OK!…OK!…BLUE JAYS!…BLUE JAYS!… LETS!… PLAY!… BALL! The GOOD, The BAD, The UGLY of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club.
The Toronto Blue Jays last chance at making it back to the World Series was back in 2015. Where they ended a 21 year playoff drought in which they lost to the Kansas City Royals 4-2 games in the AL Championship Series. The Kansas City Royals went on to beat the New York Yankees and Win the World Series that same year in 2015. The Blue Jays can still raise their heads high after that great post-season run. They lost to a team that won the World Series Champions that year. Since then that talented roster has diminished with players resigning with other teams or being traded to other teams the following year and years.
MLB playoff games compared to MLB regular season baseball games are some of the most exciting and nail bitting edge of your seats games to watch. Far fewer teams make the post season after the regular season ends. Compared to other major league sports organization like the NHL & NBA (16 teams all together 8 from the eastern conference and 8 teams from the western conference) Both NBA & NHL have similar playoff format of a 1st place team vs 8th place team, best of 7 game series, 2nd place team vs 7th place team best of 7 games series match ups ..etc. NFL has similar type of playoff format with 7 teams from each conferences.
General Manager Alex Anthopoulos left the blue jays in 2015 after refusing to sign a 5 year extension by Mark Shapiro. The rumour for leaving is that Alex didn’t see eye to eye with Shaprio and was not going to follow his every move and be controlled by him. Anthopoulos had is own vision, plans, moves, trades, signings and ideas to make the Jays a World Series Champions again. He did a fine job in Toronto with the jays bringing in players like Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki and Jose Bautista. He was called the architect of 2015 team/season. Two years after Anthopoulos left, the Jays hitting and pitching started to decline from 1st-2nd place to 4th in the AL East for a several years until 2022-2023. (Wild Card Games that they lost both years) By 2021 Alex Anthopoulos had helped build the Atlanta Braves into the 2021 World Series Champions and good on him.
In 2022-2023, The Jays regained their hitting & batting standings the AL East with 2nd & 3rd place finishing making it to American League Wild Card games in back to back years and suffered losses in both years not winning a game. The Toronto Blue Jays started to hear it from the media and fans whispers of being compared to the Toronto Maple Leafs in failing to win a playoff rounds in each of the years the made to the post season or wild card games.
In a major professional sports league, like MLB where there is no salary cap system. It should be a General Managers dream job to have an unlimited budget, and go out on a spending spree and get the best talent available and bring a championship to your respective city and your sports organization if given the corporate green light to do so. Rogers Communication Inc has owned the Blue Jays (100% ownership since 2004 – 2024 (Present day.). You have to ask yourself why hasn’t Rogers Communication opened up the “War Chest” of money and return the Blue Jays to their glory years of 1992-1993 back to back World Series Champions. If the Blue Jays “bought” the World Series (As the Americans say we did) in back to back years, they can surely do it again with a no salary cap system in place.
Rogers Communications Inc. now owns both the Toronto Blue Jays at 100% and the Toronto Maple Leafs (Rogers Communication Inc =80% Majority Ownership MLSE,- Larry Tanenbaum= Remaining 20%). Now it has to decided where to allocate its money as per their corporate website “Will invest to bring Championship to Canada.” WITH WHICH TEAM ROGERS???? The Jays? or the Maple Leafs? The Raptors have announced they are in a “Re-build” phase before the 2024-2025 regular season started at their press conference. Already winning a NBA championship and the Toronto Raptors for the first in 2019.
Rogers Communication Inc too busy increasing monthly fees to their loyal customer base by charging you $3.00/a month to still receive a paper invoices to seniors who are already on a fixed income. In addition to that, they have increasing there digital cable/Netbox/ignite boxes month rentals from $10.00 to $17.00/a month, goughing its customer base even more. Is this there way of trying to pay for the buy out of Bell Media 37.5 % ownership stake in MLSE and “bringing a championship to Canada???”
The Blue Jays spent 400 millions of dollars in the off season on renovations to modernize and upgrade their stadium which was long overdue and much needed. SkyDome was build in 1989 as a multi functional entertainment facility/ stadium, hosting concerts, car conventions, Monster Truck/Motor cross events, Baseball game and football game compatible building (currently named Rogers Centre). The completed renovations look amazing and my hats off to all those involved, architect, engineers, Blue Jays promotion/ marketing teams, everyones creative vision in how they were able to implement it. The Blue Jays Web designers vision with a cool drone footage & images. Blue Jays introduce Club 238 which looks really good. Also updated their online social media forum called The Jays Center. The Blue Jays are trying, I give them credit.
