Blue Jays have the chance to perfectly replicate 2014-2015 Royals

Game 7's loss in the 2025 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers will sit with the Toronto Blue Jays and Canada forever. "It was a good year" might not be an easy thing to say to a fan or team when losing a Game 7 of the World Series at home.

Despite making the World Series, the Blue Jays could be a completely different team in 2026. While the team has six free agents this offseason, key free agents Bo Bichette, Chriss Bassitt, Max Scherzer and Seranthony Dominguez are pivotal. If the Blue Jays lose one or a majority of their free agents, chances of returning to the World Series in 2026 could be low.

The Blue Jays will have a target on their back in 2026 in the American League with being the defending league champions and having 94 wins. However, if everything falls right for the Blue Jays they could follow a similar path like the Kansas City Royals did from a decade ago.

Royals used Game 7 loss in 2014 for 2015 motivation, won World Series

In 2014, the Royals made the World Series for the first time in 29 years. Similar to the Blue Jays not many people were expecting the Royals to make it that far that season, which ended in heartbreak for the Royals when they lost Game 7 of the World Series at home to the San Francisco Giants.

In 2014, Madison Bumgarner turned into a postseason legend with his historic postseason run pitching for the Giants. Bumgarner recorded the final out in Game 7 against the Royals after he had thrown a complete game in a Game 5 win three nights previous. Bumgarner ended up pitching five innings in Game 7. Similarly, Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers pitching the final 2.2 innings of Game 7 after throwing 96 pitches the previous night. Both Bumgarner and Yamamoto ended up winning World Series MVP.

When 2015 rolled around for the Royals, it seemed as if they used that Game 7 loss as motivation to get even better. In 2015, the Royals led the MLB with 95 wins. They then went on to win the World Series that year in five games, when they beat the Mets.

Maybe, the Blue Jays can take their Game 7 loss of the World Series at home, and use it as extra motivation for 2026 as the Royals did for the 2015 season. It will be a long offseason for the Blue Jays, but if the team spends the offseason finding ways to try and get better the excitement will be building for 2026 when Opening Day arrives on March 26 against the Athletics.