The defending American League champions, the Blue Jays have risen to relevance in the past decade – and plenty of overlooked names had something to do with it.
It’s no secret that fans in Toronto are left with something to desire after the 2025 World Series.
Just months after being mere inches away from their first championship since 1993, the Blue Jays find themselves on the outside looking in on the American League Wild Card race, entering play on Aug. 25 with a 64-68 record, two games out of the final AL Wild Card spot.
Although this year has been rather underwhelming in Toronto, the recent success is still a far cry from the precedent set by the franchise for much of my lifetime prior to the last 10 years.
If there was ever a debate on which sports team’s fight song was the most accurate, I think the frontrunner would have to be “OK Blue Jays,” as the Blue Jays have merely been okay for much of their team history excluding their back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.
After enduring a 22-year postseason drought, the Blue Jays returned to the playoffs in 2015, making consecutive runs to the ALCS in 2015 and 2016 before entering yet another rebuilding era. Yet in the 2020’s, the Blue Jays have been one of the better teams in baseball, and have escalated Toronto into a large market that can attract big-time free agents.
The Blue Jays have made the postseason in four of the past six seasons, and are still holding out hope for a run to capture the final Wild Card spot in the AL in 2026 for a last-ditch attempt at defending the pennant.
Beyond the contributions of stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and Bo Bichette have been a solid cast of role players, many of whom have become known for their roles on other teams.
Here’s a look at some players that suited up for the Blue Jays in the past decade that you may have forgotten about:
1. Jaime García, P (2018, 25 games, 13 starts)
Mostly known as a staple of the St. Louis Cardinals pitching corps throughout much of the 2010’s, García evolved into a journeyman during the final stages of his career, which included a stop north of the border to start the 2018 season.
García signed as a free agent with Toronto just before spring training in 2018, and would go on to serve a swingman role of sorts for a rather forgettable Jays team that finished with a 73-89 record.
Things ultimately did not go well for García in a Blue Jays uniform, with the veteran lefty making 13 starts over a total of 25 appearances to the tune of a 3-6 record and 5.93 ERA. In 74.1 innings of work, García surrendered 13 home runs and 38 walks alongside 69 strikeouts, with a 5.23 FIP implying that luck didn’t have much to do with it.
García was released by Toronto towards the end of August 2018 before catching on with the Chicago Cubs for the stretch run just a few days later, with his time on the North Side representing his final action in MLB.
García retired with a total of 10.7 WAR in his 10-year career alongside a 3.85 ERA and 70-62 record. The lefty recorded 369 walks and 925 strikeouts in 1,135 innings of work, while also making seven postseason starts across eight total appearances. At the age of 24, García made five postseason starts for the 2011 World Series champion Cardinals.
In addition to the Cardinals, Blue Jays and Cubs, García also suited up for the Atlanta Braves, Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees in his career.
2. Taijuan Walker, SP (2020, 6 games)
Initially emerging as a highly-touted prospect in the Seattle Mariners system, Walker went on to embark on a journeyman career that included relatively lengthy stops in several cities – though Toronto was not one of them.
Following three seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Walker returned to the Mariners for the start of the 2020 season, pitching to average results across five starts before being dealt to the Blue Jays in late August in a deal for a player to be named later.
Walker clearly found his groove upon his arrival with the Blue Jays, who were playing their home games at Sahlen Field in Buffalo due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Walker went on to make six starts as a member of the Blue Jays, dazzling with a 1.37 ERA in 26.1 innings, racking up 25 strikeouts to 11 walks.
While the superficial numbers were wildly impressive, a 4.14 FIP and 1.253 WHIP implied that Walker wasn’t quite as dominant as his ERA suggested. Although the Blue Jays did make the altered 2020 postseason, Walker did not appear in the team’s Wild Card series loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Walker has since spent time with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, making an All-Star team with the former in 2021. After being designated for assignment by the Phillies in April of this year, Walker spent time in the Los Angeles Angels organization before being released, making him a free agent.
