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Now that it’s official Roberto Alomar will be the first to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame wearing a Toronto Blue Jays cap, many will argue that the second baseman from the glory years is the greatest Jay ever. But despite his credentials, that’s still debatable. So, in the interests of a good debate, we’re suggesting 10 candidates

Roberto Alomar (1991-95)
George Bell (1981-90)
Joe Carter (1991-98)
Carlos Delgado (1993-2004)
Tony Fernandez (1983-90, ’93, ’98-99, 2001)
Roy Halladay (1998-2009)
Tom Henke (1985-92)
Lloyd Moseby (1980-89)
Dave Stieb (1979-92, ’98)
Vernon Wells (1999-present)

For full write ups on each Jay, check the link:
http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/ ... egins?bn=1

Halladay

My immediate thought was Steib, but I think you are right about Doc.

Robbie may be a better overall player than Doc, but I don't think he was here for long enough. If Robbie was the best player ever to play for the Jays (Rickey) or had the best prime with the Jays (Clemens) then he might overcome that, but his claim is (to me) an insufficient combo of length, peak, and overall skill to count as The Best Jay Ever.

the top three according to career WAR with the Blue Jays

Halladay
Stieb
Delgado

sounds about right to me

Greatest memories are of Robbie, but that doesnt make him the greatest Jay. Roy for me.

They are missing Mookie Wilson.

Anyway, as much as I love Halladay, I think Alomar, Carter, and Henke are my three favourites for the best Jay ever, with Alomar more than Carter or Henke. Carter's home run on Mitch Williams is forever etched in my mind as the greatest moment in Blue Jay history, while the "Terminator" was such a dominant force on the mound.

But Alomar to me was such a complete player. Great defence, great offence, and great McCain spokesperson. His "catch de taste" catch-phrase alone makes him the best Jay ever. Bar none.

Candy Maldonado

I'm a sucker for Fernandez.

My personal favorites? Alomar, Carter, White, Fernandez, Halladay, Delgado.

Best Jays ever? Halladay for pitchers and Delgado for hitters.

Michael Bradley wrote:My personal favorites? Alomar, Carter, White, Fernandez, Halladay, Delgado.

Best Jays ever? Halladay for pitchers and Delgado for hitters.

Glad you split the two categories.

I mean as much as everyone will always remember Carters homerun...there is no way he was the greatest Jay. He may give you the greatest memory of the Blue Jays but he isn't the greatest and I think some people may be confused by that.

Either way, everyone will always have different opinions.

I love what Tony, Doc, Joe, Carlos, Devo, and what a bunch of others have done for this organization, but it has gotta be Robbie...

Where would we be without

No love for Fred McGriff? He had a 153 OPS+ as a Blue Jay, higher even than Delgado. Olerud had the greatest single season WAR and OPS+ of any hitter. And Shawn Green was an equal favorite of mine with Delgado after Alomar and Carter left.

But the answer is Harry Leroy Halladay.

if the label was defined as 'the best performing player while wearing a blue jay uniform', it would almost no doubt be Halladay. However, the category is simply the 'best blue jay', and I think that the ability to represent and contribute the franchise as whole should be a decisive factor. In that case, I just don't think Halladay's tenure was memorable enough compared to some of the others', probably due to the lack of wins. I fear that a lot of people might not even remember him as a blue jay once his career is over. You can probably say the same about Delgado. I know it's not all their fault, but in the end when I think about the history of the blue jays, neither sticks out enough for me despite their fantastic numbers.

For me, it's a toss up between Fernandez, Stieb, and Carter. Carter would be my obvious choice if his performance at the plate was Delgado-esque.

Gotta say Doc and Delgado.

If we are just looking at single season performances, then Clemens should be in the running for best Blue Jay ever, since as great as Doc was here I doubt he ever had a season as good as Rocket's 1997 season. But of course Clemens only spent two seasons in Toronto.

DonYon wrote:if the label was defined as 'the best performing player while wearing a blue jay uniform', it would almost no doubt be Halladay. However, the category is simply the 'best blue jay', and I think that the ability to represent and contribute the franchise as whole should be a decisive factor. In that case, I just don't think Halladay's tenure was memorable enough compared to some of the others', probably due to the lack of wins. I fear that a lot of people might not even remember him as a blue jay once his career is over. You can probably say the same about Delgado. I know it's not all their fault, but in the end when I think about the history of the blue jays, neither sticks out enough for me despite their fantastic numbers.

For me, it's a toss up between Fernandez, Stieb, and Carter. Carter would be my obvious choice if his performance at the plate was Delgado-esque.

Remember we're looking at this debate from an insider's perspective, to an outsider who isnt familiar with the Jays complete history then they'd be looking at "memorable" performances that stand out which obviously Carter had but I dont believe he could put up as the best Blue Jay ever.

What Doc did while he was here, from 2002 on was incredible considering some of the horrific teams we fielded in that time. And no matter what he did throughout each season he was ALWAYS ranked as a top tier pitcher. Even amongst player polling, when asked who they'd not want to face, Halladay was always a top 1-2 choice. Yes Doc didnt deliver a memorable World Series performance but that was through no fault of his own.

Eric Hinske

Tony... he doesn't get that pitch in the face and spend 5 years recovering emotionally... he becomes the sure HOFer that Alomar was. That man's talent for the game of baseball was enormous. Batting .400 into August was also a great achievement on his part that also gets overlooked.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hof/hofstss.shtml

If these guys can be in the HOF, so can Tony, quite easily actually. And yet he only got 0.7% votes in his first year of eligibility and then he was gone.

I wonder what would have happened if Tony kept playing full-time after 1999. In 1998 he hit .321/.387/.459, and then bettered that the following year hitting .328/.427/.449. He was getting better with age it seemed and hit well enough to play 3B or DH (especially if he kept the OBP as high as it was). For some reason he went to Japan in 2000, and then came back as a bench player for the Brewers and Jays in 2001 (hit .293/.338/.374 in only 134 plate appearances that year). He finished with 2276 hits for his career. If he played full-time in 2000 and 2001, and racked up 130 hits (for example) each season, we'd be looking at a player with over 2500 hits primarily at short, 2B, and 3B. Definitely in the debate at that point.

The Jays should have brought Fernandez back in 2000 (played him at 3B while trading Gonzalez....I said as much at the time since they had Batista at short). Don't know the circumstances around him leaving, but his performance was excellent. Oh well.