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Weekend Chart: All-time franchise roster tenure

Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Following up on last weekend's chart of tenure for the current roster, we now look at player tenure for the entire franchise history. This is a little bit trickier to compile, and it's possible I might be missing the odd player. In which case use the comments to hold me accountable.

Organizational Tenure

Name (Stints) Rk Acquired Tenure
Carlos Delgado 1 1988 IFA 16.1 yrs
Dave Stieb (2) 2 1978 Draft 15 yrs
Roy Halladay 3 1995 Draft 14.5 yrs
Tony Fernandez (4) 4 1979 IFA 14.3 yrs
Dustin McGowan 5 2000 Draft 14.3 yrs
Vernon Wells 6 1997 Draft 13.6 yrs
Ernie Whitt 7 Expansion 12.9 yrs
Pat Hentgen (2) 8 1986 Draft 12.9 yrs
David Wells (2) 9 1982 Draft 12.7 yrs
Pat Borders (2) 10 1982 Draft 12.6 yrs
Jesse Barfield 11 1977 Draft 11.9 yrs
Jim Clancy 12 Expansion 11.8 yrs
(Tony Fernandez) 1979 IFA 11.6 yrs
Shannon Stewart (2) 13 1992 Draft 11.6 yrs
Lloyd Moseby 14 1978 Draft 11.4 yrs
Kelvim Escobar 15 1992 IFA 11.3 yrs
Jose Escobar 16 1978 IFA 11.1 yrs
Garth Iorg 17 Expansion 11 yrs
Mark Eichhorn (2) 18 1979 Draft 10.9 yrs
Juan Guzman 19 1987 Trade 10.9 yrs
Chris Woodward (2) 20 1994 Draft 10.7 yrs
Woody Williams 21 1988 Draft 10.5 yrs
Rance Mulliniks 22 1982 Trade 10.5 yrs
Greg Myers 23 1984 Trade 10.4 yrs
Alex Gonzalez 24 1991 Draft 10.4 yrs
Jimmy Key 25 1982 Draft 10.4 yrs
Casey Janssen 26 2004 Draft 10.4 yrs
Adam Lind 27 2004 Draft 10.3 yrs
Willie Upshaw 28 1977 Rule 5 10.3 yrs
Gustavo Chacin 29 1998 IFA 10.3 yrs
Alex Rios 30 1999 Draft 10.2 yrs
Mike Timlin 31 1987 Draft 10.2 yrs
Tony Castillo 32 1983 IFA 10.1 yrs
Ed Sprague 33 1988 Draft 10.1 yrs
George Bell 34 1980 Rule 5 9.9 yrs
Ricky Romero 35 2005 Draft 9.9 yrs

I find it interesting how things bunch up right around and just above 10 years in the organization. The entry for Tony Fernandez in brackets is to show only his first and most substantial stint with the Jays, as others with multiple stints were usually for just a season at the end of their careers and don't affect the order much (if at all).

Major League Service with Blue Jays

For the most part, historical service times (in format yy.ddd) are approximated using game logs, etc.

Name (Stints) Rk Acquired Service
Dave Stieb (2) 1 1978 Draft 14.020
Jim Clancy 2 Expansion 11.070
Rance Mulliniks 3 1982 Trade 11.000
Ernie Whitt 4 Expansion 10.110
Roy Halladay 5 1995 Draft 10.047
Tony Fernandez (4) 6 1979 IFA 10.030
Lloyd Moseby 7 1978 Draft 9.130
Carlos Delgado 8 1988 IFA 9.120
Vernon Wells 9 1997 Draft 9.113
Pat Hentgen (2) 10 1986 Draft 9.015
Jimmy Key 11 1982 Draft 9.000
Dustin McGowan 12 2000 Draft 8.113
George Bell T13 1980 Rule 5 8.080
Jason Frasor (2) T13 2004 Trade 8.080
Willie Upshaw 15 1977 Rule 5 8.075
Casey Janssen 16 2004 Draft 8.063
Duane Ward 17 1986 Trade 8.060
Alfredo Griffin (2) 18 1978 Trade 8.000
Garth Iorg 19 Expansion 7.170
Kelly Gruber 20 1983 Rule 5 7.075
Tom Henke 21 1985 Claim 7.070
Juan Guzman 22 1987 Trade 7.065
Jesse Barfield 23 1977 Draft 7.060
Adam Lind 24 2004 Draft 7.058
Jose Bautista 25 2008 Trade 7.038
John Olerud 26 1989 Draft 7.030
Alex Gonzalez 27 1991 Draft 7.020
Pat Borders (2) T28 1982 Draft 7.000
Joe Carter T28 1990 Trade 7.000
Damaso Garcia T28 1979 Trade 7.000

Ed Sprague and David Wells would be next on the list with just under seven years of Blue Jays service time (about a week or so)