The 2005 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 29th season in Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing third in the American League East with a record of 80 wins and 82 losses. This was the first 162-game season since 1993 that Blue Jays hitters would combine for less than 1,000 strikeouts. This was also the team's first season as Canada's only MLB team, as the Montreal Expos relocated and became the Washington Nationals at the end of the 2004 MLB season.
Transactions Transactions by the Toronto Blue Jays during the off-season before the 2005 season. October 2004 Jason Kershner granted free agency (signed with Boston Red Sox to a one-year contract on November 18, 2004). Chad Hermansen granted free agency. Dave Maurer granted free agency. Bobby Estalella granted free agency. Signed amateur free agent Joel Carreño to a contract. Sean Douglass granted free agency (signed with Detroit Tigers to a one-year contract on November 9, 2004). Stubby Clapp granted free agency. Bob File granted free agency (signed with St. Louis Cardinals to a contract on January 12, 2005). Aquilino López granted free agency (signed with Los Angeles Dodgers to a contract on December 2, 2004). Julius Matos granted free agency (signed with Toronto Blue Jays to a one-year contract on November 12, 2004). Micheal Nakamura granted free agency. Simon Pond granted free agency (signed with Boston Red Sox to a one-year contract on December 15, 2004). Jesús Sánchez granted free agency. Anthony Sanders granted free agency (signed with Toronto Blue Jays to a one-year contract on November 16, 2004). Glenn Williams granted free agency (signed with Minnesota Twins to a one-year contract on December 14, 2004). Chris Woodward granted free agency (signed with New York Mets to a one-year, $700,000 contract on December 29, 2004). Howie Clark granted free agency (signed with Pittsburgh Pirates to a one-year contract on November 1, 2004). Dave Berg granted free agency (signed with Boston Red Sox to a one-year contract on February 7, 2005). Carlos Delgado granted free agency (signed with Florida Marlins to a four-year, $52 million contract on January 26, 2005). Valerio De Los Santos granted free agency (signed with Florida Marlins to a one-year contract on April 13, 2005). Chris Gomez granted free agency (signed with Baltimore Orioles to a one-year, $850,000 contract on December 8, 2004). Greg Myers granted free agency (signed with Toronto Blue Jays to a contract on November 19, 2004).
November 2004 Gregg Zaun granted free agency (signed with Toronto Blue Jays to a two-year, $1.95 million contract on January 6, 2005). Signed free agent Matt Whiteside from the Atlanta Braves to a one-year contract. Signed free agent Jesse Carlson from the Houston Astros to a one-year contract. Pat Hentgen granted free agency. Re-signed free agent Julius Matos to a one-year contract. Re-signed free agent Anthony Sanders to a one-year contract. Signed free agent Jason Alfaro from the Houston Astros to a one-year contract. Re-signed free agent Greg Myers to a contract.
December 2004 Acquired John McDonald from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later (Tom Mastny on December 14, 2004). Selected Steve Andrade off of waivers from the Anaheim Angels. Tyrell Godwin selected by the Washington Nationals in the 2004 MLB Rule 5 draft. Acquired Chad Gaudin from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Kevin Cash. Drafted Lee Gronkiewicz from the Cleveland Indians in the 2004 MLB Rule 5 draft. Signed free agent Corey Koskie from the Minnesota Twins to a three-year, $17 million contract. Signed free agent Scott Downs from the Washington Nationals to a one-year, $705,000 contract. Signed free agent Bry Nelson from the Chicago White Sox to a one-year contract. Kevin Frederick granted free agency (signed with Boston Red Sox to a contract on July 11, 2005).
January 2005 Released Jayson Durocher. Signed free agent Ken Huckaby from the Texas Rangers to a one-year contract. Re-signed free agent Gregg Zaun to a two-year, $1.95 million contract. Signed free agent Chad Mottola from the Baltimore Orioles to a contract. Signed free agent Billy Koch from the Florida Marlins to a contract. Signed free agent Scott Schoeneweis from the Anaheim Angels to a two-year, $5.25 million contract. Acquired Shea Hillenbrand from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Adam Peterson. Signed free agent Matt Duff from the Boston Red Sox to a contract.
February 2005 Signed free agent Pete Walker from the Yokohama Bay Stars of the NPB to a one-year, $400,000 contract. Signed free agent Chris Michalak from the Florida Marlins to a contract.
March 2005 Tyrell Godwin returned from the Washington Nationals. Acquired A.J. Wideman from the Washington Nationals for Tyrell Godwin. Released Mike Smith.
April 2005 Purchased Andy Dominique from the New York Yankees. Released Kerry Ligtenberg. Signed free agent Kevin Barker from the Philadelphia Phillies to a one-year contract. Released Chris Michalak.
Regular season
Summary On February 2, 2005, several days after finalizing the purchase of SkyDome by Rogers Communications, Rogers renamed the stadium to the Rogers Centre. In spite of the best efforts of the new ownership, a wide majority of Blue Jays fans continued (and still continue) to refer to the stadium as SkyDome. By the start of the season, Rogers had upgraded the stadium with a new "JumboTron" videoboard and added other state-of-the-art video screens around the stadium. Furthermore, the AstroTurf surface was replaced by the more natural-looking FieldTurf. Owner Ted Rogers also promised a payroll increase to $210 million over the next three years, which allowed the team to have a team payroll of $70 million per year.
