Despite waves of new talent, Roy Halladay remains the undisputed benchmark for Blue Jays first-rounders by career bWAR. DD

Three of the five best first round picks defined an era in Toronto, while two more came earlier in the franchise’s history.

The Toronto Blue Jays are coming off of a gut-punch of a loss in the World Series, falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. But they have something that a lot of teams don’t have, and that’s a good, young core.

Most of that core has been built via international free agency or the draft, but a player like Bo Bichette wasn’t even a first-round pick. But the biggest story of their postseason, Trey Yesavage, was famously a first-round pick just a year ago.

It’s been a long time since the Jays had a first-round pick make a huge impact. Aaron Sanchez, Ricky Romero, and Alek Manoah each had good seasons, but those are the real standouts since 2000. However, in the 1990s, the Jays were on their A-game. Four of the five players on this list were picked in the ’90s.

1. RHP Roy Halladay, 48.4 bWAR

There’s an argument to be made that Hallday is the best player in Toronto’s franchise history. He is second on their bWAR list behind Dave Steib, but it’s not by much. Halladay spent his first 12 seasons with the Blue Jays, becoming one of the best starting pitchers in all of baseball.

His breakout season came in 2002, when he led the AL in bWAR at 6.3. He threw the most innings with 239.1 and posted a 2.93 ERA, making his first All-Star team. 2003, though, is when he really began to shine.

Halladay won his first of two Cy Youngs in 2003, leading baseball in bWAR (8.1), complete games (9), innings (266) while striking out over 200 batters and posting a 3.25 ERA.

In his 12 seasons in Toronto, the right-hander made six All=Star teams and had three other top five Cy Young finishes, including a runner-up finish in 2008.

Halladay finished his career in Toronto with the second most wins (148), strikeouts (1,495) and ERA+ (133). The right-hander also had the third most innings pitched (2,046.2) and the fifth best ERA (3.43).

In 2019, Halladay was posthumously inducted in to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot, earning 85.4 percent of the vote.

2. OF Vernon Wells, 28.7 bWAR

Wells was the fifth overall pick out of high school in the 1997 draft and made his debut just two years later in 1999. He played 57 games through three up-and-down years before playing his first full season in 2002 and eventually breakout out as a star in 2003.

For nearly the entire 2000s, Wells was a steady force in the Blue Jays’ lineup. He led the league in plate appearances, total bases, doubles and hits in 2003 on his way to his first All-Star selection, a Silver Slugger and top 10 MVP finish.

From 2003-2010, Wells had four seasons of at least four bWAR, including a season where he amassed 6.2 in 2006. He made three All-Star teams and won three Gold Gloves in his time in Toronto.

Wells was a part of a good Blue Jays core that never made the postseason, but he made his impact nonetheless.

He has the second most hits in franchise history (1,529), as well as the second most doubles (339), second most RBIs (813) and fourth most home runs (223).

3. CF Lloyd Moseby, 26 bWAR

Moseby is the highest drafted player in this top five as well as the oldest. He was drafted second overall out of high school in 1978. The centerfielder made his debut in 1980, but was a 78 OPS+ hitter or worse for his first three seasons.

It wasn’t until 1983 that Moseby began to make an impact. He posted 6.0 bWAR in 1983, hitting 18 homers, driving in 81 runs and stealing 27 bases while posting an .875 OPS and career high 134 OPS+.

In 1984, Moseby posted a career-high 7.3 bWAR, driving in 92 runs, hitting a career-high 15 triples, and stealing a career-high 39 bases.

Those two stellar seasons proved to be the outlier in his career. After 1984, his highest BWAR in a season was 4.0 in 1987 and was more around a league-average hitter by OPS+ than he was during his peak seasons. That said, Moseby continues to hit around 20 doubles and 15 homers each season, consistently being solid for Toronto.

In his 10 years with Toronto, Moseby made an All-Star team and won a Silver Slugger. He has the fourth most hits in franchise history (1,319), fourth most doubles (242), second most triples (60) and ninth most home runs (149).

4. OF Alex Rios, 20.4 bWAR

Drafted in the first round of the 1999 draft, Rios didn’t make his debut until 2004. He spent the least amount of time with the team on this list at just five and a half seasons. It took him a while to get going, having an 85 and 84 OPS+ in his first two seasons, but his final three and a half years with the team were terrific.

Like Wells, Rios was one of the steady mashers in the Blue Jays lineup in the mid-to-late 2000s and is one of the players most people think of when thinking of those teams. He made All-Star games in 2006, hitting .302 with a 120 OPS+ and 4.6 bWAR in 128 games.

He followed that with the two best seasons of his career with 5.6 and 5.9 bWAR. In 2007, Rios hit 24 home runs and drove in 85 runs with an .852 OPS. The next season, however, Rios hit a career high 47 doubles along with 15 home runs and 32 stolen bases.

Rios was traded during the 2009 season, but finished his tenure as top 10 in both triples and stolen bases.

5. OF Shannon Stewart, 18.7 bWAR

Stewart was drafted in the first round in 1992 and made his debut in 1995, but he both struggled and did not play during his first three seasons. However, from 1998 to 2002, Stewart was a reliable, above-average hitter for the Blue Jays. He finished with at least 3.1 bWAR in four of those five seasons.

In his breakout year, Stewart hit .279 with 12 home runs and 51 stolen bases. He would follow it up with a similar campaign in 1999 before trading in some of his stolen base numbers for more power.

Stewart would go on to hit 38 or more doubles in his final three seasons, along with a career high 21 home runs in 2000. He hit .303 or higher and higher than an .800 OPS in each of those three seasons. A good all-around player, Stewart received MVP votes in 2001.

Stewart has the fourth highest batting average in franchise history at .298 and was top ten in on-base percentage (.365), runs scored (595), hits (1,082), doubles (222) and triples (34).