Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays players: who played for both
Who played for both the Royals and Blue Jays?
88 players played for both the Kansas City Royals and the Toronto Blue Jays between 1977 and 2025, including John Mayberry, Jose Bautista, Rance Mulliniks and Whit Merrifield. 49 of them played for the Royals first and 30 for the Blue Jays first; 9 played for both in the same season.
Did you know?
- Tom Bruno is the earliest on this list to complete the pair: Royals first, then the Blue Jays from 1977.
- Trevor Richards is the most recent: Blue Jays first, then the Royals from 2025.
- John Mayberry played the most games across the two: 897 for the Royals and 549 for the Blue Jays.
- 16 of them had two or more separate spells with one of the teams, such as Buck Martinez.
- Most common positions on this list: P (44), OF (16), C (10), 2B (8).
How many can you name?
Name players who played for both the Royals and the Blue Jays. The surname is enough. 0 / 88
All 88 players, most games for the two first
| Player | Pos | Royals | Blue Jays |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Mayberry | 1B | 1972–1977 (897 g) | 1978–1982 (549 g) |
| Jose Bautista | OF | 2004 (13 g) | 2008–2017 (1235 g) |
| Rance Mulliniks | 3B | 1980–1981 (60 g) | 1982–1992 (1115 g) |
| Whit Merrifield | 2B | 2016–2022 (863 g) | 2022–2023 (189 g) |
| Alex Rios | OF | 2015 (105 g) | 2004–2009 (809 g) |
| Buck Martinez | C | 1969–1971, 1973–1977 (361 g) | 1981–1986 (454 g) |
| Pat Borders | C | 1995 (52 g) | 1988–1994, 1999 (747 g) |
| Mark Teahen | 3B | 2005–2009 (676 g) | 2011 (27 g) |
| John Buck | C | 2004–2009 (584 g) | 2010 (118 g) |
| Gregg Zaun | C | 2000–2001 (122 g) | 2004–2008 (535 g) |
| Jarrod Dyson | OF | 2010–2016, 2021 (627 g) | 2021 (25 g) |
| Brian McRae | OF | 1990–1994 (614 g) | 1999 (31 g) |
| Willie Aikens | 1B | 1980–1983 (511 g) | 1984–1985 (105 g) |
| Kendrys Morales | DH | 2015–2016 (312 g) | 2017–2018 (280 g) |
| Matt Stairs | OF | 2004–2006 (330 g) | 2007–2008 (230 g) |
| Jason Frasor | P | 2014–2015 (49 g) | 2004–2012 (505 g) |
| Cavan Biggio | 2B | 2025 (37 g) | 2019–2024 (490 g) |
| Randal Grichuk | OF | 2025 (43 g) | 2018–2021 (479 g) |
| Ryan Goins | 2B | 2018 (41 g) | 2013–2017 (449 g) |
| Jorge Orta | 2B | 1984–1987 (359 g) | 1983 (103 g) |
| Melky Cabrera | OF | 2011, 2017 (213 g) | 2013–2014 (227 g) |
| Joakim Soria | P | 2007–2011, 2016–2017 (427 g) | 2021 (10 g) |
| Pat Tabler | 1B | 1988–1990 (287 g) | 1991–1992 (131 g) |
| Scott Downs | P | 2014 (17 g) | 2005–2010 (347 g) |
| Chris Getz | 2B | 2010–2013 (332 g) | 2014 (10 g) |
| Nelson Liriano | 2B | 1991 (10 g) | 1987–1990 (318 g) |
| Shawn Camp | P | 2004–2005 (71 g) | 2008–2011 (236 g) |
| Tony Solaita | 1B | 1974–1976 (220 g) | 1979 (36 g) |
| Buddy Black | P | 1982–1988 (217 g) | 1990 (3 g) |
| Juan Samuel | 2B | 1992, 1995 (44 g) | 1996–1998 (157 g) |
| Trevor Richards | P | 2025 (3 g) | 2021–2024 (195 g) |
| Alberto Castillo | C | 2004–2005 (63 g) | 2000–2001 (132 g) |
| Luke Maile | C | 2025 (25 g) | 2017–2019 (159 g) |
| Sal Fasano | C | 1996–1999, 2001 (164 g) | 2007 (16 g) |
| Steve Braun | OF | 1978–1980 (136 g) | 1980 (37 g) |
| Scott Service | P | 1997–1999 (153 g) | 2003 (16 g) |
| Benito Santiago | C | 2004 (49 g) | 1997–1998 (112 g) |
| Leon Roberts | OF | 1983–1984 (113 g) | 1982 (40 g) |
| Danny Valencia | 3B | 2014 (36 g) | 2014–2015 (108 g) |
| Nori Aoki | OF | 2014 (132 g) | 2017 (12 g) |
| Emilio Bonifacio | OF | 2013 (42 g) | 2013 (94 g) |
| Dan Reichert | P | 1999–2002 (109 g) | 2003 (15 g) |
| Juan Beniquez | OF | 1987 (57 g) | 1987–1988 (66 g) |
