# List of Toronto Blue Jays first-round draft picks

The Toronto Blue Jays are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They play in the American League East division. Since the Blue Jays' entrance into the league in 1977, the Blue Jays have selected 72 players in the first round. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", the Rule 4 draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning amateur players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick. In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks. The First-Year Player Draft is unrelated to the 1976 expansion draft in which the Blue Jays initially filled their roster.
Of the 72 players picked in the first round by Toronto, 35 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 26 of them were right-handed, while nine were left-handed. 14 shortstops, 12 outfielders, four catchers and third basemen, and three first basemen have also been selected. The team has never drafted a player at second base in the first round. 38 players were drafted out of high school, while 31 came from four-year college programs and two from junior colleges. They have also drafted two players from Puerto Rico: Alex Ríos (1999) and Miguel Negrón (2000).
Ed Sprague Jr. (1988), who was with the franchise when they won the World Series in 1992 and 1993, is the only pick to win a championship with the team. No picks have won the MLB Rookie of the Year Award, though Shawn Green (1991) and Alex Ríos (1999) finished fifth in the voting in 1995 and 2004, respectively. Roy Halladay (1995) is the only first-round pick of the Blue Jays to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, occurring in 2019, and to earn a Cy Young Award with the team, winning in 2003. Jay Schroeder (1979) was drafted as a catcher, but ended up becoming a quarterback for ten years in the National Football League.
The Blue Jays have made 23 selections in the supplemental round of the draft and 31 compensatory picks since their entry into the league in 1977. These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season, or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year. The Blue Jays have failed to sign three of their first-round picks, James Paxton (2009), who opted to return to the University of Kentucky, Tyler Beede (2011), and Phil Bickford (2013). The Blue Jays received the 38th pick in 2010, the 22nd pick in 2012, and the 11th pick in 2015 as compensation.

## Key

| Year | Links to an article about that year's Major League Baseball Draft |
| Position | Indicates the secondary/collegiate position at which the player was drafted, rather than the professional position the player may have gone on to play |
| Pick | Indicates the number of the pick |
| * | Player did not sign with the Blue Jays |
| § | Indicates a supplemental pick |
| † | Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame |
| '92–'93 | Player was a member of Blue Jays' 1992 and 1993 championship teams |

