The Toronto Blue Jays finished dead last in the American League East in 2024. A year later, they're playing in the World Series.
But how did they get here?
The 2025 Blue Jays proved you can’t spreadsheet your way to the World Series. Rather, you have to build a team that believes. If the Pittsburgh Pirates stop punting offseasons, invest in complementary veterans, trust their youth and finally embrace urgency, they can become the National League's version of the 2025 Blue Jays in 2026 – flawed, underwhelming on paper, but impossible to kill when it matters most.