Now that the playoff picture is officially set, which former Blue Jays will be participating with other teams? And who do we cheer for?
For a couple of glorious years in 2015 and 2016, the Blue Jays made the postseason and brought a great deal of excitement to Canadian baseball fans in the month of October. After a more than two decade long drought, the Rogers Centre was bumping in a way we hadn’t seen in years, and TV ratings were through the roof. Baseball fever was back in Canada, which even took from some of the excitement of a fresh NBA and NHL season.
That’s not the case this year in Toronto, as the Blue Jays finished with a record of 73-89, good for fourth in the AL East and just (!) 35 games back of the Red Sox. who set a franchise record for wins in a regular season this year.
While the Blue Jays may not be participating in this year’s playoffs, there are several former players who will be. There are some who left in free agency prior to this year, and plenty more who were moved prior to the trade deadline, and will now get an extended season because of it.
For me, this is often the determining factor in who I cheer for the in the playoffs, but to each their own. It’s a weird year in that the Blue Jays made trades with both the Red Sox and Yankees this summer as well, so it’s not a rule that automatically applies for me, to be sure.
Let’s have a look at the former Blue Jays who will be playing this year’s playoffs.