Whose Number Should The Blue Jays Retire Next?
On opening day the Blue Jays raised Roy Halladay's number 32 to the rafters, ensuring no playing in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform will ever wear the number again. It's a honor bestowed upon only the best of the best in a club's history. To this day, only Roberto Alomar's #12 and Halladay's #32 have been retired. Which player would make sense to be next in line?
Jose Bautista has defined Blue Jays baseball for much of the past decade. His rise from struggling journeyman to perennial all-star is the stuff of fairy tales. He became the poster boy for the Blue Jays and their seemingly miraculous skill of converting scuffling players into power hitting monsters. His bat flip home run in the 2015 ALDS is one of the most iconic moments in Blue Jays history, if not all of baseball history. That moment will be replayed for decades. He put up some of the best power numbers ever by a Blue Jays hitter and still holds numerous club records. Bautista's #19 would be a deserving choice to hang in the rafters.
Carlos Delgado is the greatest hitter the Blue Jays ever had. He is the owner of multiple career and single season team hitting records. For much of the late 90s he and Halladay were basically the only reasons to watch Blue Jays baseball. His 4 home run game is still one of the coolest things ever done in a Blue Jays uniform. He also has one of the all-time greatest smiles. He was shamefully snubbed by hall of fame voters and deserved more than the 21 votes he received. If Delgado's #25 were retired, you wouldn't get a complaint out of me.
Tony Fernandez is the greatest shortstop the Blue Jays ever had and ranks second in team history with 35.1 fWAR. He received 4 gold gloves in his time with the Jays along with earning MVP votes every year from 1986 through 1989. After being shipped to San Diego along with Fred McGriff in the franchise altering Alomar/Carter trade, Fernandez returned in 1993 to help the team win their second consecutive World Series title. He would return once again and play the 1998 and '99 seasons with the Blue Jays. Then, yet again, he would find his way back home to the Blue Jays in 2001 and finish out his career in the jersey that defined his career. Based on his performance as the team's best ever shortstop and his cat-like trait of always coming back, his #1 jersey would be a worthy of retirement.
Joe Carter is responsible for the most iconic moment in Blue Jays history. As one of only two World Series winning walk-off home runs in baseball history, Joe Carter understandably has a place in all Blue Jays fans' hearts. However, outside that moment, his Blue Jays career is likely not one worthy of immortalization. Yes, the home run and RBI totals are impressive, but the rest of his game was lacking. His first season in Toronto was dominant with a4.9 fWAR, but soon his OBP and defensive issues would catch up to him. He would go on to have fWAR's of 2.9 and 2.0 in the following two seasons before being worth 0.4, -0.5, -0.6 and -1.4 to close out his Blue Jays career. As a result, Carter ranks 32nd among Blue Jays position players for fWAR. Carter definitely earned a spot in Blue Jays history, but his overall body of work isn't among the most productive in team history.
Personally, when thinking about numbers that should be retired, Dave Stieb immediately comes to mind. He joined the team for their 3rd season and quickly became the club's first superstar. He was one of the game's most dominant pitcher in the 80s and flirted with multiple no-hitters before throwing the team's first and only no-no in 1990. He played with the Jays from 1980 to 1992. He spent 4 games with the Chicago White Sox in 1993 before hanging up the cleats...or so we thought. In 1998 he made his return to the major leagues and threw 50.1 innings for the Blue Jays. To this day, he still holds many club records. For being the team's first superstar, throwing their first no-hitter and for his awesome return to the Jays after 4 years out of baseball, I believe Dave Stieb's #37 is the logical choice as the next Toronto Blue Jays player to have their number retired.