On a beautiful spring or summer day with the roof open seating in those certain sections you can compare to being outside on a patio on King street. The big difference is your at the ball game i person watching it live, instead of watching it on TV. This will attract more fans to the ball park. In their attempt make it look and feel more like a traditional baseball park stadium like in other USA baseball city markets. Given the Blue jays declining attendance record over that past several years. Seats and sections were removed to create a more intimate more sociable fan interaction experience/ atmosphere for its fanbase.
The Toronto Blue Jays are now facing a similar situation with anther Toronto Sports organization the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unrestricted Free Agency, The Maple Leafs are now forced to break up there “Core Four” (Matthews, Nylander, Mitch Marner- free Agent, John Tavares Free Agent 2025 (include D-Morgan Reilly) and their window of winning a Stanley Cup for the City of Toronto after several years failed attempts is in jeopardy. This year is projected to be the Leafs best chance to win the Cup before the break up of superstar all-star players on the roster.
While the Jays have never had the same amount of several consecutive straight years of making the post season and not winning a single round as the Leafs did. The Blue Jays had their own chances of making the playoffs through Wild Card games and getting it done but failed to do so and not advancing into the post season or not advancing while making it to the post season. Now with unrestricted Free Agent issues the Jays have to deal with at the end 2025 where; Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Jordan Romano (All are All-Stars) and sever others Jays players on the roster that are going to be free agents. Rumours of a “re-build” from Shapario mouth Season ticket holders and long suffering Blue Jays fans will certainly not be happy.
The Jays had their chance in 2015 and should of kept the momentum going in signing additional missing key players needed to put them over the top and potential win a world series the following year in 2016. Alex Anthopoulos boss should of given him full control of his position to go get the missing pieces of the puzzle and let him finish the job he started and bring anther World Series back to the city of Toronto and the Blue Jays Organization. However It was not meant to be.
In closing, Signing Ohtani would not have made the Blue Jays win the world series this year. The Blue Jays are missing a lot of pieces to win anther World Series. Unlike the LA Dodgers were always in the mix of winning a world series and had only one missing piece of the puzzle they needed in winning the World Series. That was Ohtani and he delivered in the post season and the Dodgers gamble paid off. (No Pune intended). They made it to world series in 2017, 2018 losing both years but winning world series in 2020. Now 4 years later winning yet anther World Series in 2024.
What the Toronto Blue Jays organization needs is solid draft prospects, excellent prospect development program. In adding the organization needs ownership/ corporate to open up the “war chest” and make this baseball club competitive again year after year by making it deep into the playoffs wining multiple division titles and AL Championships and eventually making it back to the world series and win it.
Easier said then done but with a no salary cap sports league its the easiest and fasted way to win a championship. In a salary cap sports league, it’s all about crunching numbers and sometimes making tough financial decisions that limit or handicap your organization for success. Much harder to produce a championship winning team when the superstar all-star players are dictating the free agent market and demanding certain amount of money/salary/contract per year for their services.
The Good: World Series Champions 1992-1993, back to back championships. With a no salary cap sports league, there is always a chance the Toronto Blue Jays can win anther World Series.
The Bad: Being in the same division as New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox which are both hot baseball market cities. Coming in 2nd place and not making the post season is not tolerated by NYC or Boston fanbase. Must win it every year mentally.
The Ugly: 21 years of missing the post season and no green light from corporate ownership to open the “war chest” and go and buy, player, managers build & bring anther World Series championship to Canada’s Largest city and ONLY Major League Baseball team in the country of Canada.
Instead keeping its share holders happy by not losing their investment/money.
(Just like the the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund prevented the Toronto Maple Leafs from winning a Stanley Cup for several years again by refusing and saying NO to opening up their “war chest” and spending the teachers retirement fund money to bring the Stanley Cup back to its original home at MLG (Maple Leaf Gardens) “the church of hockey” and to the city of Toronto. (before a salary cap was introduced into the NHL in 2005-06 season).
That’s Corporate sports ownership for you, keeping the stakeholders happy instead of the sports organizations season ticket holders & fan base happy.
TO THE CORE 2025 SEASON!
GO JAYS!
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