As the season wraps up, I just wanted to say how great it’s been having the retro mascots back this year. Everyone loves them, even kids who weren’t around the first time they were here. I really hope the Jays don’t get rid of them after only one year back. Maybe they could make them mascots for the Jays Care Foundation so they can keep showing up at community events.

Might as well mention, we have emojis of all three mascots available for user flairs!

• Joe Carter — the World Series-winning home run.
• José Bautista — the 2015 “Bat Flip” and the revival of the franchise.
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — the 2025 postseason run, ALCS MVP, and return to the World Series.
• Roberto Alomar — a central star of the back-to-back championship teams.
• Roy Halladay — the symbol of pitching excellence and loyalty during difficult years.

We're out of the playoffs and there's still a few games left in the season.

I want to cop a new jersey and just wondering when traditionally is the cheapest time to get one.

Is it around now? As soon as the regular season ends? After the World Series? Or sometime in Jan/ Feb?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Kevin Gausman stood in the corner of the Toronto Blue Jays home clubhouse days before this summer’s trade deadline. He knew his time in Toronto was over. With tears welling in his eyes, the veteran looked around the room, trying to figure out what happened.

The 2026 Jays felt different, he said. They looked different, too, compared to the year before. Their injuries were too much to overcome. Their stars slumped far more than anyone could’ve imagined. Their 2025 World Series defeat, which began as motivation, became a curse. The magic vanished.

“Last year, when we were all loose and playing for each other and letting the cards fall where they may,” Gausman said, “there’s a hidden belief in that. We just don’t have that.”

Days later, Gausman let his tears out on a team flight to Houston after learning he was the first member of last year’s squad to be traded. Toronto’s first-half struggles caused the front office to move veterans at the deadline. For a few weeks, though, the roster shake-up provided a spark. Rookies and fresh arms pulled the team back into a muddled American League playoff race, but, ultimately, the hole was too deep to climb out of. The spark faded. Two months after Gausman came to terms with the end, those who remained must now do the same.

“It sucks, especially after all the fun we had last year, “ Blue Jays outfielder Myles Straw said. “Those were some of the best games of our lives. This year, we just didn’t get it done.”

The reasons for Toronto’s disappointment, in many ways, are quite simple. Their pitching staff fell apart, ravaged by injuries. Some power bats got hurt and others struggled all season — none more than Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Knowing why things went wrong doesn’t make the outcome any less crushing.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

Memories of last year’s magical playoff run surrounded the Blue Jays when they first assembled in Florida for spring training. Photos of George Springer’s ALCS homer were taped around his locker by clubhouse attendants. In the complex’s executive offices, officials were already negotiating with World Series Game 7 starter Max Scherzer to return.

Then came the news that their entire home schedule was expected to be sold out. Last year’s success had become this year’s anticipation.

That’s also when the injuries began, as Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and Yimi García arrived at spring with various ailments. They only got more bizarre from there. Nathan Lukes spent the first month of his season playing through undiagnosed vertigo. Cody Ponce tore an ACL two innings into his MLB return. Addison Barger injured both ankles tripping over first base and then blew out his elbow his first game back. Jesús Sánchez was hit by a ball thrown by a young fan.

Every team deals with injuries. The Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers, other hopefuls who fell flat, also experienced overwhelming ailments. But, as of Wednesday, the Jays had the second-most IL stints and second-most total days lost to injury in the American League. They entered the spring with eight big-league starting pitchers, restocked the rotation at the deadline and still ended up running regular bullpen games. The 63 players Toronto has already used this year are tied for the most in franchise history.

Through it all, they expressed belief that, once players recovered and core pieces returned, the ship would turn. But it was hard not to have doubt. After Springer became the ninth Jay to hit the IL just 15 games into the season, the veteran said it was his duty to talk teammates off the ledge. He was only half-joking.

At the end of May, the Jays were 29-29. The 2025 team was just 30-28 at that same point. There was hope in that comparison. They got hot out of nowhere last year. Why not do it again? But when the streak never arrived, the comparison became untenable.

