Blue Jays Birthdays: Donaldson, Wells, Johnson, Drabek

Donaldson, Wells, Johnson and Drabek have birthdays today.

Josh Donaldson turns 37 today. He was traded from the A's to the Blue Jays in exchange for a few players. In his four seasons with the Jays he hit .281/.383/.548 with 116 home runs in 462 games. After leaving Toronto he played for Cleveland, Atlanta and Minnesota. This past season he was playing for the Yankees.

Vernon Wells turns 44 today. He was drafted by the Blue Jays in 1997. Vernon rose through the minors and played 159 games with the Jays from 2002 to 2005. In 2003 he had his best season, hitting .317/.359/.550 and leading the league with 215 hits, 49 doubles and 373 total bases. In 2005 he won his second Gold Glove. His father was a football player. The father played in the CFL with Calgary Stampeders and Ottawa Rough Riders. Carlos Delgado was 2nd to Alex Rodriguez in MVP voting. Shannon Stewart was 4th.

Reed Johnson turns 46 today. He was drafted by the Jays in the 17th round of the 1999 amateur draft. Reed played for Cal State Fullerton and was named an Academic All-American. In 2003 he played in a platoon in RF with Frank Catalanotto and in 2004 with Shannon Stewart. The Jays traded Stewart to the Minnesota Twins for Bobby Kielty. Johnson had his career season with the Blue Jays, in 2006 he was everything you could want in an AL leadoff man. Before the 2008 season the team signed David Eckstein to play shortstop and lead off. He returned to playing in early July but he wasn't 100%.

Kyle Drabek turns 35 today. He was the big piece in the Roy Halladay trade. Kyle played for the Blue Jays for 5 seasons. In 2018 he played independent league baseball.