Looking at the Blue Jays history of selecting in the top 10 at the draft
Dec 8, 2024, 14:15 ESTUpdated: Dec 8, 2024, 14:11 EST
Despite only making the postseason 10 times in their 49 seasons, the Toronto Blue Jays don’t have an extensive list of top 10 picks.
The Blue Jays finished with a 74-88 record, the seventh worst in Major League Baseball. With the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics both being lottery teams the past few years, the Blue Jays have the fifth-best odds to win the draft lottery at 7.48%.
It’s a question of where they’ll pick and we’ll figure that out on Tuesday during the Winter Meetings. However, the Blue Jays will pick in the top 10 of the 2025 draft, that’s almost a guarantee, and it’s worth looking at which players the Jays have picked with a top 10 pick throughout their history.
Funnily enough, the Blue Jays have never had a first-overall pick, but they’ve had a handful of second-overall picks…
Lloyd Moseby
Lloyd Moseby was selected second overall in the 1978 draft, he was the Blue Jays’ second-ever first-round pick. The centre fielder spent the bulk of his career with the Blue Jays, slashing .257/.333/.415 with 149 home runs in 5,799 plate appearances with the team from 1980 until 1989. He was an All-Star in 1986 and won the Silver Slugger in 1983. Moseby is also the franchise leader in stolen bases.
The centre fielder departed the Blue Jays after the 1989 season and signed with the Detroit Tigers. Moseby only played two seasons there before his career ended after the 1993 season.
Jay Schroeder
In the 1979 draft, the Blue Jays selected third overall, picking up Jay Schroeder. The catcher never played for the Toronto Blue Jays, instead playing four seasons in their organization with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays (rookie ball), the Florence Blue Jays, and the Kinston Blue Jays (both A ball), retiring from baseball after the 1983 season.
However, Schroeder had a lengthy career as a football player, playing 10 seasons with Washington, the Los Angeles Raiders, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Arizona Cardinals. He made the Pro Bowl (the National Football League’s version of the All-Star game) in 1986.
Garry Harris
The Blue Jays had another high pick in the 1980 draft, picking shortstop Garry Harris second overall from Hoover High School in San Diego, California. Harris played four seasons in the Blue Jays organization, making it to Double-A with the Knoxville Blue Jays in 1983 as a 20-year-old.
Tragically, Harris passed away on Aug 27., 2022 at the age of 60.
Matt Williams
In the 1981 draft, the Blue Jays had another high pick, selected right-handed pitcher Matt Williams with the fifth overall pick.
Williams made the big leagues, pitching eight innings with the team in 1983, where he had a 14.63 ERA and a 12.63 FIP, along with five strikeouts and seven walks. Two years later, he pitched 26 innings with the Texas Rangers, where he had a much more respectable 2.42 ERA and a 3.65 FIP, along with a 20.8 K% and a 9.4 BB%.
Augie Schmidt
For the first time in franchise history, the Blue Jays didn’t have a top 10 pick in 1981, as they selected John Cerutti 21st overall. They returned to the top 10 picks in 1982 and 1983. In 1982, they selected Augie Schmidt second overall.
Schmidt never played in the big leagues. He spent three seasons in the Blue Jays’ farm system, making it as high as Triple-A before being traded alongside Jim Gott for Gary Lavelle. Since 1988, Schmidt has coached Carthage College and is set to retire after the 2025 season. Moreover, his nephew Gavin Lux plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Matt Stark
In the 1983 draft, the Blue Jays selected Matt Stark with the ninth overall pick. Like many players on this list, Stark’s impact in the big leagues was minimal at best, playing five games with the 1987 Toronto Blue Jays where he had 12 plate appearances with a hit.
He had another 18 plate appearances with the Chicago White Sox in 1990 before playing in Mexico and the Independent Leagues to finish his career.
Billy Koch
The Blue Jays were successful in the mid-80s until their two World Series in 1992 and 1993. In 1995, they picked franchise legend Roy Halladay with the 17th overall pick, before another top 10 pick in 1996, selecting Billy Koch.
Koch, a right-handed pitcher, pitched three seasons with the Blue Jays, posting a 3.57 ERA and a 3.89 FIP in 211.2 innings pitched with a 19 K% and an 8.9 BB%. He finished seventh in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 1999 and finished with MVP votes in 2002 with the Oakland Athletics.
Vernon Wells
In the 1997 draft, the Blue Jays selected Vernon Wells fifth overall. Arguably, Wells is the best top 10 selection in franchise history, as he spent 12 seasons with the Jays where he slashed .280/.329/.475 with 223 home runs in 5,963 plate appearances for a 107 wRC+.
On top of a successful career, he was a three-time All-Star, a Silver Slugger winner, a three-time Gold Glove winner, and even finished eighth in MVP voting in 2003 where he slashed .317/.359/.550 with 33 home runs in 735 plate appearances.
Dec. 8 is also Wells’ birthday, so happy 46th birthday to Wells!
Felipe López
The following season, the Blue Jays selected third baseman Felipe López eighth overall. Like Wells, López went on to have a lengthy baseball career, playing 11 seasons with the Blue Jays, St. Louis Reds, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Rays, and Boston Red Sox.
However, López only played two seasons with the Jays, slashing .240/.293/.399 with 13 home runs in 501 plate appearances. He was named an All-Star in 2005 and won the Silver Slugger that season as well.
Ricky Romero
In the 2005 draft, the Blue Jays selected right-handed pitcher Ricky Romero with the sixth overall pick. Romero’s career started off promising, finishing with a 3.60 ERA and a 4.04 FIP in 613 innings pitched over his first three seasons.
However, injuries and poor play in 2012 derailed his career. Romero pitched just 7.1 innings with the Jays in 2013 and didn’t pitch in the big leagues again. After an injury-filled 2014 season, Romero was released by the organization in Apr. 2015.
Phil Bickford/Max Pentecost
The Blue Jays selected Phil Bickford with the 10th overall pick in 2013, but he elected not to sign with the team. Bickford made his big league debut in 2020 after being selected 18th overall in the 2015 draft and has a career 4.62 ERA and a 4.23 FIP in 189 innings pitched, most recently pitching with the New York Yankees in 2024.
In 2014, the Blue Jays selected Max Pentecost 11th overall with the compensation pick they received for being unable to sign Bickford. The catcher made it as high as Double-A in 2018 but retired early into the 2019 season.
Jeff Hoffman
Two picks before the Jays selected Pentecost, they selected Jeff Hoffman. The right-handed pitcher never pitched for their big league team, as they traded him in a package to the Colorado Rockies for Troy Tulowitzki.
Hoffman wasn’t great in Denver, but finally showed his promise in 2022 with the Cincinnati Reds, where he had a 3.83 ERA and a 4.30 FIP in 44.2 innings pitched as a reliever. He broke out with the Philadelphia Phillies the past two seasons, recently posting a 2.17 ERA and a 2.52 FIP in 66.1 innings pitched with a 33.6 K% and a 6 BB%.
The 31-year-old is currently a free agent and the Blue Jays need relievers. Could a reunion be in order?
Austin Martin
The Blue Jays’ most recent top 10 pick came in 2020 when they selected Austin Martin out of Vanderbilt with the fifth overall pick.
Like Hoffman, he never played for the Blue Jays and was involved in a trade before the trade deadline, as they sent him to the Minnesota Twins (along with Simeon Woods Richardson) for José Berríos. Martin made his big league debut in 2024, slashing .253/.318/.352 with one home run in 257 plate appearances with the Twins.
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.