Toronto Blue Jays' Top Five Canadian-Born Players of All-Time
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To be a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays, the only current MLB franchise located outside of the United States, is to share a Canadian nationalistic pride alongside team support.
Being Canadian is an important component of the organization's identity, from "O Canada" being played before Blue Jays games to the sporting of red jerseys on Canada Day.
And while Toronto's roster has historically been comprised of players from other parts of the globe, there has always been some level of focus on maintaining homegrown representation and having at least a Canadian player or two around. All told, 28 Canadian-born baseball players have suited up for the Blue Jays over the course of their now 50-year history.
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In light of Toronto's exhibition game against Canada's World Baseball Classic squad, it seems like a good time to rank the top-five Canadians to ever play for the Blue Jays:
1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Though raised in the Dominican Republic and representing them at the WBC, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was born in Montreal while his dad, Vladimir Sr., starred for the Montreal Expos (Canada's first MLB team). Therefore, Guerrero Jr. carries dual citizenship and has been embraced by Toronto fans as one of their own.
While one may not think of Guerrero Jr. as a Canadian, his position atop this list is hard to question. The five-time All-Star earned ALCS MVP honors last fall and stands as the clear face of the franchise for a team that is now a World Series contender.
2. Russell Martin
East York, Ontario native Russell Martin was already well into a decorated 14-year catching career when he signed on as the Blue Jays' backstop ahead of the 2015 season. Already well into his thirties, he brought immediate veteran presence and competitiveness, earning his fourth career All-Star nod along the way to helping the club return to the postseason for the first time since 1993.
Martin would spend four seasons in Toronto, experiencing some age-related decline as his career began to wind down. Still, he stood as an integral part of what were - at the time - the best Blue Jays teams to come along in nearly a quarter century.
3. Paul Quantrill
Former #BlueJays RP Paul Quantrill and VP of Comm. Jay Stenhouse prepare to make the 9th pick in the #MLBDraft. pic.twitter.com/fn5LDH9T72
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 5, 2014
Nowadays he may be better known as dad to Texas Rangers pitcher Cal Quantrill, but Paul Quantrill was a pretty good hurler in his own right. The 14-year veteran spent six seasons in Toronto, debuting as a starter before transitioning into a high-leverage reliever.
Quantrill would pitch more than 500 innings as a Blue Jay, sporting a 3.67 ERA across 386 appearances for the club. Most notably, he maintained a 1.94 ERA over 77 appearances in 1997 and became an All-Star in 2001 when he went 11-2 with a 3.04 ERA over a major league-best 80 games.
4. Matt Stairs
A number of noteworthy Canadian hitters have made their way through the organization, including the likes of Corey Koskie, Brett Lawrie and Michael Saunders (note: can't include Joey Votto here, as he never played for Toronto in the Majors). However, we're going with Matt Stairs here on account of his prodigious power.
As with Martin, it wasn't until deep into Stairs' 19-year career that the Saint John, NB native joined the Blue Jays. Once he got there in 2007, he managed to turn back the clock to produce his first 20-homer season in four years while also registering an OPS of .917. After launching another 11 home runs in 2008, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he won his first and only World Series.
5. Jordan Romano
When Toronto drafted Jordan Romano in the 10th round of the 2014 MLB Draft, they probably didn't expect to land a homegrown future closer. And yet, that's what the Markham, ON native became, handling ninth inning duties for a pair of Blue Jays playoff teams in 2022 and 2023.
While stars like Guerrero Jr., Alek Manoah and Bo Bichette headlined those teams, Romano stood as one of the most important keys to their success. He saved 36 games in each of 2022 and 2023, ranking second in the majors to Emmanuel Clase over that stretch. For a brief period of time, Toronto had one of the most dominant closers in the game - and he grew up not far from Rogers Centre.
The number of Canadians in MLB seems to increase every year, and the Blue Jays have been a big part of that trend.
Ben Fisher is a long-time sportswriter and baseball lover, dating back to 2008, when he was a member of the media relations team for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has covered a wide range of sports for a seemingly endless array of publications, including The Canadian Press, Fansided and The Hockey Writers. When he isn't writing about sports, he can be found coaching his equally baseball-obsessed sons' Little League teams.