Blue Jays' Davis Schneider takes heat off World Series narrative with simple quote

The Toronto Blue Jays have had some time to process exactly what happened during an action-packed World Series. But now with the offseason underway, it's time for the organization to look towards the future.

The annual General Meetings are underway in Orlando, Florida, and the Blue Jays have plenty of work to accomplish to build on their 2025 season. Still, the past informs the future and the right lessons need to be learned from a wild year.

One of the narratives emerging from the World Series (notably in Canada) is that the better team didn't necessarily win the World Series. Some fans are right to point out that the Dodgers won the World Series despite not really breaking out the offensive lumber. In fact, for all of Shohei Ohtani's greatness, he only hit .217 if you strip out his otherworldly performance in Game 3.

Blue Jays' Davis Schneider "Dodgers deserved the win"

The Dodgers still won even if traditional stalwarts like Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez didn't hit at their usual levels. Betts batted .138 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the seven games. Hernandez was slightly better at .241, but even those numbers are heavily inflated by a four-hit effort in Game 3.

On the pitching side, the Dodgers survived two Blake Snell clunkers out of the starting rotation and a mediocre Game 3 start from Tyler Glasnow. Of course, those two gentlemen pitched well in relief in a wild Game 7 victory. Then there was that man named Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Now, one of the players in that World Series on the Toronto side is making it known that he disagrees with the narrative that the better team didn't win the World Series. Fan favorite Davis Schneider made his own history with a leadoff home run in Game 4, but that ultimately didn't hold up over the course of grueling series.

Appearing on TSN's Overdrive, Schneider said, "If we played better, we would've won the World Series. The Dodgers deserved the win."

Schneider further elaborated when he said, "They made good plays when needed to and that's what makes a championship team and you can't really talk bad about them, they deserve it, they won fair and square."

While these sentiments are a tough pill to swallow, Schneider is making the most rational argument. The Blue Jays would be better served to figure out how they can improve next season and into the future. Maybe the Blue Jays can take solace in the example of a Kansas City Royals squad from a decade ago that came so painfully close to winning a title before finally winning it all the next season.

There is still so much to determine this offseason, but the Blue Jays have guys returning with a chip on their shoulder next season. Shane Bieber, who opted in to his contract, must feel that there is unfinished business. Ditto for Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt if they return.

The problem is that history is written by the winner. The Blue Jays made plenty of beautiful plays too, but they were either overshadowed by the Dodgers or they were plays that were preceded by bigger ones from the victors. When they needed to get a big hit in the final two games, the Blue Jays came up painfully empty. It demonstrates how difficult winning at the MLB level really can be.