3. Jarrod Dyson, OF (2021, 25 games)
Mostly remembered by fans in Kansas City as an off-the-bench speedster who contributed to some signature playoff moments, Dyson spent the twilight of his 12-year MLB career with the Blue Jays.
A World Series champion in 2015 with the Royals, Dyson spent parts of eight seasons with the team, which included his final season in the big leagues, 2021. After splitting the 2020 campaign with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox, Dyson signed as a free agent with the Royals ahead of the 2021 season.
As part of a forgettable 74-88 team that fell out of contention relatively early, Dyson was placed on waivers in late August and was picked up by a Blue Jays team looking to add some speed for their race towards a playoff spot – one that ultimately ended with Toronto missing out.
Dyson would go on to make his way into 25 games with the Blue Jays towards the end of the season however, though the veteran would go just 1-for-13 with four runs and two stolen bases. Dyson was granted free agency upon season’s end, which marked the end of his MLB career.
In addition to the aforementioned clubs, Dyson also suited up for the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks across a dozen years of MLB action. Dyson retired with 15.1 WAR in 992 career games, finishing with 612 hits, 38 triples, 21 home runs and 266 stolen bases alongside a 75 OPS+.
4. Jackie Bradley Jr., OF (2022, 40 regular season games, 1 playoff game)
Beloved in Boston as a defensive star in the outfield, Bradley Jr. spent most of his 11-year MLB career with the Red Sox, winning the 2018 ALCS MVP and World Series with the club while also making an All-Star game and winning a Gold Glove.
Still, there were a few other stops in Bradley’s career, one of which came with a division rival after a brief second stint with the Red Sox in 2022.
After spending the 2021 season with the Milwaukee Brewers, Bradley Jr. returned to the Red Sox for the 2022 campaign before underwhelming results through 91 games resulted in his release from the team in early August.
The rival Blue Jays swooped in and signed Bradley Jr. five days later, allowing him to finish the season north of the border with a contending team. Bradley Jr. went on to play 40 regular season games with the team, going 13-for-73 with four doubles and one home run, which actually served as a further step back offensively even from his production in Boston earlier that season.
Toronto ultimately captured an AL Wild Card spot, getting swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Seattle Mariners, who completed an incredible comeback in Game 2 of the series to finish the victory. Bradley Jr. appeared in Game 2 as a late-inning defensive replacement, going 0-for-1 with a strikeout.
His MLB career would be over not long after that, with Bradley Jr. playing 43 more games with the Kansas City Royals in 2023 to middling results before being released, which effectively ended his MLB career.
Bradley Jr. retired with 16.6 WAR across 1,181 regular season games, posting 839 hits, 204 doubles and 109 home runs with a career .684 OPS. He finished his postseason career with 12 hits in 66 at-bats, including two doubles and four home runs – three of which came in the 2018 ALCS.
5. Paul DeJong, IF (2023, 13 games)
A slug-first utility infielder who made his name with the St. Louis Cardinals, DeJong bounced around quite a bit after spending parts of seven seasons with the Redbirds, a team that he hit 115 home runs with.
The 2023 season marked the beginning of the journeyman chapter in DeJong’s big league career, as the veteran was traded away from St. Louis at the deadline alongside some cash to the Blue Jays in exchange for pitcher Matt Svanson.
DeJong went on to spend the next few weeks with Toronto, appearing in 13 games as a Blue Jay in what may have been the among the worst 13 games of his career. DeJong managed just three hits across 44 at-bats with the club, recording just one RBI alongside 18 strikeouts and zero walks, leading to his release just 20 days after being acquired.
The veteran finished the season with the San Francisco Giants where he posted only marginally better results ahead of two more journeyman campaigns in the big leagues. DeJong split 2024 with the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals before spending the 2025 season with the Washington Nationals, appearing in 57 games for the team.
Although DeJong has not made it back to the big leagues in 2026 and remains a free agent, he did spend time in the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers organizations earlier this year, meaning a comeback for the 33-year-old cannot be ruled out.
As his career stands now, DeJong has posted 13.1 WAR over 925 MLB games with 147 doubles, 146 home runs and a .710 OPS.
Leave a Reply