Which Edition of the Toronto Blue Jays Is Better?

A Comparison of the 2015 Team With Its 1992 Predecessor

Part One: Examining the Infield

At first glance, mentioning the two teams—the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays and its 1992 counterpart—in the same sentence seems daring, if not ludicrous. The latter team was first ever non-U.S. based Major League Baseball (MLB) team to win a World Series while the former had a losing record as late as July 28, 2015 at 50-51. However, a case can be made that the post-31 July 2015 Jays is effectively a new team after General Manger (GM) Alex Anthopoulos, a.k.a. A.A., reconstructed nearly twenty percent of the twenty-five-men roster with four separate trades. First, Anthopoulos acquired All Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and reliable relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins from the Colorado Rockies for José Reyes, Jeff Hoffman, Miguel Castro, and Jesus Tinoco on 28 July 2015. Second, A.A. outbid rival GMs for Ace starting pitcher David Price by shipping Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd, and Jairo Labourt to the Detroit Tigers on 30 July 2015. Third, Anthopoulos got starting left fielder and speedster Ben Revere from the Philadelphia Phillies for Alberto Tirado and Jimmy Cordero on 31 July 2015. In addition, A.A. obtained utility infielder Cliff Pennington along with cash considerations from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Dawel Lugo on 8 August 2015. Collectively, these moves have propelled the franchise into first place in the highly-competitive American League (AL) East Division with a 1.5 game lead over the equally resilient New York Yankees as of the end of the day on 5 September 2015 after the team played .794 baseball over the past 33 games by going an impressive 27-7!

Now, let the evaluation begins…

First Base: Chris Colabello/Justin Smoak (2015) versus John Olerud (1992)

Analysis: Olerud is clearly the household name and would go on to win the 1993 AL Batting Title with club-record .363 batting average (BA) while supplying elite-calibre defense consistently for much of his MLB career. However, we are talking about the 1992 version of Olerud, who hit a respectable .284 along with 16 Home Runs (HRs) and 66 Runs Batted In (RBIs) and with Colabello hitting well over .300 for virtually the entire season (.323BA, 13HRs, and 49RBIs in an efficient 279 official at bats over 82 games) and Smoak providing gold glove-calibre defense and occasional offensive contributions, I give the slight edge to the platoon of Colabello and Smoak even though Olerud is the superior individual player, especially when we take into account their entire career.

Verdict: Colebello/Somark over Olerud by a hair

N.B.: I will be classifying Edwin Encarnacion as a Designated Hitter in Part 2.

Second Base: Devon Travis/Ryan Goins (2015) versus Roberto Alomar (1992)

Analysis: Travis appears to have a very bright future ahead of him as the Jays’ starting second baseman for years to come after putting up rather impressive numbers (.304 batting average, 8 home runs, and 35 runs batted in) in 62 games (including capturing the Honda Player of the Month Award for April) before being placed on the disabled list for the second time during this season due to persistent problems to his left shoulder. In his absence, Goins has provided surprising contributions lately with his bat and steady defense at a key middle-of-the diamond infield position. Yet, there is really no comparison here. Alomar, a twelve-time All Star (1990–2001) and the only Blue Jay player to have his jersey number (12) retired as well as the first and only MLB player to enter Cooperstown as a Blue Jay, wins the showdown handily as he spotted a sparkling offensive line (.310BA, 8HRs, and 76RBIs). He also had 49 Stolen Bases (SBs) while winning the second of his six consecutive gold glove award—the second of his career ten career gold glove awards at second base in which he exhibited range—part of his stellar defense—that is truly ‘second to none.’

Verdict: Alomar over Travis/Goins by a landslide

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki/ José Reyes (2015) versus Manuel Lee (1992)

Analysis: Outside of his first game as a Blue Jay in which Tulowitzki, a.k.a., Tulo, hit a two-run home run and two doubles, the five-time National League (NL) All Star (2000–2001 and 2013–2015) has struggled offensively since coming to Toronto (.242BA, 4HR, 13RBIs in 31 games). Still, Tulo is arguably the best all-around shortstop in MLB and that his mere presence in the lineup brings a lot of intangibles—including leadership and respect, etc., to the team, not to mention that his superb defense has stabilized the premium position in which an aging Reyes, who despite contributing offensively before his departure to Colorado (.285, 4HRs, 34RBISs, and 16SBs in 69 games) and was a four-time NL All Star (2006–2007 and 2010 and 2011), had difficulties manning the position defensively. As for Lee, who replaced the popular Tony Fernández at shortstop in 1991 by shifting over from second base, he was a steady glove but was basically a bottom-of-the-order bat (.263 BA, 3HR, 39RBIs in 128 games) in 1992 and for his whole career.

Verdict: Tulowitzki/Reyes over Lee by a lap

Third Base: Josh Donaldson (2015) versus Kelly Gruber (1992)

Analysis: Donaldson, affectionately referred to as JD by the Jays’ faithful, a two-time All-Star (2014 and 2015), is in a heated battle with Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for the 2015 AL Most Valuable Player award, which speaks volume about what JD means to the Jays. Much has been made about how Donaldson is the offensive juggernaut of the Blue Jays as he is putting up near triple crown-like numbers (.304 BA, 36HRs, 111 RBIs in 131 games so far) hitting second in the batting order in a memorable season in which he made the 2015 All-Star Game as the starting third baseman. Conversely, Gruber was in the midst of a rapid descend in 1992 as his offensive production declined significantly (.229 BA, 11HRs, 43RBIs in 120 games) due to a herniated disk in his neck that eventually ended his career in 1993. By all accounts, Gruber a shell of his former self when he was named as an All Star in his heydays (1989 and 1990), in which he was an offence force and had a career season in 1990 (.274BA, 31HRs, 118RBIs in 150 games) was the face of the Blue Jays.

Verdict: Donaldson over Gruber by several light years

Catcher: Russell Martin (2015) versus Pat Borders (1992)

Analysis: Martin, a.k.a. World Citizen, and a four-time All-Star (2007, 2008, 2011, and 2015), is a complete catcher who can hit for a decent average—he batted over .280 from 2006–2008 when he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and .290 in 2014 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, supply above-average power—he has it double-digit home runs in 8 different seasons (from 2006–2008 and from 2011–2015), and driven in runs—he had career-high 87RBIs in 2007. However, his true value comes in the form of defense as he is known for his pitch-framing abilities (which translates into getting more strikeouts for the pitching staff on the whole) and elite defense, including catching seemingly unreachable foul balls that are destined to reach the seats, throwing out runners who attempt to steal bases, and blocking pitches in the dirt from pitchers (albeit he has some troubles handling R.A. Dickey’s knuckle balls at times). Borders, on the other hand, was a mediocre catcher offensively throughout much of his MLB career although he displayed respectable numbers (.242BA, 13HRs, and 53RBIs in 138 games) for a catcher in 1992 and was reliable catcher defensively. In retrospect, he would be fondly remembered by Jays’ followers as the 1992 World Series MVP as he hit an astonishing .450 in the six-game series against the Atlanta Braves.

Verdict: Martin (2015) over Borders (1992) by a substantial margin

Final Words: On the whole, it appears that the 2015 edition of the Toronto Blue Jays has a stronger infield than its 1992 counterpart as the former features players who have outperformed their predecessors at four of the five positions: First Base, Shortstop, Third base, and Catcher–the latter three position by a large margin. By contrast, the only position in which the 1992 World Series Champion is superior to the current 2015 team is Second Base due to the presence of Robbie Alomar.

So, what about the Outfield? Be sure to tune in to Part Two!