Disappointing Blue Jays season ends with a thud against Marlins in Toronto

The Toronto Blue Jays closed the door on a disappointing season Sunday with a series sweep at the hands of the lowly Miami Marlins.

Miami completed their first road sweep this season to finish at 62-100. They were one of only six teams to finish with fewer wins than the Jays. Toronto finished their 2024 campaign at 74-88, their worst mark since 2019.

All eyes now move to the future of the team with an aging core and question marks abound.

"Obviously this is not where we want to be," said Blue Jays outfielder George Springer after the game. "This is not where we expected to be. It's a very talented room in there.

"At the same time, there's a lot of guys that got some very valuable experience."

Springer is one of many veterans on the team that took a step back in a season with few bright spots.

He set a new career-low with a .220 batting average, hit 19 home runs -- his fewest in a full season since 2015 -- and scored only 74 runs as the primary leadoff hitter.

Kevin Gausman was a bit more pointed in his comments about the team. The 33-year-old pitcher, who finished in the top-10 in Cy Young voting each of the last three seasons, saw his strikeout total decrease to 162 (down from a league-leading 237 in 2023) and earned run average rise to 3.83 from 3.16.

“I’m sick of the ‘talent’ talk,” Gausman said to the Toronto Sun this weekend. “We’re so talented, this and that. We’ve got to start winning games. We’ve got to figure it out. We’ve got to do it quickly. I’m only getting older ... If we want it to happen with this group, it has to happen soon. So what are we going to do?”

The Blue Jays were all-in on signing superstar hitter and pitcher Shohei Ohtani last off-season, and after he chose the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto was forced to pivot to smaller acquisitions with the hope of internal development carrying the roster.

The opposite ended up happening, with off-season additions Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Justin Turner and Kevin Kiermaier among the lineup regulars shipped out of town at the trade deadline in hopes of replenishing a depleted farm system.

Where do the Blue Jays go from here?

Gausman is at least one Blue Jays player who has questions about the direction of the team heading into an important off-season.

“Time will tell,” Gausman said Sunday. “Obviously we’ll see what the front office does. Listen, we need some veteran players, no doubt about that."

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will likely finish with American League MVP votes after hitting .323 (second in the major leagues) with 30 home runs and 103 runs batted in, but he also felt the disappointment of an unsuccessful season.

"We've got to get better at everything," Guerrero said via interpreter Hector Lebron after Sunday's loss. "I've got to be realistic here and honest."

Manager John Schneider, who has a 209-189 record in two-plus seasons leading the Blue Jays but an 0-4 record in the playoffs, summed up the team's approach heading into the off-season.

"It takes time to digest what happened,” Schneider said after Sunday's defeat. “Especially in our case the last couple of years. This has been more deliberate. This has been more thought-provoking, even over the last couple of weeks. What are we going to do starting tomorrow and into the off-season? It’s been … slow, for sure.”

Off-season targets for Toronto

The Blue Jays finished with 671 runs scored in 2024, good for 23rd in the league. They scored one or fewer runs in 32 games this year, resulting in a 1-31 record in those games. In 2023, they finished with only 20 such games, and it only happened 19 times in 2022, both years they went to the playoffs.

Jumpstarting the offence figures to be a high priority for the team, which Schneider recognized, stating that "a couple of guys who are going to be sandwiched in around Vlad and Bo [Bichette]" would be a good starting point for the front office.

The Jays also have work to do in their bullpen.

Toronto finished with a 4.29 team ERA, which ranked 22nd in the majors. Their starters' ERA of 3.95 was in the top half of the league, but their bullpen ERA of 4.82 was the second-lowest mark and a significant change from their bullpen success in 2023, where they finished with the eighth-best ERA (3.68) in the majors.

“It’s not a mystery why we’ve fallen short of expectations,” president Mark Shapiro said in August. “The bullpen has been a challenge for us all season long, with significant injuries to three guys we expected to anchor the back end ... The bullpen has been an Achilles [heel] for us all year.”

"You need swing-and-miss, for sure,” Schneider said earlier in the year. “You need guys who are in and around the zone. Those are the priorities."

Veteran closer Chad Green was perhaps the strongest arm in the bullpen but faltered late, carrying an 11.42 ERA in nine games in September after saving 16 games with a 1.61 ERA in the first five months of the campaign.

Jordan Romano is recovering from elbow surgery, and lefty Genesis Cabrera finished the season with a 3.59 ERA in 69 games, but the bullpen was revolving door with arms being shuffled in and out from the minor leagues in September.

Another important decision facing the Blue Jays is what to do with the contract situations of Guerrero and Bo Bichette, who are each currently slated to become free agents after the 2025 season. Each player has garnered MVP votes in multiple seasons of their young careers, and both are expected to earn a large contract wherever they end up.