TORONTO – On the day the World Series returns to Toronto for the first time since Joe Carter touched them all Oct. 23, 1993, it’s a good time to look back at the vibe around the Blue Jays on opening day, before we dig into how they ended up in the Fall Classic.
Back on March 27, prior to a 12-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, we wrote how even club president and CEO Mark Shapiro described this year as “an inflection point,” and why that necessitated some compartmentalization between the “legitimate potential for a successful 2025,” and the “apprehension about 2026 and beyond.”
Driving that apprehension, first and foremost, were the uncertain long-term futures of cornerstones Vladimir Guerrero Jr., whose to that point unsuccessful negotiations on a contract extension had hung over an otherwise positive spring, and Bo Bichette. There were many other bigger-picture questions, too, including the expiring contracts for Shapiro and manager John Schneider, which further reinforced the tenuous nature of the situation.
But in the background during the final days of spring training, discussions between the Blue Jays and Guerrero turned a corner, and while an agreement didn’t get done in time for opening day, the seeds that led to a $500-million, 14-year agreement as April 6 became April 7 were firmly planted. Baseball’s second-largest contract in terms of present value – trailing only Juan Soto’s $765-million, 15-year windfall from the New York Mets but ahead of Shohei Ohtani’s $700-million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers because of the deferrals in it – did more than just secure a homegrown foundational talent.
The deal was a flagpole for the type of franchise the Blue Jays intended to be, a notice to all who doubted their will after unsuccessful high-profile free-agency runs at Ohtani, Soto and other top-tier players. And while there isn’t a straight through line from Guerrero’s monster deal to winning the American League East, the ALDS against the New York Yankees and the ALCS versus the Seattle Mariners, the need for compartmentalization disappeared once it was done because there was, finally, a clear direction for the organization.
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Up until then, several possibilities had been on the table, but that type of investment in a player isn’t made without the determination to continually leverage it. From that point forward, the only question became how to max out the 2025 group, with time to figure out 2026 and beyond.
They needed two months to nail down the first part, losing 12 of 16 from April 19 to May 7, steadying briefly, but then suffering a brutal three-game sweep May 23-25 at the Tampa Bay Rays, managing a dismal two runs on 14 hits, that threatened to capsize them.
Instead, they rebounded by taking two of three at the Texas Rangers immediately after, including a 2-0 win May 28 on Bichette’s pinch-hit two-run homer in the ninth inning, often described as a key springboard. They didn’t stop winning from there en route to 94 victories, the club’s fifth-most ever.
There’s more to it than that, of course, as the biggest year-to-year turnaround in franchise history, a remarkable 20-win gain, started with widescale structural changes in game-planning, defensive alignment, hitting, pitch recommendations and communication. Players like Bichette, George Springer, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Myles Straw, Daulton Varsho and Eric Lauer rebounded from varying degrees of down years in 2024. Ernie Clement, Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes, Braydon Fisher, Brendon Little and Mason Fluharty emerged. Schneider made the pieces fit exceptionally well.
Combined with a rebound year for the farm system, which made significant off-season changes in its approach to developing pitchers, and a revamped draft process, the Blue Jays are now better positioned to deal with the 2026-and-beyond questions.
A couple of them in Shapiro and Schneider may already be unofficially settled, with extensions that will be finalized soon after the off-season begins. But even with a slate of seven pending free agents, headlined by Bichette, Bassitt, Shane Bieber (who holds a player option he’s expected to decline) and Max Scherzer, the Blue Jays have a much-improved base to operate from, beginning with Guerrero, locked in long term, and now the freshly minted ALCS MVP stomping his way through a post-season to remember.
“One of the things that gets lost is how young he actually is as a human being,” said Springer, having carried in Houston the type of burden Guerrero, 26, carries. “He cares so much about everybody around him. That’s what makes him great. Whenever you get a guy like that, he’s earned every bit of whatever he’s got. He’s kind of shown the world a little bit who he is as a player, and what guys see in here every day. He knows what weight is on his shoulders, and he’s kind of embraced it. But at the same time, he’ll say it all the time, he couldn’t be here without all of us. And that’s a cool thing. He genuinely loves the city, he loves this team, this organization, so it’s a special thing to have a guy like that.”
No doubt, and so March’s apprehensions have ceded to October’s celebrations, to this point highlighted by Springer’s epic contribution to the Blue Jays’ pantheon of greatest moments, his Game 7 homer to win the ALCS.
The 121st World Series, opposite the defending champion Dodgers, is nigh, an opportunity to add yet another layer of happiness to what’s already been an incredibly joyful run. The powerhouse NL West champions represent the Blue Jays’ most difficult opponent yet but Schneider pushed back on the notion of a mismatch making the rounds in the baseball discourse, with the type of rebuttal perhaps meant for his players as much as the public.
“Two best teams left standing,” is how he labelled the matchup. “Built differently, have different strengths. There’s a reason we are here and there’s a reason they’re there. The one thing we cannot do is look over there and say that is Goliath. That is a beatable baseball team that has its flaws, and that has its really, really good strengths. How we expose each of them will determine who wins the series. And I got all the confidence in the world in my guys.
“I’ll say it until the day I die – I’ll put this group of 26 up against anybody,” he added. “And they’re looking forward to taking on what is on paper the best team in baseball, that is playing really well right now, and I don’t think they would have it any other way.”
Rightly so for a group that’s emerged from the uncertainties of the spring to earn and deserve that faith.