| Miguel Batista | P | 2000 (14 g) | 2004–2005 (109 g) |
| Luis Aquino | P | 1988–1992 (114 g) | 1986 (7 g) |
| Paul Spoljaric | P | 2000 (13 g) | 1994, 1996–1997, 1999 (104 g) |
| Tom Murphy | P | 1972 (21 g) | 1977–1979 (79 g) |
| Frank Wills | P | 1983–1984 (16 g) | 1988–1991 (82 g) |
| Jose Cuas | P | 2022–2023 (92 g) | 2024 (4 g) |
| David Cone | P | 1986, 1993–1994 (68 g) | 1992, 1995 (25 g) |
| Graeme Lloyd | P | 2003 (16 g) | 1999 (74 g) |
| Jason Smith | 2B | 2007–2008 (62 g) | 2007 (27 g) |
| Sam Gaviglio | P | 2017 (4 g) | 2018–2020 (82 g) |
| John Bale | P | 2007–2009 (82 g) | 1999–2000 (3 g) |
| Jackie Bradley | OF | 2023 (43 g) | 2022 (40 g) |
| Jesse Chavez | P | 2010–2011 (27 g) | 2012, 2016 (48 g) |
| Franklin Morales | P | 2015 (67 g) | 2016 (5 g) |
| Liam Hendriks | P | 2014 (6 g) | 2014–2015 (61 g) |
| Joel Payamps | P | 2021–2022 (44 g) | 2021 (22 g) |
| Octavio Dotel | P | 2007 (24 g) | 2011 (36 g) |
| Jason Adam | P | 2018 (31 g) | 2019 (23 g) |
| Jayson Nix | 3B | 2014 (7 g) | 2011 (46 g) |
| Glenn Sparkman | P | 2018–2020 (50 g) | 2017 (2 g) |
| Erik Kratz | C | 2014–2015 (17 g) | 2014 (34 g) |
| George Kottaras | C | 2013 (46 g) | 2014 (4 g) |
| Paul DeJong | SS | 2024 (37 g) | 2023 (13 g) |
| Richard Lovelady | P | 2019–2021 (46 g) | 2025 (2 g) |
| Doug Linton | P | 1995–1996 (28 g) | 1992–1993, 2003 (19 g) |
| Jeff Francis | P | 2011 (31 g) | 2015 (14 g) |
| Chien-Ming Wang | P | 2016 (38 g) | 2013 (6 g) |
| Jeremy Jeffress | P | 2011–2012 (27 g) | 2013–2014 (13 g) |
| Juan Berenguer | P | 1981, 1992 (27 g) | 1981 (12 g) |
| Greg Cadaret | P | 1993 (13 g) | 1994 (21 g) |
| J. P. Howell | P | 2005 (15 g) | 2017 (16 g) |
| Jacob Barnes | P | 2019 (15 g) | 2021, 2025 (16 g) |
| Ken Robinson | P | 1996 (5 g) | 1995, 1997 (24 g) |
| Thomas Hatch | P | 2025 (1 g) | 2020–2023 (27 g) |
| Ryan Freel | OF | 2009 (18 g) | 2001 (9 g) |
| Ryan Yarbrough | P | 2023 (14 g) | 2024 (12 g) |
| Stan Clarke | P | 1989 (2 g) | 1983, 1985–1986 (24 g) |
| Pat Lennon | OF | 1996 (14 g) | 1998–1999 (11 g) |
| Tom Bruno | P | 1976 (12 g) | 1977 (12 g) |
| John Parrish | P | 2010 (9 g) | 2008 (13 g) |
| Max Castillo | P | 2022–2023 (12 g) | 2022 (9 g) |
| Rick Luecken | P | 1989 (19 g) | 1990 (1 g) |
| Bryan Bullington | P | 2010 (13 g) | 2009 (4 g) |
| Jimmy Paredes | OF | 2014 (9 g) | 2016 (7 g) |
| Foster Griffin | P | 2020, 2022 (6 g) | 2022 (1 g) |
From the SABR Lahman Baseball Database (CC BY-SA 3.0), 1876–2025. A season counts when the player played at least one regular-season game for the franchise.
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Questions
How many players have played for both the Kansas City Royals and the Toronto Blue Jays?
88 in the Lahman Baseball Database from 1977 to 2025, including John Mayberry, Jose Bautista, Rance Mulliniks and Whit Merrifield. A player counts when he played at least one regular-season game for each franchise.
Who was the first player on this list to play for both?
Tom Bruno: Kansas City Royals first, then the Toronto Blue Jays from 1977.
Who has played for both recently?
Cavan Biggio, Randal Grichuk, Trevor Richards, Luke Maile, Jose Cuas and Paul DeJong and 4 more, with a season for one of the two in 2024 or 2025.
Does a player count if the team has moved or changed its name?
Yes. Seasons count for today's franchise, the way the Lahman database links every team-season to a franchise. Neither of these teams has moved or changed its name.
Careers from the SABR Lahman Baseball Database (CC BY-SA 3.0). Team logos are trademarks of their respective teams (logos via TheSportsDB). Independent and not affiliated with MLB or any team. Credits