The Toronto Blue Jays tried for years to attract stars and spend money to strengthen their roster to true championship contention.
Toronto missed on stars like Shohei Ohtani, who the Blue Jays defeated on the mound in Game 4, several winters in a row. Now, that work could pay off as early as Friday with the Blue Jays sitting just one win away from their first championship in 32 years.
Slowly but surely, the Blue Jays found outside help to build a winning culture. Signings such as George Springer, Anthony Santander, Max Scherzer and Jeff Hoffman showed Toronto’s commitment to winning when they matched up on deals. The Jays surrounded homegrown stars in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and now Trey Yesavage to really put the team on the map in the American League East with Toronto’s first division title in 10 years.
The Blue Jays’ financial commitment paid off among the highest payrolls in the sport. At $255 million, Toronto only trailed the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. For the future, the Blue Jays also made the massively necessary decision to extend Guerrero Jr. on a 14-year, $500 million deal.
Toronto, the AL’s No. 1 seed, enters Game 6 of the 2025 World Series with a chance to bring championship glory back to Toronto and win it all at home inside Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays are 10-6 this postseason with the illustrious 11th October win there for the taking.
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