Matt Chapman (right) puts on the Blue Jays home run jacket after hitting a home run against the Boston Red Sox.
It has been 29 years since the last time the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series. It has been 6 years since the last time the Blue Jays won a playoff series. But many believe that things could change this season and the Toronto Blue Jays are back.
Following their second straight World Series title in 1993, things were rough for the Jays and their fans. First came the players strike of 1994 that saw Major League Baseball become the first-ever major American professional sports league to lose an entire postseason due to a labour dispute. Once games resumed in 1995, things did not get better for the Blue Jays.
Toronto entered a drought that saw them miss the postseason in 20 straight seasons. They finished with a losing record in 10 of those 20 seasons, but showed promise in 2014. Led by Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, the Jays finished 3rd in the American League (AL) East and just 5 games out from the last wild card spot.
Following the 2014 season, the Jays made a couple of critical moves. They signed free agent first baseman Justin Smoak to a one-year one-million dollar contract and acquired third baseman Josh Donaldson from the Oakland Athletics.
Then came the 2015 season. Midway through the year the Jays made another big splash landing former All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki from the Colorado Rockies. Donaldson went on to have a career year which saw him take home AL MVP. The Jays also finally ended their playoff drought at 20 years by capturing the AL East division title. They went on to beat the Texas Rangers in five games in the American League Divisional Series (ALDS) before losing to the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) in six games.
After that season, the Blue Jays made a move that would impact the future of the franchise. They signed 16-year old Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as an international free agent to a 3.9-million dollar contract.
The Jays returned to the postseason the following season, and once again defeated the Rangers in the ALDS but once again lost in ALCS, but this time to the Cleveland Guardians. During the season the Jays made another move that would impact the future of the franchise by drafting Bo Bichette in the second round of the 2016 MLB Draft.
Toronto then entered another playoff drought having missed the postseason for three straight years. 2020 saw the season shortened due to the covid-19 pandemic. A young Blue Jays team led by the likes of Gurerro Jr., Bichette, Teoscar Hernandez, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., made it to the postseason but lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card series.
Despite the early playoff exit, things were looking good for the Blue Jays. They had a young core of talented players that were on the verge of potential greatness. The future looked bright. Then the Blue Jays made the biggest move the franchise had ever seen.
On January 23rd, 2021, the Blue Jays signed free agent outfielder and World Series champion, George Springer to a six-year 150-million dollar contract, the largest in franchise history. Springer was one of the most coveted free agents of that year’s offseason.
A week later, the Jays landed another top free agent, signing second baseman Marcus Semien to a one-year 18-million dollar contract. With these two major signings many declared the Blue Jays to be back and to be World Series contenders. With Bichette himself saying during spring training, “If we don’t finish the season with a trophy, it’ll be a disappointment.”
Despite MVP calibre seasons from Gurerro Jr. and Semien, as well as Cy Young Award winning season from pitcher Robbie Ray the Jays missed the playoffs by one game. But many still thought this team would be a contender for years to come.
Then in the off season the Jays lost both Semien and Ray to free agency but replaced them by landing All-Star pitcher Kevin Gausman from the San Francisco Giants and All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman from Oakland.
Despite losing two valuable pieces of the team, many believe this Jays team is even better than that 2021 team. Many experts have picked the Blue Jays as one of the best teams in the league and as a strong World Series contender. Harold Reynolds of MLB.com even said that the Toronto Blue Jays are the team to beat this year.
Perhaps now with this young core continuing to develop and improve and a newfound ability to attract top free agent talent, the Blue Jays are truly back for good and the long postseason droughts will be a thing of the past.
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