My thoughts on the 2025 season

Blue Jays' 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. after the team's game 7 loss to the Dodgers.

I am still heartbroken as anyone after the Blue Jays fell in heartbreaking fashion to the Los Angeles Dodgers, bringing an end to their improbable season after falling two outs shy of their third World Series title.

If you asked me back in March how I thought the Blue Jays season would go, I would have had very little positive things to say. After a poor 2024 campaign, I did not have high hopes for the team, and with superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. being a free agent following the 2025 season, I was ready for a dark few years in Toronto. I would not have guessed that manager John Schnedier and GM Ross Atkins would last the season, and I thought that the quality of the Blue Jays' roster was too lackluster to have any success.

To say that I was wrong would be possibly the understatement of the century. After signing Guerrero to a 14-year, $500m contract on April 9th, the Blue Jays went from worst-to-first in the AL East and clinched their first division title in a decade. Throughout the postseason, the Blue Jays continued to play incredible baseball, including a thrilling game 7 defeat of the Seattle Mariners to win their first pennant since 1993.

In the Fall Classic, the Blue Jays faced the defending champion Dodgers, with a roster filled top-to-bottom with perrenial All-Stars and future Hall of Famers and an absurd payroll that fails to include their masses of deferred money. Despite me thinking that the Blue Jays would quickly fall to the Dodgers, they returned to Toronto with a 3-2 series lead. After dropping a close game 6, the Blue Jays would come two outs away from a championship before Jeff Hoffman allowed a game-tying home run to Dodgers' #9 hitter Miguel Rojas. Ultimately, the Jays would fall to the Dodgers in 11 innings, coming so close to becoming perhaps the most shocking World Series champions in history, only behind the 1969 "Miracle Mets".

Players with little-to-no track record like Ernie Clement and Nathan Lukes had career seasons. At age 35, George Springer had a bounceback season, hitting over 30 homers for the first time since 2019. Top prospect Trey Yesavage was phenominal after making his MLB debut on September 15th and is someone the Blue Jays can feel confident in building around for years to come.

Following any heartbreaking loss in sports, fans typically try and lift their spirits by believing that "there is always next year", something fans of another Toronto sports team have been saying since 1967. However, barring another miracle season similar to this one, I am not conflicted in my outlook on the Jays. On one hand, I am excited for the team to build around players like Vlad, Yesavage, and Addison Barger. However, with aging veterans — especially in the starting rotation — and many players having seasons I cannot imagine being replicated, I am not so positive they can return to the World Series.

As the offseason begins, the Blue Jays have some tough decisions to make, especially in free agency. The most notable of which is far and away Bo Bichette, whose contract has expired. I hope to see Bo back in Toronto next season, but who knows whether the feeling is mutual. Despite several moves being made in free agency, many of the players acquired in the offseason made a negative or insignificant impact to the club.

If the Blue Jays can bolster their rotation, acquire a reliable reliever or two, and keep with their high-contact approach to hitting, I will feel highly confident heading into 2026. It would be highly disappointing if Toronto fail to reach another World Series for the duration of Guerrero's contract, and next season is only the first of 14.

The loss still stings like nothing I have ever experienced in sports before, and I am already counting down the 145 days from the end of the World Series to Opening Day. Until then, I will keep myself busy writing about offseason news and Blue Jays history, and am looking forward to cheering on my two countries — Canada and Great Britain — in March's World Baseball Classic!