The Blue Jays have been mathmatically eliminated from the playoffs

Originally posted on Bluejaysnation
By Tyson Shushkewich | Last updated Sep 21, 2024 4:00 PM ET

After a disappointing campaign, the final nail has hit the coffin – the Blue Jays can no longer make the 2024 postseason. It’s not a surprise as the team has struggled most of the campaign and traded off numerous veteran players at the trade deadline due to the subpar results. Still, with the season coming to a close as September begins to wind down, the Jays can no longer pull off a miracle to play meaningful October baseball.

Entering today’s Saturday afternoon game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Jays sit eight games back of the Minnesota Twins, who occupy the third Wild Card spot with just a handful of games to play in the campaign.

The New York Yankees have already secured their postseason spot, regardless of whether they take first place in the AL East or the Wild Card, and the Baltimore Orioles are likely to join them barring an absolute losing streak to end the campaign. The Kansas City Royals sit one game ahead of the Twins in the Wild Card standings, with the Cleveland Guardians securing their postseason spot as well, but the Rays, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and Boston Red Sox are still in the hunt as of right now but some luck and some wins will be needed if the Mariners or Red Sox want to play in October.

Over the last 24 hours, the Rangers, Cardinals, and Blue Jays have been eliminated from Postseason contention pic.twitter.com/IyHFhoi3S1

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 21, 2024

With the Jays currently in Tampa and finishing the season facing the Red Sox and the Miami Marlins at home next week, there is a chance Toronto could elevate themselves from the basement of the division but things would need to go their way while also winning the most of the remaining games in the schedule. Per Tankathon, the Blue Jays currently boast a 5.31% chance of securing the first overall pick in next summer’s MLB Draft and should fall within the top 10 based on their current trajectory. A winning streak to end the season could change those odds but they would need to win almost every game to just hit .500 baseball.

Overall – it has been a disappointing season for the Blue Jays faithful that was hoping to break the postseason win streak that has been haunting this organization since 2016. With a winter of uncertainty on the forefront and the talks of contending in 2025 flooding the news channels, the Blue Jays need to do some heavy lifting this winter if they want to break the postseason winless streak established by previous general manager Alex Anthopoulos.

Compounded by the fact that numerous core players are free agent eligible after the 2025 season – Vladimir Guerreor Jr., Bo Bichette, Christ Bassitt, and Jordan Romano among them – the window to contending is at an all-time high barring extension conversations, which seem almost as distant as the playoffs win from over a decade ago.

This article first appeared on Bluejaysnation and was syndicated with permission.

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