2015 Was A Long Time Ago

The year was 2015. The Blue Jays were riding high on an improbable play-off run. The Texas Rangers were the better team with better players but the Jays added at the deadline and made an incredible push. The run was significant even though it came up short. It made legends of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. It created the iconic image shown above. The Blue Jays fell short but with the talent, you felt things could turn around. That summer in July, they signed then 16 year old Vlad Jr. to a 3.9 million dollar contract. The Blue Jays made another few runs but never could get over the hump with the core. Pieces were sold off and the old Regime was out. December 3rd, 2015- the old crew was done.

And Then What? Something Good?

Well… no. The remaining players from the 2015 team made a solid run in 2016 but failed to make the playoffs from 2017-2019. The new kids came up and there was reason for optimism. Bo Bichette, Cavin Biggio, and Vlad Jr. were all on their way to the Big league along with some promising pitching. Initally, the future seemed bright. The 2020 playoffs came and they lost both games to the Rays. Felt like things were heading in the right direction but a strange COVID year (being played mostly in Buffalo due to Canadian travel restrictions) left the team in a weird spot and once again with a good season from the kids we might actually be on the cusp of seeing a winning team. Or at least that was the thought….

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Outthinking Themselves

The 2022 season for the Blue Jays can be best described as pain. While leading the Seattle Mariners, Jose Berrios was pulled…. and everything fell apart. The team essentially was done at this point but there might have been some residual hope. A free agent was going to be available that could swing the tides of any franchise and as it turns out he was on a plane to Toronto to sign an enormous cheque and represent an entire country!

HE’S ON A PLANE!

Ok it was actually Robert Herjavec (from Dragons Den and Shark Tank fame), not Ohtani. But for a few minutes, as Jays fans, we believed. And this would happen again this offseason. Free agents like Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, and others who were all in contact with the Blue Jays (who have a blank cheque to make an impact) and the only guy they managed to snag was Antony Santander (love Tony Taters but could’ve used more). And that brings us to the now.

Vlad has turned down the final offer from the Blue Jays front office and is set to test free agency. But we can’t grade a front office on a single bungling (Editor’s note: We do not approve of the term “bungling” but will leave it for authenticity. Who Dey!). It’s the totality of Bungles that need to be taken into account here so let’s check the score board:

• Playoff wins: 0

• Home-grown superstars who wanted to be here, re-signed: 0 (Biggio was cast off already, Bo has been rumored to be on the trade block, and now Vladdy)

• Has the team gotten better since this group took over?: Unequivocally, no. In fact, they’ve regressed every year since 2016.

• Number of renovations that include cup holders: 1

• Number of times they’ve been in on a free agent and not signed them: Innumerable

• Farm system must be good though? It’s 24th in the league

This Front Office needs to go. It’s a shame that they’re going to let Vladdy sign with the Mets, Red Sox, or maybe even the Dodgers. The entire thing could’ve been avoided if they had only come to the table sooner.

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So… Now What?

It’s going to be hard for a lot of Blue Jays fans to be invested in games this season. It was tough enough last year, and even if they go on a run it’s hard not to think if this team is out of contention by the trade deadline that we dont see a massive deal for Vladdy, Bo or any number of players. The window is right now and the team they have assembled would need a lot to go their way to get it done. I’m not saying it’s over but let’s be honest. It was over the second Robert Herjavec got off his plane. This Blue Jays team is DOA and I’m sad to see it go. Start the rebuild clock.

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