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Would losing the AL East undo Blue Jays’ magical season?

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The 2025 season has been one to remember for the Toronto Blue Jays. Almost everything has gone right, up until the last week.

The Blue Jays had a five-game lead in the American League East as recently as Sept. 16. They were 89-62, on a six-game winning streak, and appeared to be in cruise control to claim the division for the first time in a decade.

Things quickly took a turn from there as the Blue Jays lost six of seven games. The funk, combined with some strong play against weaker competition from the New York Yankees, saw Toronto’s AL East advantage evaporate.

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Heading into the final weekend of the season, the Blue Jays and Yankees are tied, although Toronto holds the tiebreaker. If the Blue Jays sweep the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre, they will be AL East champions. It’s as simple as that.

If you had asked most fans ahead of Opening Day if they’d sign up for the Blue Jays sharing the AL East lead while controlling their own destiny heading into a home series in the final weekend of the regular season, almost every person would’ve said you were crazy, but would’ve also jumped at that opportunity in a heartbeat.

Making the postseason in a year when many pundits and predictions had the Blue Jays hovering around the .500 mark and finishing fourth or fifth in the American League East is still an accomplishment that should be celebrated. However, it would be completely fair to feel like letting the division slip away would, in a way, undo a lot of what’s made the 2025 campaign so memorable.

The Blue Jays’ recent postseason struggles have been well documented. The ability to avoid the three-game wild-card series by winning the division feels even more important for a team with some postseason scar tissue to secure.

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Losing the division would also likely put Toronto’s postseason rotation into disarray, with Blue Jays manager John Schneider potentially needing to use Kevin Gausman in Sunday’s regular-season finale if the AL East is still undecided. If things don’t go the Blue Jays’ way, they would then head into a wild-card series needing to turn to Chris Bassitt, coming off an IL stint, or a struggling Max Scherzer in the opener.
When zooming out, it’s hard to say this season has been anything other than an emphatic success for the Blue Jays. They made the postseason in a year when few were predicting that, received unexpected contributions from several players, and saw some positive momentum in terms of player development. The list of positive developments has been much longer than the list of negative ones.

Despite that, it would be very difficult to keep a good sense of perspective if the weekend doesn’t go well, and the Blue Jays are left preparing for a wild-card series on Tuesday, instead of resting up for the start of the American League Division Series with an opportunity to have home-field advantage on the road to the World Series.

It’s all still there for the taking for the Blue Jays. The final three games of the 2025 campaign will go a long way to shaping the narrative surrounding the club heading into the postseason. Buckle up, it should be quite a ride.

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