This is not the most fun matchup of the several we were promised. It was looking like it could be Mariners-Brewers, or Tigers-Phillies, or Cubs-Mariners. And ultimately, we have Dodgers-Jays. The two teams that beat my favorite teams, squaring off in a World Series.
If anything...I kinda wanna see how this goes down.
Because there's two real outcomes here. There's the boring outcome, where the season-long fear that the Dodgers could buy a World Series comes to fruition anyway and we're left with a locked-out 2026 because no rich person ever learns their lesson. Or we get the fun outcome, where a team led by a native son trying to prove himself, backed up by a murderer's row of fun role-players and rookies, outdoes the Goliath. That's really where we're at, overspending vs. overbuilding. This Jays team is the culmination of a farm system build that began in 2019, nearly failed, was nearly split up THIS YEAR, and suddenly hunkered down and became truly great. If Guerrero leaves, then Bichette leaves, and this team never gets past the Yanks and Sox. Maybe Schneider gets fired, maybe Springer never has the comeback season, maybe Scherzer doesn't lock in. So much of this season was a chain reaction of events leading directly back to the team listening and re-signing Guerrero. It seemed like an odd move at the time, but deep down they knew that a World Series was still possible.
And that's how the Blue Jays made it to a World Series without Bo Bichette, Jose Berrios or Anthony Santander. They locked in so hard that they outdid even a hot-as-hell Mariners team. Vlad Jr. and George Springer dug deep and got them here. And everything that had struggled before, like Scherzer, the rotation, the outfield defense, even Jeff Hoffman, locked in even further.
That is a fantastic story. The Jays, in a different draw of cards, could have been out in August. But they made it to a World Series. It's a much better story than 'the Dodgers bought a ton of contracts, then they all got hurt, then they all got healthy and suddenly a team with 9 starters, three hitters that specifically only do well in October, and the best player in baseball history, is in the World Series'. If the Dodgers win, great, they deserve it, it's incredible...but you understand how that's way less interesting, right? 'Well they were the best team, so of course they won'. What kind of story is as simple as that? Where's the conflict? Yes, the middle of the season was still kind of rough, but they only lost 1st place for a couple seconds because the Padres absolutely gave up every time they were in position to overtake first. The Jays, meanwhile, blew past the Yankees for the division, stayed ahead of them in September and embarrassed them in October. THAT is a story.
This is going to be a very cool World Series, one that could have a very fun outcome. The Dodgers winning would cement this organization as Belichick levels of unfair, even if you can call them the next great baseball dynasty. But a Blue Jays win, after all this? Wouldn't that be something?
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