Blue Jays finally get chance to take down long-time rivals in AL East-ALDS meeting

"The Blue Jays are not a first place team, I'm sorry," said Michael Kay this past July. Words he had to regret speaking as Toronto went on to not only cement themselves as a first place team in the AL East, but the entire American League. Now, the New York Yankees get a chance to back up their long-time broadcaster after winning the AL Wild Card series over the Boston Red Sox 2-1, taking Game 3 4-0 on Thursday evening in the Bronx.

The Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees have shared a division for almost 50 years, but they have never played in a playoff matchup against each other. In fact, they have rarely gotten close to being competitive at the same time.

Blue Jays finally get chance to take down long-time rivals in AL East-ALDS meeting

It's happened on occasion; in 1985, the Blue Jays won the East by two games over the Yankees. In 1993, it was another 1-2 finish with the Blue Jays ahead of the Yankees by seven games and in 2015, the Yankees were six games back when the season ended while the Jays held the top spot in the East. And in 2022 the roles were reversed with the Yankees claiming the AL East, while the Blue Jays settled for a Wild Card spot, finishing six games back.

Four times out of 48 years is a small sample size to note when it comes to two teams that have played hundreds of games against each other in the regular season. And for most of those four decades, it's been the Yankees who have dominated the conversation. They have 27 World Series rings, if you haven't heard, and they rarely settle for anything less.

What the Blue Jays have now is a chance for them to rewrite some of that narrative. They can't erase 48 years of history where, for the most part, the Yankees have been the trend setter in the relationship. They can't just forget that they are one of, if not THE, measuring stick of success in perhaps not just Major League Baseball, but in all of sports. But what the Blue Jays can do is set the record straight for 2025. After all, they did beat them eight of the 13 times in the regular season, for what it's worth.

Sure, they both finished with identical 94-68 records in the regular season. And sure, the Yankees are just one year removed from not only being the best team in the AL in the regular season, but they won the pennant and made it to the World Series. But none of that will matter much if the Blue Jays, who might have been the biggest surprise in baseball this season, can out-play the Yankees over the next five games (or less) and book their ticket to the ALCS for the first time since 2016.

The Blue Jays were led by an "all hands on deck" approach in 2025. 14 position players and 18 pitchers provided a net-positive bWAR this season. There are almost too many contributions and contributors to list, but some of the standouts include "throw away trade acquisition" Myles Straw coming through with a 2.9 bWAR in 137 games played. The two catchers Alejandro Kirk and Tyler Heineman were worth 4.2 bWAR combined. Ernie Clement had the third highest bWAR on the team at 4.3 and also led the league in defensive runs saved at +23.

On the pitching side, Kevin Gausman led the way as the anchor with a 3.8 bWAR and made 32 starts, threw 193 innings and produced good numbers against the team they are about to face. They also got a ton of surprises out of various arms. From Eric Lauer basically saving the back-end of the rotation in the middle of the season to the emergence of relievers like Braydon Fisher, Brendon Little, Tommy Nance and Mason Fluharty. Whether they were rookies or journeymen they came together and pieced a bullpen that was, most often, good enough to get the job done.

The Yankees come in, as is often the case, led by the superstars who are, and have been, household names. Aaron Judge led the league with a 9.7 bWAR, 127 walks, .331 batting average, .457 OBP, 215 OPS+ and should (probably?) win the AL MVP. Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Giancarlo Stanton, Paul Goldschmidt, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Devin Williams. All are, or at least have recently been, among the games elite players. They all come with the sort of pedigree a team normally needs to be successful in the postseason.

But here's a little secret, as bad as the Blue Jays have been in the playoffs since 2020 - the Yankees have failed to meet their own standards as well. They've been to playoffs four times and they've lost once in each round, coming up short of the ultimate prize, that "elusive" 28th ring.

As the Blue Jays get set to host the Yankees on Saturday in their first ever playoff series meeting, Toronto can't allow themselves to get sucked into the "Yankee hype." Yes, they are a good team, but so are the Blue Jays, even Kay reneged on his own comments later in the season, and if there was ever a time to prove it, it would be now.