How the Blue Jays gathered the pieces to fit with their foundation

The second-generation baseball prodigy Vladimir Guerrero Jr. points to his grandparents in the stands during a Toronto Blue Jays game, in Toronto, Aug. 16, 2019. Guerrero is now 26, is the centerpiece of the franchise, and has taken the Jays to the World Series. (Tara Walton/The New York Times)

By CHAD JENNINGS / THE ATHLETIC

In April 2019, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. dressed in a Triple-A ballpark and tried to answer the question that would determine the immediate future of the Toronto Blue Jays: Was he ready for the big leagues?

“I couldn’t tell you because I’m not there yet, so I wouldn’t know,” Guerrero said. “But I’d want to tell you that I am ready.”

He was. Two weeks later, he arrived, 20 years old and still not fully formed as a big league hitter, but already an unmistakable linchpin for whatever would come next. The Blue Jays would build around him and see where this kid called Vladdy could take them.

He has now taken them to the World Series.

After winning Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night, the Blue Jays are back in the World Series for the first time since Joe Carter’s walk-off home run in 1993. Guerrero is now 26 and the centerpiece of the franchise.

A decade ago, when a different generation of Blue Jays players tried to win a championship, a pennant eluded them. They twice came close but fell short each time. Building a roster that could finally do it — that could reach the World Series for the first time in more than 30 years — took more than a decade. And it started with the kid at first base.

Here are the steps that got them back.

Find the face of the franchise.

The top international amateurs sign as teenagers. Some are future stars. Many are busts. In 2015, the Blue Jays went all in on the 16-year-old son of a Hall of Famer, giving Vladimir Guerrero Jr. $3.9 million — more than they were technically allowed to spend — to sign out of the Dominican Republic. They traded two prospects to the Los Angeles Dodgers for extra international pool money to help offset the cost.

That 2015 international class was correctly identified as an elite collection of talent, but of the 13 players who received at least a $2 million bonus, only Guerrero has become a true star. The other standouts from that year — Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Yordan Álvarez, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and others — were all sub-$2 million signings. The others who earned big bonuses have largely faded from relevance.

Guerrero, just 26, has been an All-Star for the past five seasons in a row. His 14-year, $500 million extension kicks in next season, and he has been one of the game’s top performers this postseason.

Keep building the young core.

The Blue Jays largely whiffed on their top two draft picks in 2016, but they made up for it with their third pick, shortstop Bo Bichette, who signed for an over-slot bonus and soon emerged as one of the game’s top prospects. Bichette has been the Blue Jays’ primary shortstop since 2019, and after a disappointing 2024, he was back among the game’s best at the position this season. He has so far missed the postseason with a knee injury, but he is expected to return on Friday for Game 1 of the World Series. It could be a fitting farewell before he becomes a free agent next month.

Also in 2016, the Blue Jays struck gold again on the international market. Because they had overspent on Guerrero the year before, the Blue Jays were not allowed to spend heavily on the 2016 international free-agent class, but they nevertheless landed a gem in 17-year-old Mexican catcher Alejandro Kirk. (They also signed current Miami Marlins infielder Otto López and Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno.) Kirk is a two-time All-Star and recently signed a five-year extension.

Turn the page.

When the Blue Jays made the playoffs in 2015 and 2016, it was with an entirely different generation of players. Those Blue Jays teams were built around José Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnación. They had star power.

By the time Guerrero arrived in April 2019, though, only Marcus Stroman remained from the previous core. Even Stroman had been traded by the time Bichette made his debut that July. After nearly winning the pennant in 2015 and 2016, the Blue Jays weathered three seasons of losing records before reemerging as a playoff team with essentially an all-new roster in 2020. They have been building upon that new core ever since.

Add a veteran bat.

Having returned to the playoffs in 2020, the Blue Jays stopped their rebuild and began building toward a championship. In the winter of 2020-21, they signed Robbie Ray, nearly traded for Francisco Lindor, and then signed George Springer to a six-year, $150 million contract that was, at the time, the largest deal in franchise history (the team also added Marcus Semien, Kirby Yates and Steven Matz that winter).

