Former Blue Jay Erik Swanson blasts Sid Seixeiro for bad take

Lots can be said about the 2026 Toronto Blue Jays. It’s true they haven’t lived up to anybody’s expectations this season. It’s also true that, until about a month ago, they were playing a borderline unwatchable brand of baseball. 

What can’t be said, however, is that this group has given up when considering how well they’ve played since selling at the trade deadline—unless you’re Sid Seixeiro, that is. 

Seixerio, host of a podcast show named after himself, boldly proclaimed that he thinks this group of Blue Jays would rather go home for the offseason than return to the playoffs after a disappointing series loss to the Athletics in Sacramento. 

Former Blue Jays' relief pitcher Erik Swanson was quick to reply to Seixeiro, providing a player’s perspective on why this take is absolute nonsense—not that you need to have ever stepped foot on a major-league diamond to come to that conclusion. 

Let's now unpack exactly why this is such a terrible take.

Erik Swanson doesn't believe the Blue Jays have given up on the 2026 season, and neither should you 

Anybody who cares about the Blue Jays had every right to be upset after their favourite team got shut out by one of baseball’s worst pitching staffs in an absolute bandbox of a park. Wednesday was the first time the Athletics have allowed zero runs at home all year. 

Toronto was a mess throughout that series, plain and simple. They looked tired and as if they had perhaps underestimated how much of a fight the Athletics would put up with absolutely nothing to play for down the stretch.  It was an unacceptable effort all around.

This can all be acknowledged without suggesting that the Blue Jays have stopped caring about this season. Did they care when they took two of three games from the Kansas City Royals over the weekend? Of course, so why would one series loss change that? If anything, it would make them care more knowing how tight the playoff race has become. 

Are the Blue Jays exhausted? Probably. Has the frustration of this underwhelming season strained some relationships? Perhaps. Everything is rosy when you’re winning. But that doesn’t mean these guys have gone from being friends to hating each other's guts.

The Blue Jays aren’t blind to their situation. The players who were here last year know how much that playoff run meant to the country of Canada last fall. They’ve seen how packed the Rogers Centre has been for most of this season. It’s downright ridiculous to suggest they’d rather have an extra week of vacation than a crack at defending their American League pennant. 

Making such a nonsense claim feels especially short-sighted when considering how persistent the Blue Jays were last season. Guys like George Springer, Ernie Clement, and Alejandro Kirk showed us time and time again that they don’t give up when things are hard. Results often aren’t a direct reflection of effort in baseball. 

Ultimately, it comes down to this. Fans around the country will be crushed if the Blue Jays don’t make the playoffs. Now imagine how the players will feel. There’s no world in which suggesting they would prefer that outcome makes any sense whatsoever.

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