in subsequent years, helping the Cubs become strong playoff contenders again, including capturing a World Series title that ended a 108-year franchise drought in 2016. The Jays did have Josh Donaldson already at the time manning third base, but who knows with Bryant added in the mix who could play outfield as well, together with Bautista and Encarnación, they would have been an offensive juggernaut, and may have enhanced the Jays’ chances of winning their first World Series in over two decades as well.