MLB stars who signed with the Blue Jays but never appeared in the big leagues

On Wednesday, Cincinnati Reds legend and future Hall of Famer Joey Votto formally announced his retirement from professional baseball. He signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays earlier this year, but a freak injury in spring training led to a lengthy absence that kept him from ever appearing in a big league game for the Jays.

Votto appearing in front of his hometown fans would've been a nice story, but the fact is that he had struggled mightily all throughout his recovery process, and he knew that. Props to him for knowing when his body had had enough.

He hangs up his cleats as one of the best first basemen of his generation and he will certainly have a spot waiting for him in Cooperstown at some point down the line.

This sparked a fun thread on X (shoutout to @matttomic) where one user took the opportunity to reflect on some other times this has happened in Blue Jays history. Turns out, MLB stars coming to Toronto but failing to make a single big league appearance has happened a few times before over the years.

Joey Votto is the latest star to retire without ever appearing for the Blue Jays

Deion Sanders

Sanders, an NFL legend who had a nine-year career in Major League Baseball as well, was never quite an All-Star in baseball, but he certainly had a few good years. Heck, he posted an OPS+ north of 100 (league-average) in both 1992 and 1993, albeit in under 100 games each time.

Sanders' final action in professional baseball came in 2001 as a minor leaguer in the Blue Jays' system. He appeared in 25 games for the Syracuse SkyChiefs, notching nine extra-base hits with a .252 average and .669 OPS in the process. If he was on a team's 40-man roster, he'd have been able to skip out on Washington Redskins training camp. However, the Jays didn't add him to the roster and they were eventually forced to release him so he could rejoin his NFL organization.

Johan Santana

Johan Santana's story is tough because injuries shortened what was at one time viewed as an obvious Hall of Fame-worthy career. He won the AL Cy Young Award in both 2004 and 2006 while finishing in the top five in 2005, 2007 and 2008. His run from 2003-2009 is one of the best stretches of play we've seen from a pitcher.

He missed the 2011 season with an injury, joined the Mets in 2012, threw the franchise's first no-hitter, and then was never seen again in the big leagues. However, his final comeback attempt came in 2015 when he signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays.

Santana started the season on the injured list while he rehabbed a shoulder injury, but it was a toe infection (of all things) that ended his season and eventually his career. He never appeared in a single game for the Blue Jays organization, but he was under contract so it counts!

Jamie Moyer

Moyer had one of the most unique careers in recent memory. The soft-tossing left-hander was never an ace-caliber pitcher (he made just one All-Star Game in 2003 at the age of 40), but he had a big league career that spanned a whopping 25 years and didn't end until he was nearly 50-years old.

The 2012 season was his final as a pro. He made 10 big league starts for the Rockies but struggled mightily. Then he had a shocking 1.69 ERA across three minor league starts for the Orioles (he also struck out 16 and walked just one batter in 16 innings), but he exercised an opt-out after Baltimore refused to promote him to the majors.

This, of course, led to Moyer landing on the Blue Jays. His tenure with the Las Vegas 51s consisted of two starts and 11 innings, but he was lit up for 10 runs on 17 hits in that time. The Blue Jays released him shortly after his second start and he never made another professional appearance again.

Vladimir Guerrero Sr.

This one might ring a bell to followers of the Blue Jays, because his son is current their best hitter.

Vlad Sr. wrapped up his Hall of Fame career as a member of the Blue Jays organization, but he never made it past Triple-A. Guerrero might've been 37-years old, but he had hit .359 with a 1.043 OPS across 12 games in the Blue Jays system. Believing this to be worthy of a promotion, Guerrero insisted that he deserved one more look at the game's highest level.

After the Blue Jays didn't grant him his wish and select his contract, Guerrero walked into his manager's office and quit right there. He was released and made eight appearances for the Tigres del Licey of the Dominican Winter League before hanging it up for good.