As far as outcomes go for the Toronto Blue Jays, it’s never a good thing when your mind turns back to 1987. And it’s a really bad sign when you find yourself wondering which misery was worse.
For a franchise that has had more than its share of crushing conclusions, the end of the 2022 campaign ranks amongst the very worst. If some Jays supporters of a certain vintage instinctively think back to the last week of the 1987 season as their touchstone for the most devastating moment of fandom, one could certainly imagine this generation holding onto last weekend’s loss to the Mariners for the coming decades.
That disillusionment and despair will gnaw at the faithful for much of the next few months. Not only was the ending shockingly soul-crushing, but the season as a whole was deeply confounding at times, especially given the sky-high expectations entering the season.
There are some years where the fan base can reach the season’s conclusion with some degree of equanimity, and an ability to appreciate the positives of the season with hope for the future. But this is unlikely to be one of those.
Much will be scrutinized over the coming months, from the front office’s decisions last off-season and at the trade deadline, down to the granular choices of the on-field management in the final game. Some will do it to understand what went wrong, and others will do it to assess blame and to add to a list of grievances with the franchise’s current regime.
Regardless of the motivation, the instinct to parse through what happened is mostly understandable. It's hard to ask fans to “trust the process” after a spectacular blow-up like that.
It’s also way too early for most to look on the brighter side of the season. Still, despite some flaws, the Blue Jays established themselves as a team that should be considered a contender. They finished the season a game ahead of last season, and in the post-season, for whatever that was worth.
They also still have most of their MLB roster returning next season. While some may want to turn over the roster out of anger or spite at the moment, having a big-league roster that’s mostly set allows the team to either make some targeted acquisitions to address the weaknesses on the roster, or to deal from major-league depth.
Despite the massive letdown last weekend, there were several players who stepped forward last season to assert themselves as key members of a future championship contender. Alek Manoah, Jordan Romano, Alejandro Kirk and Santiago Espinal all provided all-star level contributions this season, and likely more than we would have expected at the outset of the year.
And while franchise cornerstones Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette didn’t vastly improve on their 2021 performances, they contributed enough to assert their place as elite contributors to a young core.
There are clearly areas for deeper scrutiny, such as the rotation, the bench depth and a different look from the bullpen. Despite the instinct to want to blow the roster up and start anew, the upside – to the extent that anyone might want to hear it at this moment – is that the Blue Jays are closer to the beginning of their competitive window than the end.
They didn’t meet the highest of expectations, either for an AL East pennant or for a deep run in the playoffs. Their 92 wins sit close to what some projection systems figured for them, though fans could be excused if they came into the season anticipating closer to 100 wins. But the difference between where they finished and the highest end of expectations is approximately one additional win every three weeks.
This isn’t to assume that the current roster could come back and necessarily replicate what they did this year. Progress, as the newer saying goes, isn’t linear. They could address deficiencies and still end up with a lesser record next season.
Their division will remain highly competitive, and though the schedule is somewhat more balanced next year, the Blue Jays’ fortunes will still largely depend on how they are able to compete against their AL East rivals.
And while there is a narrative that young teams learn to win by facing adversity through difficult losses, it’s worth reviewing the history of the seasons between the 1987 collapse and the eventual glory of 1992 and 1993. Those years saw playoff defeats in 1989 and 1991, and another epic fail of a finish in 1990. The elation in those championship seasons wasn’t just about the win, but also about finally being able to exhale after years of assuming the worst.
And for as much as Blue Jays fans might want to look ahead and put such a profound disappointment behind them, it will be hard not to be skeptical as the team moves forward, and apprehensive at every step along the way.
Such a crushing defeat brings with it much higher expectations if fans are to invest their bruised sense of hope in the future.
