TORONTO -- Baseball isn’t going to wait around for the Blue Jays. Suddenly, even harshly, the MLB offseason is about to begin.
Even in the haze of these early days, when it’s still so hard to see through the heartbreak of the Blue Jays’ Game 7 loss to the Dodgers, there is reason to believe that this dream season was the beginning of something. This same team may not get to run it back, but this organization should.
The Blue Jays’ front office had been vindicated. Past failures live in a softer light now that the team has established a clear identity and culture, two words that many organizations struggle to even define, let alone achieve. We know what “Blue Jays baseball” looks like now. It’s built on stubborn, relentless at-bats; the “team approach” to offense that is necessary in the postseason; and enough power to make greatness possible. It’s built on elite defense and a belief that old-school starting pitching still matters.
It worked. It’s taken time, and the Blue Jays still fell painfully short to the Dodgers, but they’ve finally found their formula.
“We have set a new expectation and a new standard here,” said manager John Schneider, “and did it with a lot of hard work, did it with a lot of cohesiveness.”
Now the Blue Jays need to get back. Nothing less than a World Series will satisfy now. The days of being satisfied with an invitation to the dance are over in Toronto, as they should have been long ago. The Wild Card no longer matters, either. It’s about the American League East now.
Working in the Blue Jays’ favor now are three crucial elements, beginning with payroll. Rogers ownership, led by chairman Edward Rogers, has proven to not only be willing to spend, but eager to. A run to the World Series with TV numbers we’ve never seen outside the Super Bowl and Olympic hockey doesn’t exactly lose you money, either. The Blue Jays will be able to spend with baseball’s big dogs. That’s the table they sit at now.
This organization has also quietly built its player development back into a strength, with Trey Yesavage the new poster boy after his brilliant 2025 season. On top of all this, they now have a superstar capable of attracting talent. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a postseason for the ages. For years his greatness was only an idea, but now it is a reality. This won’t be LeBron James attracting veterans for title runs -- baseball doesn’t quite work that way -- but the Blue Jays have something to sell, and they have the highlights to prove it now.
“Vladimir took his game to another level,” Schneider said. “I think for players that are here and that are going to be here and that are going to be here in the future, knowing that we got 14 more years of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. playing complete baseball is an awesome thing for our team and for our fans.”
Change is coming, though.
Bo Bichette, Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber and Seranthony Domínguez are free agents. Kevin Gausman, Daulton Varsho and George Springer are just a year away. The Blue Jays will have significant spending power this offseason, but that money needs to be spent well and spent aggressively.
Bichette, fresh off his three-run shot off Shohei Ohtani in Game 7 -- which should have been remembered as an all-time World Series moment in a Blue Jays win -- will dominate the headlines all winter, and Bichette continues to say he wants to remain in Toronto.
“I think the understanding is that this is a special place to play,” club president and CEO Mark Shapiro said on a postseason broadcast. “We’re thinking about every way possible to make it special for our players, but the fans and the support here, recognizing that it’s a nation when we go on the road, no team travels like our fans travel. There’s an appreciation from Bo, who has spent his whole career here.”
Others, like Bassitt, have expressed their desire to stay and an emotional connection to this team. That interest should be mutual.
Remember those 1993 Blue Jays, though. Fresh off a World Series, Pat Gillick turned over nearly half of their 40-man roster, adding Paul Molitor and Dave Stewart, then bringing in Rickey Henderson and Tony Fernandez via trades midseason. They also re-signed Joe Carter, who nearly went to the Royals.
Change is coming, perhaps jarring. A new season is coming, too, quicker than it has in 32 years.
“The beauty of baseball is that it goes on,” Schneider said. “There will be Spring Training in February.”