The Blue Jays finished spring training with a 16–10 record. Among the stars of spring training was Gabe Gross, who tied the Jays' record for most home runs in spring training with eight (the previous record breaker was long time Blue Jay Carlos Delgado). The Jays were able to translate their success in spring training into an excellent start—the team led the AL East from early to mid-April and held their record around .500 until late August. The Jays were hit with the injury bug when third baseman Corey Koskie broke his finger, taking him out of the lineup, but the club was pleasantly surprised with the performance of rookie call-up Aaron Hill in his stead.
On July 8, just prior to the All-Star break, Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay was struck on the shin by a line drive from Texas left fielder Kevin Mench and was placed on the DL with a fractured leg. The injury cost Halladay his chance to be the American League starter in the All-Star Game in Detroit; his place on the All-Star squad was taken by Red Sox pitcher Matt Clement. Though Halladay's injury was hoped to be minor, the recovery process was met with constant delays, and Halladay eventually would prove to be out for the rest of the season. Team management officially announced that he would miss the rest of the season in August. The Halladay injury is seen by many as the negative turning point in the Jays season; the team had been in serious wild card contention at the time, but afterwards fell out of the race and failed to make the playoffs for the 12th consecutive year.
On July 22, Toronto traded utility infielder John McDonald to the Detroit Tigers for cash considerations. This gave the Blue Jays an open spot on the roster so that Aaron Hill could stay with the team when Corey Koskie returned from injury.
On July 28, Toronto played in the longest game in franchise history, innings-wise, an 18-inning marathon against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Rogers Centre. The Jays won 2–1, after nearly five hours of play when Orlando Hudson hit a line drive past a drawn in infield, scoring Alex Ríos from third base.
The shutdown of Halladay for the remainder of the season seemed to affect the performance of the Jays. They went on a slump that brought their record under .500 in the beginning of September. From there, the Blue Jays finished the season 80–82 while receiving glimpses of the future from September call-ups Guillermo Quiróz, John-Ford Griffin, and Shaun Marcum. Marcum made himself noteworthy by posting an ERA of 0.00 over 5 relief appearances and 8 innings in September. Griffin hit his first career home run in the last game of the season and ended up going 4 for 13.
Josh Towers also stepped up, showing largely unseen potential going 7–5 with a 2.91 ERA in the 2nd half of the year and a 13–12, 3.71 ERA season overall, making him arguably the unlikely ace of the Jays rotation with Halladay injured and Gustavo Chacín faltering somewhat after the All-Star break.
The 2005 Jays inability to score with men in scoring position was a turning point in many games that ended up as losses, also contributing to the 80–82 record, although as a positive, the team did improve by 13 wins and returned to their usual 80-win plateau.
On October 9, the Jays, along with their fans, mourned the loss of inaugural broadcaster Tom Cheek. Cheek, 66, succumbed to brain cancer after just over a year-long battle. Cheek had broadcast 4,306 consecutive games since the first day of the franchise. His streak was ended in June 2004 when he took time off to visit his ailing father.
In the off-season, general manager J. P. Ricciardi began to make good use of the money that had been granted to the Jays by Rogers Communications before the season. Rogers had given Ricciardi $210 million over three years, which became $75 million a season to spend, $25 million more than the previous year. Ricciardi fulfilled the team's need for a stable closer by signing former Baltimore Orioles standout B. J. Ryan to the richest contract ever for a reliever – a 5-year, $47 million on November 28. Following that, the club awarded a 5-year, $55 million contract to highly coveted starting pitcher A. J. Burnett, formerly of the Florida Marlins, on December 6.
On December 23, 2005, Rogers Sportsnet reported that the Jays added a much needed 30 plus home run hitter to their lineup by getting third baseman and 2002 World Series MVP Troy Glaus and minor league shortstop Sergio Santos in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In return, the Diamondbacks received second baseman and 2005 Gold Glove Award winner Orlando Hudson and pitcher Miguel Batista. Glaus passed a team physical on December 26, and the trade was officially announced the next day. On the same day as the announcement of the Glaus deal, the Jays acquired solid-hitting first baseman Lyle Overbay and right-handed pitching prospect Ty Taubenheim in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers; with pitcher Dave Bush, pitching prospect Zach Jackson, and outfielder Gabe Gross going to Milwaukee. Glaus and Overbay were both introduced to the Toronto media together a few days later.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Transactions Transactions for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 2005 regular season. April 2005 Greg Myers granted free agency.
May 2005 Signed free agent Joe DePastino from the New York Yankees to a one-year contract. Player rights of Ryan Glynn sold to the Oakland Athletics. Eric Crozier selected off of waivers by the New York Yankees.
July 2005 Justin Miller granted free agency. Sent John McDonald to the Detroit Tigers as part of conditional deal. Signed free agent Kevin Tolar from the Arizona Diamondbacks to a one-year contract.
August 2005 Signed free agent Desi Relaford from the Colorado Rockies to a one-year contract.
2005 draft picks Source
The 2005 MLB draft was held on June 7–8.