Rosterfarian Jonny German points out that when the Tampa Devil Rays of Anaheim (oh, wait ...) recently signed the formerly great Roberto Alomar, Bauxite Matthew E. wrote an interesting piece at Baseball Think Factory showing that the D-Rays now boast an all ex-Jays team. That is, players who played for the Jays before they played for Tampa. And a pretty good one (see inside for the full lineup), at that. That leads us to today's ...
Quirky Puzzle of the Day: What other franchises can trot out an all-ex-Jays lineup? Who has the best collection?
Note that players do not have to be products of the Toronto farm system to qualify, but they do have to have played for the Jays before the team in question. Example: Joe Carter qualifies as an Oriole and Giant Ex-Jay, but not as a Cub or Indian Ex-Jay. There's more inside ... go to it!
Fans of other clubs might try the exercise for another franchise; note all the ex-Rangers Doug Melvin is bringing to Milwaukee, for example. Need a little research help? Try this All My Exes Played for Texas Hall of Names thread from a while back and the Baseball Primer thread it spawned. Oh! And there's awesome "frivolity" at BBREF that can tell you quickly every player who ever played for any combination of teams (for instance, the 65 men who have been in the service of both the Blue Jays and Expos).
Now, as for the Tampa Bay X-Jay Machine:
C: Kevin Cash
1B: Fred McGriff
2B: Roberto Alomar
SS: Alex Gonzalez
3B: Miguel Cairo
LF: Jose Canseco
CF: Rich Butler
RF: Jose Cruz, Jr.
DH: Josh Phelps
P: Mark Hendrickson
P: Steve Parris
P: Juan Guzman
As Jonny wrote, "Given that the Tampa Bay franchise has only been in existence for 10 years, this is rather remarkable."
Don't think you have to come up with a full team ... just start one out and see if your fellow Boxers can help! For instance, the Rangers have Brad Fuller and Mike Young, but not the ethereal Stebby Loiaza.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050124123236999