## Picks

| Year | Name | Position | School (location) | Pick |
| 1977 | Tom Goffena | Shortstop | Sidney High School (Sidney, Ohio) | 25 |
| 1978 | Lloyd Moseby | First baseman | Oakland High School (Oakland, California) | 2 |
| 1979 | Jay Schroeder | Catcher | Palisades High School (Pacific Palisades, California) | 3 |
| 1980 | Garry Harris | Shortstop | Hoover High School (San Diego, California) | 2 |
| 1981 | Matt Williams | Right-handed pitcher | Rice University (Houston, Texas) | 5 |
| 1981 | John Cerutti | Left-handed pitcher | Amherst College (Amherst, Massachusetts) | 21 |
| 1982 | Augie Schmidt | Shortstop | University of New Orleans (New Orleans, Louisiana) | 2 |
| 1983 | Matt Stark | Catcher | Los Altos High School (Hacienda Heights, California) | 9 |
| 1984 | no first-round pick | no first-round pick | no first-round pick | no first-round pick |
| 1985 | Greg David | Outfielder | Barron G. Collier High School (Naples, Florida) | 25 |
| 1986 | Earl Sanders | Right-handed pitcher | Jackson State University (Jackson, Mississippi) | 26 |
| 1987 | Alex Sanchez | Right-handed pitcher | University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California) | 13 |
| 1988 | Ed Sprague Jr. '92–'93 | Third baseman | Stanford University (Stanford, California) | 25 |
| 1989 | Eddie Zosky | Shortstop | California State University, Fresno (Fresno, California) | 19 |
| 1990 | Steve Karsay | Right-handed pitcher | Christ The King Regional High School (Queens, New York) | 22 |
| 1991 | Shawn Green | Outfielder | Tustin High School (Tustin, California) | 16 |
| 1991 | Jeff Ware | Right-handed pitcher | Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Virginia) | 35§ |
| 1991 | Dante Powell | Shortstop | Millikan High School (Long Beach, California) | 42§ |
| 1992 | Shannon Stewart | Outfielder | Miami Southridge High School (Miami, Florida) | 19 |
| 1992 | Todd Steverson | Outfielder | Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona) | 25 |
| 1992 | Brandon Cromer | Shortstop | Lexington High School (Lexington, South Carolina) | 34§ |
| 1993 | Chris Carpenter | Right-handed pitcher | Trinity High School (Manchester, New Hampshire) | 15 |
| 1993 | Matt Farner | Outfielder | East Pennsboro High School (Enola, Pennsylvania) | 37§ |
| 1993 | Jeremy Lee | Right-handed pitcher | Galesburg High School (Galesburg, Illinois) | 40§ |
| 1993 | Mark Lukasiewicz | Left-handed pitcher | Brevard Community College (Cocoa, Florida) | 41§ |
| 1994 | Kevin Witt | Shortstop | Bishop Kenny High School (Jacksonville, Florida) | 28 |
| 1995 | Roy Halladay$^†$ | Right-handed pitcher | Arvada West High School (Arvada, Colorado) | 17 |
| 1996 | Billy Koch | Right-handed pitcher | Clemson University (Clemson, South Carolina) | 4 |
| 1996 | Joe Lawrence | Shortstop | Alfred M. Barbe High School (Lake Charles, Louisiana) | 16 |
| 1996 | Pete Tucci | First baseman | Providence College (Providence, Rhode Island) | 31§ |
| 1997 | Vernon Wells | Outfielder | Bowie High School (Arlington, Texas) | 5 |
| 1998 | Felipe López | Third baseman | Lake Brantley High School (Altamonte Springs, Florida) | 8 |
| 1999 | Alex Ríos | Outfielder | San Pedro Martin High School (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) | 19 |
| 2000 | Miguel Negrón | Outfielder | Manuela Toro High School (Caguas, Puerto Rico) | 18 |
| 2000 | Dustin McGowan | Right-handed pitcher | Long County High School (Ludowici, Georgia) | 33§ |
| 2001 | Gabe Gross | Outfielder | Auburn University (Auburn, Alabama) | 15 |
| 2002 | Russ Adams | Shortstop | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) | 14 |
| 2003 | Aaron Hill | Shortstop | Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) | 13 |
| 2004 | David Purcey | Left-handed pitcher | University of Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma) | 16 |
| 2004 | Zach Jackson | Left-handed pitcher | Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas) | 32§ |
| 2005 | Ricky Romero | Left-handed pitcher | California State University, Fullerton (Fullerton, California) | 6 |
| 2006 | Travis Snider | Outfielder | Henry M. Jackson High School (Everett, Washington) | 14 |
| 2007 | Kevin Ahrens | Shortstop | Memorial High School (Houston, Texas) | 16 |
| 2007 | J. P. Arencibia | Catcher | University of Tennessee (Knoxville, Tennessee) | 21 |
| 2007 | Brett Cecil | Left-handed pitcher | University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, Maryland) | 38§ |
| 2007 | Justin Jackson | Shortstop | T. C. Roberson High School (Asheville, North Carolina) | 45§ |
| 2007 | Trystan Magnuson | Right-handed pitcher | University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky) | 56§ |
| 2008 | David Cooper | First baseman | University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, California) | 17 |
| 2009 | Chad Jenkins | Right-handed pitcher | Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw, Georgia) | 20 |
| 2009 | James Paxton* | Left-handed pitcher | University of Kentucky (Lexington, Kentucky) | 37§ |
| 2010 | Deck McGuire | Right-handed pitcher | Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia) | 11 |
| 2010 | Aaron Sanchez | Right-handed pitcher | Barstow High School (Barstow, California) | 34§ |
| 2010 | Noah Syndergaard | Right-handed pitcher | Legacy High School (Mansfield, Texas) | 38§ |
| 2010 | Asher Wojciechowski | Right-handed pitcher | The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina (Charleston, South Carolina) | 41§ |
| 2011 | Tyler Beede* | Right-handed pitcher | Lawrence Academy (Groton, Massachusetts) | 21 |
| 2011 | Jacob Anderson | Outfielder | Chino High School (Chino, California) | 35§ |
| 2011 | Joe Musgrove | Right-handed pitcher | Grossmont High School (San Diego, California) | 46§ |
| 2011 | Dwight Smith Jr. | Outfielder | McIntosh High School (Peachtree City, Georgia) | 53§ |
| 2011 | Kevin Comer | Right-handed pitcher | Seneca High School (Tabernacle Township, New Jersey) | 57§ |
| 2012 | D. J. Davis | Outfielder | Stone County High School (Wiggins, Mississippi) | 17 |
| 2012 | Marcus Stroman | Right-handed pitcher | Duke University (Durham, North Carolina) | 22 |
| 2012 | Matt Smoral | Left-handed pitcher | Solon High School (Solon, Ohio) | 50§ |
| 2012 | Mitch Nay | Third baseman | Hamilton High School (Chandler, Arizona) | 58§ |
| 2012 | Tyler Gonzales | Right-handed pitcher | Madison High School (San Antonio, Texas) | 60§ |
| 2013 | Phil Bickford* | Right-handed pitcher | Oaks Christian School (Westlake Village, California) | 10 |
| 2014 | Jeff Hoffman | Right-handed pitcher | East Carolina University (Greenville, North Carolina) | 9 |
| 2014 | Max Pentecost | Catcher | Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw, Georgia) | 11§ |
| 2015 | Jon Harris | Right-handed pitcher | Missouri State University (Springfield, Missouri) | 29 |
| 2016 | T. J. Zeuch | Right-handed pitcher | University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) | 21 |
| 2017 | Logan Warmoth | Shortstop | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) | 22 |
| 2017 | Nate Pearson | Right-handed pitcher | College of Central Florida (Ocala, Florida) | 28§ |
| 2018 | Jordan Groshans | Shortstop | Magnolia High School (Magnolia, Texas) | 12 |
| 2019 | Alek Manoah | Right-handed pitcher | West Virginia University (Morgantown, West Virginia) | 11 |
| 2020 | Austin Martin | Shortstop | Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee) | 5 |
| 2021 | Gunnar Hoglund | Right-handed pitcher | University of Mississippi (Oxford, Mississippi) | 19 |
| 2022 | Brandon Barriera | Left-handed pitcher | American Heritage School (Plantation, Florida) | 23 |
| 2023 | Arjun Nimmala | Shortstop | Strawberry Crest (Dover, Florida) | 20 |
| 2024 | Trey Yesavage | Right-Handed Pitcher | East Carolina University (Greenville, North Carolina) | 20 |