Springer’s time with the Blue Jays has been inconsistent. He has dealt with injuries and had a career-worst .674 on-base plus slugging percentage in 2024, but at 36, he has been resurgent this season. Only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani produced a higher weighted runs created plus in the regular season. The Blue Jays signed Springer to help lead them back to the World Series, and in the next-to-last year of his contract, he has done exactly that.

Finally land an ace.

Two offseasons in a row — after the 2019 season, and again after 2020 — the Blue Jays tried and failed to sign Kevin Gausman. Each year, he took a one-year deal with the San Francisco Giants, betting on himself and building value before the Blue Jays finally got him on a five-year, $110 million deal.

In the first four years of that contract, Gausman has delivered the fourth most innings and third most strikeouts in baseball. He has pitched to a consistent 3.48 ERA — no season higher than 3.83 or lower than 3.16 — while making at least 31 starts each year. FanGraphs’ WAR labels him the fourth-most-valuable starter in baseball during his time in Toronto, behind only Zack Wheeler, Logan Webb and Tarik Skubal.

Add role players wherever you can find them.

While building this team, the Blue Jays had their share of prospect disappointments. Some flopped (Nate Pearson, Jordan Groshans, Anthony Alford), and others fizzled (Cavan Biggio, Alek Manoah), leaving the Blue Jays to round out their roster in unexpected ways.

Outfielder Nathan Lukes and infielder Ernie Clement were signed as minor league free agents, and both have become lineup regulars. Mason Fluharty was a fifth-round pick who has settled into the bullpen, Addison Barger was a sixth rounder who hit 21 home runs this year, and outfielder Davis Schneider was a 28th-round pick who was twice exposed to the Rule 5 draft before spending the past three years with the Blue Jays. Brendon Little, a former first-round pick, was acquired from the Chicago Cubs for cash considerations and this season led the AL in relief appearances.

Give a big trade a little time.

Initially, trading for center fielder Daulton Varsho looked like a disaster. Catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went to the Diamondbacks in the deal, and they immediately went to the 2023 World Series, with Gurriel making the All-Star team and Moreno winning a Gold Glove. And Varsho had an 84 OPS+ in his first season with the Blue Jays.

But Moreno and Gurriel have not been as valuable in the two years since, and Varsho has solidified himself as one of the game’s best defensive center fielders. He also delivered a career year at the plate this season (albeit in limited playing time), and he was an offensive beast in the division series against the New York Yankees.

The trade remains a debatable move — Moreno is 25, and Varsho is a free agent after next season — but the Blue Jays had catching depth and needed a left-handed outfielder, and the trade has now helped two teams get to the World Series.

Find someone (anyone!) to stabilize the rotation.

The Blue Jays have been trying to build a viable rotation for years. It started before they added Gausman, and it has continued ever since. The Blue Jays, since 2019, have signed or traded for Hyun Jin Ryu, Taijuan Walker, Ray, Ross Stripling, Matz, José Berríos, Yusei Kikuchi and Cuban right-hander Yariel Rodríguez. They have also developed first-round picks Pearson and Manoah.

Building and maintaining a rotation has had inconsistent results. Since 2022, the Blue Jays rank 12th in the majors in rotation ERA, and they ranked 20th this year. Berríos has stuck around, but his performance has been up and down, and he has been hurt this postseason.

Of that group, starting pitcher Chris Bassitt is the one who has stuck to help the Blue Jays make this run to the World Series. In his three seasons in Toronto, Bassitt pitched to a 3.89 ERA while always making at least 31 starts and averaging more than 181 innings. He has been rarely dominant, but he has been the durable workhorse the Blue Jays needed.

Promote a 22-year-old with a live arm.

Heading into the 2024 draft, many online rankings had East Carolina University starter Trey Yesavage going among the top 10 to 15 picks. He had some medical concerns, but he threw hard, threw strikes and had a nasty splitter. When he fell to the Blue Jays at No. 20, Toronto offered an above-slot bonus of more than $4 million to sign.

Less than 100 minor league innings later, Yesavage was in the big leagues. Just three major league starts after that, he was throwing an 11-strikeout gem in Game 2 of a division series. On Sunday, in the ALCS, he was terrific again, striking out seven in 5-2/3 innings of a must-win Game 6.

After slowly building this roster for more than a decade, the Blue Jays fast-tracked a 22-year-old, and it was the final piece that got them back to the World Series for the first time in more than 30 years.