Magic Number update: Blue Jays are one win away from AL East title

It's all come down to this. After 161 games of regular season baseball, the 162nd game will be the deciding factor on whether or not the Toronto Blue Jays are champions of the American League East. It will also be the determining factor on whether or not the Blue Jays finish with the best record in the American League since 1993.

Along with that top spot comes a bye in the first round of the MLB playoffs, something the Blue Jays have never had the reward of experiencing since this format was introduced. Although in 2015 they avoided the Wild Card game - when it was a one game playoff scenario.

Magic Number update: Blue Jays are one win away from AL East title

These types of moments and opportunities have been rare for a franchise that is nearly 50-years old. It's almost fitting that on the tenth year anniversary of their last division title and the 40-year anniversary of their first division title, that the Blue Jays have a chance to be back on top of the podium heading into October baseball.

Some will say, winning the league and being the best team after 162 games is almost a better measure of how good your team is, than actually winning a World Series. After all, baseball is a marathon, not a sprint and the MLB postseason, despite lasting over a month, is certainly a sprint. Anything can happen in a tournament. There is so much randomness to October baseball that sometimes the best teams don't actually prevail.

So in some ways, this game on Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays on final day of the regular season, might be the true litmus test of how good the 2025 Blue Jays are. If they win, they clinch it. They are the best team in the American League. No ifs, and or buts about it. No other team can say they finished in first above 14 other AL organizations.

Even if the Yankees tie the Blue Jays with an identical record and Toronto takes the title on a technicality of a tiebreaker rule - that tiebreaker also defines the success of the season. It encapsulates just how important picking up wins is, especially against division opponents, over 162 games. The Yankees play the Orioles today and the Blue Jays take on the Rays, in an all AL East showdown on the games final day.

As much as this team has earned the right to be in this situation and controlling their own destiny, they also have some demons to exorcise. Yes, that division title would be amazing to clinch and hanging a banner to acknowledge that would go a long way to beginning to cement the legacy of the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette era.

However, the legacy of that era, unfortunately, has been the lack of their ability to win a postseason series. So maybe, they will have to do things the hard way. Fail on the last day of the regular season and then run the gauntlet of going through every stage of playoff baseball to finally bringing home the ultimate prize.

Whatever happens after today, the Blue Jays will be playing October baseball and after an incredible 2025 season, the ride feels like it's only getting started.