Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports
Blue Jays on the 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot
In a few weeks, baseball's latest class of Hall of Famers will be announced and there are a few former Blue Jays up for consideration.
While many of these former Jays won't make Cooperstown this year, there's at least one Toronto slugger who has the best chances of any 2023 candidate to reach induction. Below, we break down each of the former Jays on the ballot this year and their Hall chances.
While Mike Napoli was a momentary Blue Jay in January 2011, this list only includes players on the ballot who played for Toronto at the MLB level at some point in their career:
Scott Rolen
In Rolen's 17-year career, the towering third basemen never won a Silver Slugger or MVP, but he was one of the best defensive hot corners in baseball and compiled impressive cumulative statistics. Finishing his time in baseball with eight Gold Gloves and a career .855 OPS, Rolen played 203 games for the Jays in 2008 and 2009 before he was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Edwin Encarnacion.
Rolen currently leads all 2023 Hall of Fame candidates in his class, on 82.3% of ballots known so far. Ryan Thibodaux's BBHOF tracker currently has 35.8% of ballots tracked this year, meaning Rolen must appear on 71% of the remaining ballots to earn induction.
R.A. Dickey
The most recent Blue Jay on the ballot, Dickey joined Toronto ahead of the 2013 season off an NL Cy Young winning season. The Jays traded prospects Noah Syndergaard and Travis D'Arnaud in exchange for the knuckleballer, who had led the league in innings pitched and strikeouts the season prior.
While Dickey never reached his Cy heights with Toronto, he was the club's reliable innings eater for four seasons, including playoff runs in 2015 and 2016. He led MLB in games started twice with Toronto and pitched over 210 innings in three of his Jays campaigns. While his peak was the best pitcher in baseball, Dickey is unlikely to reach the Hall of Fame and has yet to receive a vote in his first year on the ballot.
Mark Buehrle
Buehrle pitched the final three years of his career in Toronto, earning an All-Star appearance and leading the AL in walk-rate and complete games pitched in his final season.
Buehrle received 11.1% of the vote last year and is currently polling at 10.6% on known ballots during his third year up for the Hall. The five-time All-Star, 2005 World Series champion, and four-time gold glove winner will need over 5% of the vote to remain on the ballot next year.
Jeff Kent
A brief Blue Jay, this is Kent's 10th and final year in contention on the ballot. The infielder was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 20th round of the 1989 draft from the University of California, but played just 65 games for Toronto in 1992 before he was shipped over to the New York Mets for pitcher David Cone at the deadline. The Jays would go on to win a World Series that year and Kent would go on to play 2298 games, win an MVP in 2000, and appear in five All-Star Games.
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Jayson Werth
Like Kent, Werth's time in Toronto was just a cameo to start his career. The Jays acquired Werth as a prospect in a 2000 trade with the Orioles that sent John Bale to Baltimore and the outfielder played his first 31 MLB games with Toronto in 2002 and 2003. He was subsequently dealt to the Dodgers in 2004 for reliever Jason Frasor and went on to play 13 seasons with the Dodgers, Phillies, and Nationals.
He received MVP votes four times in his career and had a 30s resurgence with the Nats, posting OBPs over .390 in his age 34 and 35 seasons. Despite a decent peak and longevity, Werth has yet to receive a vote in his first year on the ballot and is in danger of falling off.
Omar Vizquel
On the final stop of his six-team and nearly 3000-game MLB career, Vizquel played 60 games for the Blue Jays in 2012 before hanging up the cleats.
A wizard in the field, Vizquel earned 11 Gold Gloves and three All-Star appearances across his 24 big league seasons. His strongest offensive season came in 1999 for Cleveland, when Vizquel posted an .833 OPS and came 16th in MVP voting.
After appearing on nearly 50% of the ballots in 2021, Vizquel is down to just 9.2% in votes known so far this year.
H/T Ryan Thibodaux's Hall of Fame Voting Tracker
