Former Blue Jay exposes Toronto's preferred path to the 2025 World Series

As winners of the American League East in 2025, the Toronto Blue Jays should have been ready for all challengers in the post-season. And it turns out they were, at least on the American League side of things as they disposed of the New York Yankees in four games, before triumphing over the Seattle Mariners in seven games in the ALCS.

But as it turns out, the Blue Jays were hoping to get a matchup against the Yankees in the ALDS, according to a former Blue Jay. Isiah-Kiner Falefa, who was at the centre of a controversial play in the World Series, spent the early part of the Spring Training fanning the flames on the Yankees dismal post-season efforts against the Blue Jays.

Former Blue Jay exposes Toronto's preferred path to the 2025 World Series

Kiner-Falefa joined the Boston Red Sox this offseason and he seems to be fitting into the clubhouse right away as he threw shade at the 2025 Yankees team. Speaking to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, IKF said that his former team, the Blue Jays, didn't want to play his current team, the Red Sox, in last years ALDS.

"One hundred percent,” Kiner-Falefa said. “We thought it was a better matchup for us the other way (to face New York). We were watching that (series), and we were watching (Garrett) Crochet just dice up. I think we had just lost two out of three (to Boston), and it put us behind the Yankees or tied us with them for the AL East lead (in late September). We definitely felt (Boston) was a tougher matchup for us. Once we saw the other team, we were a lot happier. It was definitely a topic.”

It's an interesting point to make for Kiner-Falefa, who spent two years in pinstripes with the Yankees in 2022-23. The Blue Jays had identical records against Boston and New York in 2025, going 8-5 against their division rivals. But his comment about Crochet makes a lot of sense. Crochet faced the Blue Jays on Sept. 24 at Rogers Centre and held them to just three hits over eight innings pitched while giving up no runs and striking out six in a 7-1 Red Sox victory.

Crochet also faced the Blue Jays three times in 2025 and kept hitters to a .164/.238/.274 slash line, allowing 12 hits and six earned runs in those contests. Meantime, Kiner-Falefa himself also had more success against the Yankees in the regular season than he did against Boston.

In five games against the Red Sox he hit .154/.154/.385 with two hits and one home run. In five games against the Yankees, he hit a much more respectable .294/.333/.412, although in the playoffs he went 0-6 at the plate in the Blue Jays four-game series win.

Kiner-Falefa has been around the AL East long enough to know exactly what he's doing by making those comments public, and it's not a bad strategy to try and endear yourself to your new team by deameaning your arch rivals before the season gets going.