Which team should Blue Jays fans root for in the 2023 World Series?

The 2023 Toronto Blue Jays postseason run may be over, but that shouldn’t stop Blue Jays’ fans everywhere from cheering on one of the teams in this year’s World Series. The Fall Classic is set to take place starting on Friday night in Arlington, Texas. There are actually quite a few former Blue Jays that are currently representing each of the two competing teams in the championship series.

On the American League side, we have second baseman Marcus Semien of the Texas Rangers. Semien was certainly a fan favourite in Toronto, as he gave it his all day in and day out for the Blue Jays during his short tenure with the club. More importantly, he often came through with clutch hits, with one of the most memorable ones coming against the Oakland Athletics late in the 2021 season. That was when he hit a walk-off, three-run homer to help the Jays complete the comeback after being down 8-2 to win 11-10.

With the Rangers this year, Semien had an impressive season in which he led the AL in runs scored with 122, along with posting 29 home runs and 100 RBI while batting at the top of their lineup. In doing so, he has helped the Rangers team go deep into the playoffs, and now right into the World Series.

On the National League side of things, we have reliever Miguel Castro, outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and rookie catcher Gabriel Moreno of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Jays fans obviously don’t need any more reminders about the Gurriel/Moreno trade, but the truth is that both players have been key in the Diamondbacks’ playoff run.

During this past regular season, Gurriel ended up having an All-Star-caliber campaign, including putting up a career-high 24 home runs. In the case for Moreno, he took over as the ballclub’s starting catcher as a rookie and has run away with it, posting strong offensive and defensive seasons in the process. Both have come up big during the playoffs with clutch hits in leading the Diamondbacks to their first World Series appearance since 2001.

Playoff baseball is sure to be painful for Blue Jays fans to watch, as their team suffered yet another early elimination. Both remaining teams offer their own respective aspects for Jays fans to root for, but the Rangers feel like the better team to roll with. Not only are they the better team on paper, but they also are from the same league as the Jays and let's face it, it'd be nice to see some old friends fall short so all of the Varsho trade naysayers don't have any more ammunition.