MLB Insider Reveals How Blue Jays' World Series Run Changed Perception of Team in FA

It's amazing what an incredible season capped off by playing in Game 7 of the World Series can do for an organization's reputation, as the Toronto Blue Jays are currently finding out.

Per ESPN's Buster Olney, the perception among players has "completely changed" for the Blue Jays after their thrilling 2025 campaign.

The early returns at least suggest there is some credence to this theory since the Blue Jays made the biggest move of the offseason so far with their seven-year, $210 million deal with Dylan Cease.

Money certainly has played a huge role in Cease's decision to accept that offer, but there has been some difficulty in recent years for the Blue Jays when pursuing star players on the open market.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported in December 2023 that the Blue Jays matched the exact terms of the proposal the Los Angeles Dodgers made to Shohei Ohtani, but the two-way superstar opted to play in Hollywood.

Per USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Blue Jays offered Corbin Burnes a bigger deal than the six-year, $210 million deal he accepted from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Burnes did specifically cite a desire to remain close to home in Arizona with his wife and their three kids as a reason for picking the Diamondbacks, so it's hard to totally fault Toronto for coming up short in that regard.

The Blue Jays have had a top-10 payroll in each of the past four seasons, so they are finding good players to take their money. They were able to retain Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a 14-year, $500 million extension in April.

They have signed five players to contracts worth at least $100 million, plus traded for Andrés Giménez two years after he signed a seven-year, $105 million deal with the Cleveland Guardians.

For comparison, the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies currently have five players on their roster with contracts of at least $100 million. The Dodgers, who defeated Toronto in the thrilling 2025 World Series, have seven.

If the Blue Jays are going to be among the teams competing for players at the very top of the free-agent pool based on their postseason run, they have a strong chance to become one of the superpower franchises in all of MLB.