World C's-ries: Canadians Well Represented At Fall Classic
Unless you’ve been deep in the Yukon – or maybe even as far north as the tip of Nunavut – cut off from everything other than the land and whatever is living on it, you know the Toronto Blue Jays have made it to the World Series for the first
Unless you’ve been deep in the Yukon – or maybe even as far north as the tip of Nunavut – cut off from everything other than the land and whatever is living on it, you know the Toronto Blue Jays have made it to the World Series for the first time since 1993.
32 years ago, this iteration of the Canadians was still in Medford, OR (remember the Southern Oregon A’s, who became the Timberjacks in 1996 then decamped north in 2000?) and the Pacific Coast League Canadians called The Nat their home. That team – as a California Angels affiliate – went 72-68 while featuring the likes of Jim Edmonds, JT Snow, Garret Anderson and Troy Percival.
Fast forward to 2025. 14 years and five Northwest League Championships since the Canadians/Blue Jays affiliation began have come and gone. That decade and a half has played an important role in the success of this year’s big league club; there are C’s-shaped fingerprints all over the roster of the best Blue Jays team since Joe Carter and co.
This season alone, eight former C’s contributed to Toronto’s regular season success: Addison Barger, Lazaro Estrada, Mason Fluharty, Leo Jimenez, Davis Schneider, John Schneider, Paxton Schultz and Trey Yesavage. Five of them – four players and the skipper – are set to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Friday, October 24.
John Schneider – Manager (2011, 2014-15)
“Schneids” has been a beloved figure inside the Blue Jays organization for nearly a quarter century. Originally drafted by Toronto in the 13th round of the 2002 draft out of the University of Delaware, Schneider would spend six seasons as a catcher in the system before injuries ended his playing career.
His first chance at managing came in 2008 with the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays before a promotion to Vancouver for the 2011 season. At just 30 years old, Schneider set a record as the youngest C’s manager in franchise history. A personal leave of absence cut his season short, but after a year away and another season in the GCL he returned to The Nat for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. It wouldn’t be long before he ascended through the ranks; he skippered Single-A Lansing in 2016, won a Florida State League title with High-A Dunedin in 2017 and helmed the Eastern League-champion New Hampshire Fisher Cats – with Vladdy and Bo on the roster – in 2018, a season in which he was named Manager of the Year. The Blue Jays called him up to the big league coaching ranks in 2019, where he served until taking the reins in the manager’s office.
Trey Yesavage – Starting Pitcher (2025)
If you know the Blue Jays are going to the World Series then you’ve definitely heard about the pride of Boyerstown, PA over the last few weeks. You can read about his postseason exploits in the countless other articles written about the 22-year-old phenom over the last few weeks, but the world has gotten to see what we witnessed over four starts for the C’s at the end of May and into June.
Yesavage had already put the industry on notice with a dominant six weeks in Single-A with Dunedin before he was called up to Vancouver on May 20. He made two starts on the road – which included 19 strikeouts in 8.0 innings – then took the hill at The Nat on May 31 for what proved to be his first (and only) start on Canadian soil until his Rogers Centre debut. That afternoon on Ontario Street, Yesavage waited out a one-hour rain delay then tossed 4.1 scoreless and hitless frames. He’d make one more start for the C’s, a five-inning affair at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, WA in which he earned the win with one run on two hits with a walk and nine Ks before his rocket ship launched to Double-A, then Triple-A, then the big leagues.
And the cherry on top? He’s already shown his true patriot love by singing O Canada with Red Sox legend David Ortiz.
Addison Barger – Utility (2021-2022)
There are few players in the organization with as much raw power as “Bam Bam” Barger. Outside of Vlad Jr. and Ernie Clement, the Washington-born, Florida-raised slugger had one of the best performances in the American League Championship Series, posting a .958 OPS with a double, two homers, four runs scored, four RBI and more walks (five) than strikeouts (three) while appearing in all seven games. He also made a huge throw from the outfield to stymie a Mariners rally.
Barger got his first taste of High-A in 2021, when he came up from Dunedin for the final week of the season. He’s one of the few players in team history who can say they played “home” games in both Hillsboro and Vancouver; he returned in 2022 and at various points in his 69-game tenure led the Northwest League in RBI, homers and extra base hits. He left the Canadians in July of that year having posted a .300 batting average and a .924 OPS.
Davis Schneider – Utility (2019, 2021-2022)
A career that started as a 28th round pick (849th overall, a round that does not exist anymore) in 2017 out of Eastern High School in Voorhees, NJ has blossomed into something nobody could have imagined for the 5-foot, 9-inch Garden Stater. Schneider toiled in the lowest levels of the Minors for three seasons – including a less-than-stellar 19-game stint with the Rookie-level C’s in 2019 – before the pandemic then got his first taste of High-A in 2021.
He returned to the Canadians roster in 2022 – the same season we returned to The Nat for the first time since 2019 – and remade himself into a clutch-hitting power threat that put the world on notice with a torrid June. After collecting just 13 hits in 87 at-bats (.149) through the first two months of the season, Schneider hit .410 with 16 hits in 10 games that month. 11 of those hits – eight doubles (the most in Minor League Baseball) and three dingers – went for extra bases to produce an eye-popping .846 slugging percentage; that was the tenth highest in MiLB and the second best among those who had played in 10 or more June games at that point. He was promoted to Double-A on June 25 and made his MLB debut a little over a year later.
Mason Fluharty – Relief Pitcher (2022-2023)
The first professional team Mason Fluharty suited up for was the C’s; he made his pro debut August 11, 2022 at PK Park in Eugene. He appeared in 10 games that season then returned to Vancouver in 2023 and posted a sparkling 0.59 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 15.1 innings across 12 appearances before his promotion to Double-A.
The Lewes, DE native spent all of 2024 in Triple-A then made his big league debut on April 1 of this year.
Both Schneiders, Yesavage, Barger and Fluharty are just five of the over 200 C’s alumni who have gone on to the Major Leagues. The stars of tomorrow first shine at The Nat in Vancouver, and 2026 NatPacks will be available starting Friday, October 24th at 10:00 a.m. PST.