All Blue Jays team, position players

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The Blue Jays have had a nice group of players represent them over the years. There were some legitimately tough calls to make in putting this team together. The Jays have had an especially nice run of outfielders. Of course, the infield has been pretty good too. Let's get started.

Catcher: Ernie Whitt Russell Martin may be the man in a couple of more seasons, but for now, Ernie Whitt gets the call. Ernie spent 12 seasons behind the plate for the Jays and was solid defensively while swinging a decent bat. Whitt's OPS was .747 during his time with the Blue Jays. Ernie's OBP was .327, and his slugging percentage was 427. Ernie had five seasons with a WAR between 2.0-3.0. His best season was 1983, when he had a WAR of 3.4. Whitt was an all star in 1985. Russell Martin has stats that are fairly similar to those of Ernie Whitt, just not for as many seasons.

First base: Carlos Delgado For a guy who put up huge numbers, Delgado seems somewhat forgotten. Carlos hit 336 home runs during his time with the Jays and put up an OPS of .949. Carlos had six seasons with 100 or more RBIs, leading the AL in that category with 145 in 2003. He also led the AL in OPS that season with a mark of 1.019. His best season for OPS was 2000 when it was 1.134. While not being a good glove guy, Delgado's defensive metrics weren't terrible while he was with the Blue Jays. Fred McGriff had a similar profile to that of Delgado. Both were power hitting left handed hitters with below average gloves. From 1984-86, Fred's home run totals were 34-36-35. His 36 homers in 1985 led the AL. John Olerud gets mention here by virtual of a line drive bat and okay glove for his eight seasons with the Jays.

Second base: Roberto Alomar Alomar spent five seasons with the Blue Jays and won five gold gloves and was a five time all star. He was also a good offensive player, with an OPS of .833. Roberto was an excellent base runner, stealing 206 bases while in Toronto. Alomar has a total WAR of 22.6 while with the Jays. He had two seasons with a WAR of over 6.0. Orlando Hudson had a nice four year run in Toronto with a WAR of 12.6. Aaron Hill had a couple of big home run seasons, but Alomar is the easy choice at second.

Shortstop: Tony Fernandez In an era before shortstops were clubbing home runs at a ridiculous pace, Fernandez was a good offensive player and a four time gold glove winner in his 12 seasons with the Jays. Tony actually had three separate stints with the Jays and had a WAR of 37.4 in his time in Toronto. Tony also had an element of speed in his game, stealing 172 bases and hitting 72 triples, including a NL leading 17 in 1990. An OPS of .765, a good glove and good speed make Fernandez the easy choice at short.

Third base: Josh Donaldson Donaldson has put together three excellent seasons in Toronto, including a MVP campaign in 2015. Josh's total WAR for those three seasons is 21.1. In Donaldson's MVP season of 2015 he had a WAR of 8.8. Donaldson supplements a power bat with excellent defense. Josh's OPS is .946 while in Toronto. Kelly Gruber also had some nice seasons with the Jays, recording two seasons with a WAR of 5 or more. Beyond those two, the Jays have had decent performances from a number of journeymen.

Left field: George Bell This was an extremely tough choice. It came down to choosing between George Bell and the guy who hit the most famous home run in Jays history, Joe Carter. Both Bell and Carter had surprisingly low WARs for their time in Toronto. Both were good bat, bad glove guys. Bell's best season was in 1987 when he hit 47 homers and drove in an AL leading 134 runs. George's OPS for his time in Toronto was a surprisingly low .811. Carter had six seasons of 100+ RBIs while in Toronto with an OPS of .781. This is a case where the WAR stat seems to short both Bell and Carter. Bell wins the position, barely.

Center field: Devon White The Jays have had an excellent run of center fielders in their history. They've had a number of great defensive players who have had some decent to good offensive numbers. Vernon Wells won two gold gloves and put up good power numbers in his 12 seasons with the Blue Jays. Lloyd Moseby had a good run, even putting up a WAR of 7.3 in 1984. Current center fielder, Kevin Pillar has good value, spearheaded by excellent defense. After all of that, Devon White gets the call. In five seasons with the Blue Jays, White won five gold gloves. His OPS was .760 and also had added value by virtue of his base stealing. From 1991-93 his WAR was 6.3-6.2-6.2. Devon wins out over other good candidates.

Right field: Jose Bautista After bouncing around for a number of years, Bautista found his power stroke in Toronto. It was just enough to beat out another excellent Blue Jays right fielder, Jesse Barfield. Bautista led the AL in homers with 54 in 2010 and again in 2011with 43. Jose's OPS of .878 was driven by power and the ability to take a walk. Barfield won two gold gloves with the Jays and led the AL in home runs with 40 in 1986. Barfield had an OPS of .817. Couple that with excellent defensive metrics and you have an excellent right fielder. That's just quite enough to displace Bautista. Alex Rios also had a nice run in his stay with the Blue Jays.

DH: Paul Molitor I originally thought Edwin Encarnation would get this slot, but I looked at Molitor's stats with the Blue Jays and plugged him in here. Molitor spent three seasons and recorded an OPS of .871. Plus, Molly's base running was still a plus while in Toronto. In 1993 Molitor led the AL in hits with a total of 211. That hit total led to a batting average of 332. He even hit 22 home runs that season. Encarnation had 5 30+ homer seasons in Toronto, and twice hit 42 home runs. That would be good enough on just about any other team. It's just not enough to get past Molitor.

There's my Blue Jays team. What do you think? Let me know.

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