The Blue Jays unveiled their new Hall of Excellence Saturday, inducting Buck Martinez as its first member.
The ceremony marked the franchise's 50th season, placing Martinez alongside names like Joe Carter, Roy Halladay, and Jose Bautista.
That's an impressive exhibit already. But a few names still feel like glaring omissions.
Edwin Encarnacion tops that list. If Bautista was the era's Michael Jordan, Encarnacion was Scottie Pippen, every bit as good in his own right.
He crushed 239 home runs over eight seasons in Toronto, averaging roughly 39 per year during his peak from 2012 to 2016.
He drove in 110 runs a year on average during that same stretch, a genuine run producer at the height of his powers.
His walk-off homer in the 2016 AL Wild Card game remains one of the most iconic moments in franchise history on its own.
Two pitchers whose Blue Jays legacy still gets overlooked
Encarnacion has stuck around too, working as a special assistant to baseball operations and mentoring current hitters, including conversations with Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Jimmy Key might be the most underrated pitcher in franchise history, and it's time he got real recognition for it.
Over nine seasons in Toronto, Key made two All-Star teams and finished runner-up for the 1987 AL Cy Young, leading MLB that year with a 2.76 ERA and a 1.057 WHIP.
Former Blue Jay Roger Clemens beat him for that award, but Key's place in the 1992 World Series championship season alone secures his legacy.
He's already in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. The Blue Jays' own Hall of Excellence is the obvious next step.
Tom Henke closes out the case. Long before Louis Varland took over the ninth inning, Henke was "The Terminator," and a lead meant the game was over once he entered.
Varland's 2026 season set a franchise mark, converting 30 of 31 saves for a 96.8% rate, the best of any 30-save season in team history.
Henke's own 1992 season ranks third on that same list, 34 of 37 saves at 91.9%, part of a career that included 217 saves and a 2.48 ERA across 563 innings in Toronto.
He struck out 644 batters over eight dominant seasons and made just one All-Star team, a number that undersells exactly how good he was.
None of these three are locks to get in next. But between the power numbers, the championship pedigree, and the closer's legacy, all three have real cases sitting right there in the franchise record book.
Which Blue Jays legend deserves Hall of Excellence induction next, Edwin Encarnacion or Tom Henke?
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