The Top 50 Blue Jays of All Time: 25 to 21

[Mac]

Jays Centre is counting down the top 50 Blue Jays in franchise history. Check out prior entries in the series here:

• Introduction
• 50 to 46
• 45 to 41
• 40 to 36
• 35 to 31
• 30 to 26

Baseball is a sport where you rarely ride off into the sunset, and even if the conditions are right for a cinematic exit, you might only be hitting .203. As we continue our countdown of the best Blue Jays of all time, we look back at some legends who didn’t end things in Toronto the way we wished. For the next player on our list, we can still dream of that storybook finish.

No. 25: Kevin Gausman

• 11.2 bWAR (T-13th among Toronto pitchers)
• 48-41 over 125 starts
• 3.81 ERA
• 9.72 K/9 (2nd behind Tom Henke)

Sometimes, you have to wait for the best things in life. Toronto tried to sign Kevin Gausman as a free agent before the 2020 and 2021 seasons, but both times, the right-hander returned to the Giants. After the Jays barely missed the playoffs in ‘21, general manager Ross Atkins finally got his guy – and let another find walk in the process. A few weeks before, Robbie Ray had become the fourth and most unlikely Blue Jays pitcher to win the Cy Young Award, but with the five-year, $110-million contract given to Gausman, it was clear Ray was out of the picture.

The decision was not only the correct one, but with a year left on his contract, Gausman is arguably the best free agent signing in team history. Over four seasons, Gausman has given Toronto ace-level consistency not seen since Roy Halladay (and yes, David Price). His presence was never more apparent than during last year’s playoff run. Gausman pitches like an ace and acts like one. He is one of the coolest customers to ever pitch in a Blue Jays uniform and will take the ball on Opening Day this season, a season in which Gausman will continue to build, and maybe finalize, his Toronto legacy. 

No. 24: Shawn Green

• 13.3 bWAR (24th among Toronto position players)
• Gold Glove and Silver Slugger as an All-Star in 1999, hitting .309 with 42 HR and 123 RBI

How quickly it came crashing down. Shawn Green was a first-round pick by Toronto in ‘91, and after destroying the minors, he earned six at-bats and a World Series ring in the ‘93 season. Green became an everyday player in ‘95 and improved each year before breaking out in ‘98 with 35 home runs. He called that year’s Blue Jays the best team he’d ever played on, but Toronto was unable to make the playoffs in a brutal AL East. 

Green’s following year remains one of the better individual seasons in franchise history. Behind the scenes, things had crumbled. On the final weekend of the regular season, manager Jim Fregosi and GM Gord Ash cleared out the coaching staff, firing five, including pitching coach Mel Queen and hitting coach Gary Matthews. Green was displeased, saying Queen knew more about baseball than “anyone I’ve ever met, hands down,” and he was even more befuddled when the team replaced Matthews with Cito Gaston, someone Green felt held him down in his previous job as Toronto's manager.

Green would be a free agent at the end of 2000 and said the moves hadn’t impacted any extension talks with Ash. It wasn’t entirely inaccurate; negotiations just weren’t happening. A few weeks after he told the Blue Jays he wasn’t going to re-sign, Green was traded to the Dodgers for Raul Mondesi and Pedro Borbon. Green had given the fanbase a reason to be optimistic in Toronto’s post-World Series seasons; his departure marked the beginning of the end of hope for some time.

No. 23: Devon Whyte

• 22.3 bWAR (T-10th among Toronto position players)
• 3.9 defensive bWAR in 1992 (highest single-season mark in team history)

The first trip to Canada sucked. Devon Whyte was not supposed to be in Edmonton. No one ever is. He was an All-Star for the Angels in ‘89, but the all-world defender could not hit a lick at the start of the 1990 season and was sent up north to Triple A. Whyte was back in the majors at the end of the season, but after six years in California, he was washed out of the Angels' plans. Three days before making an even bigger trade with San Diego, GM Pat Gillick sent Junior Felix and some pocket change in a deal for Whyte, who he pictured gracefully locking down center field in the midst of a powerful lineup still being built.

Gillick’s vision made Whyte's second trip to Canada a longer-lasting one. No one has looked smoother patrolling the dome's outfield turf, and Whyte rightfully won Gold Gloves in all five of his seasons with Toronto. His bat? It would do just fine. Whyte slashed a career best .282/.342/.455 in his debut season, and his All-Star campaign in ‘93 with 42 doubles and 34 steals helped Toronto repeat as World Champions. Unlike Green, Whyte played the best baseball of his career as a Blue Jay, and as a result, few are held in higher regard by fans of the World Series-era teams.

No. 22: Duane Ward

• Second place in a few franchise pitching categories, including appearances (452), saves (121), and ERA (3.18)
• Best HR/9 rate (0.415) in team history.

Operating as the burly consigliere to closer Tom Henke, Duane Ward logged over 100 innings out of Toronto’s bullpen in five straight seasons beginning in ‘88. When Henke left after the ‘92 title year, Ward recorded 45 saves in the closer’s role as the Jays repeated as champs. As good as he was during the regular season, Ward saved some of his best performances for when they mattered most in the World Series. He struck out half of the dozen Braves he faced in ‘92 and was vital against Philadelphia in ‘93, which culminated in a scoreless ninth inning of work preceding Joe Carter’s statue-worthy walkoff, earning the win in the series-clinching Game 6. 

It could be said that no one gave up more for Toronto’s successes than Ward. When he went to throw in the winter for the first time as a back-to-back champion, Ward felt pain in his shoulder. The enormous workload that got the Blue Jays to the top had taken its toll. He would miss the ‘94 season with a torn rotator cuff and would only pitch in four more games the following year. The accomplishments that earned him this spot among the franchise’s greats should never be forgotten.

No. 21: Bo Bichette

• 21.0 bWAR (13th among Toronto position players)
• Sixth-highest batting average in team history (.294)

It still doesn’t feel like the right time to write a postmortem about Bo Bichette. Long before Bo and Vladdy arrived in the majors in 2019, fans dreamed of the two second-generation players carrying the Blue Jays into new successes. Just as we seemingly arrived in that moment, Bo is gone.

His impending departure was camouflaged in the excitement of last season’s playoff run, especially while Bichette remained out with an injury. When he returned, his offensive aura provided the World Series another star player, and he did everything one could ask and hope. Playing through knee pain, Bichette handled second base duties while going 8-for-23 with a home run in the final game we wish could be remembered more fondly. Bo never looked more like the player the Blue Jays needed than in those seven contests.

A reunion then seemed plausible, but any time spent wondering about Bo coming back now seems wasted. The writing was on the wall long ago; this was an it couple from high school, unable to make it through their twenties together. You allowed yourself the thought because, well, who didn’t like Bo Bichette? Just make it work. Unfinished business and feelings aside, Bo coming back was never a likely scenario. We will see if this becomes another Robbie Ray moment, because how the next few years play out will impact how we remember Bichette’s time with Toronto and this era of Blue Jays baseball.

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[Spanky__99]

Devon Whyte looks strange, lol