Blue Jays Launched Superstar Jeff Kent's Eventual Hall of Fame Career

The Toronto Blue Jays played a little part in Jeff Kent's career, which ended with an election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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Jeff Kent has the Toronto Blue Jays to thank for drafting him, giving his first Major League shot and helping him launch his eventual Baseball Hall of Fame career.

Kent was the only player selected on Sunday for the Class of 2026 by the Contemporary Baseball Era committee for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He'll learn the rest of the class when the Baseball Writers Association of American votes on the main ballot and results are released in January.

He's a footnote in Blue Jays history, but he played in the Majors from 1991-2008, played for six different teams and is one of the most productive offensive second basemen of all time.

Jeff Kent's time with the Blue Jays

At 21 years old, Kent was drafted by the Jays in 1989 in the 20th round out of Cal. Three years later he made his Major League debut. That season was a great one for the Blue Jays as they won their first World Series title. Kent wouldn't be around to enjoy it.

The Blue Jays were secure at second base with Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar, who finished his career as a 12-time All-Star and helped lead the team to back-to-back world titles.

Toronto used Kent in a trade with the New York Mets at the waiver trade deadline in late August to acquire a pitcher that would help them win that World Series — David Cone.

His time with Toronto helped him earn an All-Star Rookie Team selection that year as he kick started what would turn into quite a career.

*Note* These stats are only looking at the 65 games he played with the Jays in 1992

• 13 Doubles
• .240 Batting Average
• .324 On-Base Percentage
• .443 Slugging Percentage
• .767 OPS
• 8 Home Runs
• 35 RBI
• 20 Drawn Walks

His career in the Majors

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After spending the first half of his rookie year with the Jays he was traded to the New York Mets where he would spend the next 3.5 seasons before being passed from there to Cleveland where he only stayed for the rest of 1996 before going to California.

Kent spent the bulk of his time in the majors with the San Francisco Giants (six years) before his pair of seasons with the Astros. He then went from Houston back to California to join the Los Angeles Dodgers before announcing his retirement after four years with the club.

By the time his career in the majors was over he had played nearly 2,300 games where he batted .290 to complement a .500 slugging percentage and .856 OPS.

Kent might not have ever won a World Series ring but he tallied up quite a list of accomplishments by the time he left the Majors.

• MLB Record for Most Career Home Runs by a Second Baseman (377, hit his first 8 with Toronto)
• 5x All-Star
• 4x Silver Slugger Award Winner
• 2000 NL MVP
• 8 Seasons with 100+ RBI

It is important to remember that he was around some really great players when he was in Toronto which is why they won back-to-back rings. The Mets didn't receive him in a trade because he wasn't going to cut it for the Jays the roster was simply too experienced and ready to win right then.