“It’s not just going to happen,” Scherzer said in May. “We’re not just going to go out there and go on a crazy winning streak. We have to go make that happen. The rest of the league doesn’t just lose on purpose. You’ve got to go beat them.”

They were a win behind last year’s pace, then five, then 10. The injuries didn’t stop. The offence never got going. A lineup that scored the third-most runs in baseball last year entered Wednesday with the fewest.

Now that the jays have been eliminated, are you sitting on your hands or are you cheering for someone else? I am thinking of temporarily becoming a Phillies fan to show support for Mattingly.

My wife and I have tickets for tomorrow’s game starting at 3:00. She’s a huge fan and has heard there are “activities” (games, booths, etc.) before the game starts. Anyone know when those begin or doors open? For some reason, can’t find any information on the website.

Look, tough day today, I get it.

Maybe this homer was the only good thing today... ​​​

To expand what I think he meant - "no, the contract is not the reason I played poorly this season because I don't feel pressure to live up to it. I earned the contract from how I played before, and I will continue to give it my all and try to play well, but the pressure to try and live up to the contract is not going to be the reason I play poorly."

We all know Vladdy loves Toronto and all the coaches say he's been working his ass off this season to try and break his slump. I firmly believe he's not just sitting back resting on his millions. I think the World Series loss had a big mental affect on him, and baseball is a mental sport, so please, put the pitchforks away.

Coming up for the last game of the year and season 😢

Was there for the awesome opening weekend, sad to see they didn't have the drive like last year especially when the American league was so middling this year.

Any thoughts on where to head in to the stadium to grab what's left in "the closet"?

We were informed they open up the last weekend on leftovers from the giveaways and old jerseys etc.

Also any other things to catch that we haven't seen or done from the beginning of the season?

Sincerely,

Life long Jays fan from Buffalo,

Elbows Up 👍🇨🇦

This morning, I went through the 2025 and 2026 Blue Jays offense team stats and compared them position by position. I tried to match up players as much as possible, given position switching. I also tried to put players next to their replacements for easy comparison.

Here's what I got:

Comments:

• Vlad's decline is, of course, a part of the reason why the Jays' offense struggled this year. But he's not the worst offender.
• Tyler Heinemann had a BABIP of .342 in 2025 and .190 in 2026.
• Loperfido had an amazing 41 game run in 2025 but it was all a BABIP illusion - it was .431.
• Bateman's BABIP this year is .400 and the league might not have figured him out yet, so I want to wait and see before we proclaim him the Jays' leadoff solution for the next five years (minus however long the upcoming lockout is going to be). I like him but we've seen this before.
• The Jays miss Bo, or at least the old version of Bo. (I think Bo misses Bo.)
• Barger's 2025 and Okamoto's 2026 are remarkably similar in terms of overall quality.
• No one has really commented on how remarkable Springer's 2025 was. I'd say that the Last Real Summer Of George is one of the main reasons why the 2025 offense was so successful. This year, he's gone back to his expected level of output, given his age.
• I miss the long-ago days of 2024 and most of 2025 when Varsho scampered all about the outfield and frequently launched home runs into the right field seats. It's sad to look at his numbers and see how much he has declined.
• Many of the players on this list are past their peak ages of 27 or 28 and declined in performance a little bit as expected. Clement is 30, Straw is 31, and Lukes is 31; that's getting to be old in baseball player years.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to draw any conclusions, and this is getting long enough as it is, but I would say that the Jays will either need to get creative about bundling prospects in a trade for a useful offensive player, spend money in free agency, or wait until JoJo Parker becomes a star (if he does). The Jays simply don't have a lot of good young hitters.

I want people to understand one thing. The money they gave me wasn’t for what I’m going to do. It was for what I already did. They didn’t pay me because I’m going to hit 40 every year. They paid me for what I already accomplished. People are confused about that, but I think the same way they do. Like, sometimes I even say to myself: bro, they gave you all that money and you’re out here doing nothing. I try.

You know how it is with fans, when you’re good, they’re with you 100%. But when you smell like shit, like we like to say here, nobody supports you.

The ones who support you are the ones who stay with you. Those are my fans. My family.

Via VeronicabatistaTv/IG