Honestly, I assumed Halladay would run away with this one, but see that he has just 1 of the first 12 votes (I didn't vote for him, fwiw) ... maybe yesterday's discussion about votes like these always leaning to the active players doesn't quite ring true here!

You can't seriously make me vote in this can you?? ahhh!

In 6 years I say this is Doc in a heartbeat, but right now it's either Hentgen or Stieb... Hentgen for me mainly because he was the guy when I was growing up watching the Jays. Stieb was a wee bit before my time...

Ignoring Clemens, I think if you go by pure stuff with the other guys in deciding who the best is, it's Doc, but in terms of most value provided to the team, it's Stieb.

That said, I voted Hentgen!

 

 

Sir David is in town for tonight's Flashback Friday - maybe he's been logging on and voting for himself!

That said, I don't think there's any doubt that he should be running away with this vote in 2007.  If Doc can stay reasonably healthy, it will be a question worth revisiting in a few years.

It's an HONOUR (HONOR - for our 'merican readers) to vote for the best SP to ever wear a jock strap for the Jays (cue the drum roll) - Dave Stieb!

I truly wish Dave had been at his peak and with the team in 92/93. He deserved to be. To quote the late great Madeline Khan as Lily Von Shtupp in Mel Brooks classic Blazing Saddles - "Vot a man!"

I voted for Stieb as he was so good for so long here. However, checking the Jays leaderboards I found that Halladay is actually #1 for ERA+ as a Jay now, 500 IP minimum. Clemens misses out by 1 1/3 IP.

ERA+ (guys who were mainly starters - 500 IP minimum in Toronto)
Halladay 129
Stieb 123
Key 121
Alexander 118
Guzman 113
Hentgen 111
Williams 110
...
Noteables (includes time away from Toronto)
Clancy 98 (hurt by his 3 years away from Toronto)
Escobar 111 (117+ each year since leaving)
David Wells 109
Stottlemyre 100

Lifetime stats for some current Jays
AJ 112 (also where he is this year)
Ohka 109 and dropping
Chacin 109 after 331 2/3 IP
Towers 92 (just 2 seasons over 100)
Zambrano 97, but sub 70 last year and this

Clemens in his 2 years here was 226 and 176. Wow.

Peak ERA+ outside of Clemens are...
Guzman 1996 - 181
Stieb 1985 - 171
Hentgen 1996 - 165
Key 1987 - 164
Guzman 1992 - 156
Halladay 2002 - 152
Halladay 2006 - 147
Stieb 1984 - 145

Clemens was definitely the best pitcher in Jays history during his time here - I don't think there can be any question about that.  However, I think longevity has to be considered to a certain degree with this question, so I went with Stieb.

Looking at that list, one remembers how great the Jays pitching staffs were of the mid-80s.  Clancy, Stieb, Key, and Alexander for that 85 team was a 1-4 that I don't think Blue Jay fans reminisce enough about.  Now this is like the second time in a month that I've gotten upset at that 3-man rotation decision - Stieb just didn't have it in game 7 against the Royals.  We should have won our first World Series that year.

I think it's still pretty easy. Second period Dave Stieb (see my epic on his Life and Times here) was the best starting pitcher in the AL from 1981 through 1985. He would have been a legitimate Cy Young winner in each of those seasons, not that the voters of the day had a clue what was going on under their noses. Doc can't match that and thanks to Mr Santana it's unlikely that he's going to. Clemens did, but only for two years.

And the fourth period Stieb (1988 until the 1991 injury) wasn't chopped liver either, going 55-25 in three years and two months.

Since the question didn't seem to indicate tenure I went with Clemens. If tenure is the deciding factor I'd vote for Stieb but  Halladay would probably get the vote in a few years.

ChicagoJF, you articulate a key point to the question -- I agree with you about Clemens, and that's why I changed the wording of the question , which originally read "best" to read "top." Clemens was clearly the best, at least over any two-year span (here's where Magpie probably runs out a table  to prove that wrong) but Steib and Halladay are Jays. Clemens never will be that, in a historical context. I bet many casual fans think back on the '90s and "remember" him jumping from the Red Sox straight to the Yankees.

All that said, I voted for Key, mostly because I really liked watching him pitch (though admittedly moreso , uh, later in his career) -- personal preference of the sort that led someone (Pistol, probably) to vote for Guzman. Juan was dominant in spurts but I literally think it's not possible to rationally argue he was the top (or best) pitcher in franchise history. Still, some will make that argument. Great thing about baseball, that is.

Mick, Mick... are you saying you like Key because he helped the Yankees win a championship?

Oh, you tried to whisper it in parentheses. But I shout it to the world! And now we know why Doyle Alexander gets so little love from you...

And there will be no Data Table proving anyone was better than the 97-87 Clemens. For the same reason there will be no Data Table proving Sal Fasano is a better hitter than Albert Pujols.

personal preference of the sort that led someone (Pistol, probably) to vote for Guzman.

Not guilty!  I voted for Steib.  Top pitcher to me is the best balance of performance & longevity and I don't think anyone else is really close right now.  (Does anyone have the win shares handy?)

However, Guzman is always a favorite of mine.  Back then I had no clue about the minors and he came up and seemingly never lost.  In his first 3 years he was 40-11 and the Jays won a couple championships.