Blue Jays fans no longer have the right to laugh at Yankees for 2024 World Series

For as active and impressive the Toronto Blue Jays have been this offseason, it seemingly hasn't been enough. Well, it might be enough to top the New York Yankees, but it isn't if they want to conquer the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On Thursday night, the Dodgers stole Toronto's top free agent target in Kyle Tucker, overpaying the slugger on an unforeseen four-year, $240 million contract. The Jays were reportedly the only team willing to offer a long-term deal to Tucker, and even that wasn't enough to sway him.

After losing Game 7 of the World Series to LA in arguably the most heartbreaking fashion anybody's seen in the modern era, this is another haymaker the Blue Jays may not be able to recover from. Time will tell, but it's as obvious as ever they are losing the war to the Dodgers.

The Blue Jays won their little battle over the Yankees, triumphing over New York in the ALDS before reaching the Fall Classic. It was the first time the Jays made it past the Wild Card round since 2016 and the first time they made it to the World Series since 1993. But that inconsistency was still enough for Blue Jays fans to declare supremacy over the Yankees despite the fact New York has unequivocally owned them since the mid-1990s.

Whatever ammo Jays fans thought they had months — or even weeks — ago has been used up. They want to laugh at the Yankees for their embarrassing 2024 World Series? Sorry, you just lost the right to do that. It'll ring hollow. Because, if we're to believe what you're saying, you have bigger aspirations, right? You can't even be worried about the "run it back" Yankees in 2026. They're a footnote in your fictional story.

But guess what? They suffered the same fate to the Dodgers (and other big spenders) that the Yankees did. Though the Blue Jays put up a better fight in the World Series than the Yankees did, they still lost. One could argue the Blue Jays' loss was more embarrassing than the Yankees when you consider all the factors. Toronto led 3-2 with the series headed back to the Rogers Centre, and the Jays lost both of those games. Not to mention, Game 7 featured all-time gaffes, from Jeff Hoffman allowing the game-tying home run in the ninth to the worst hitter on the Dodgers (Miguel Rojas) and then Isiah Kiner-Falefa's controversial lead off of third base/slide into home plate in the bottom of the ninth when he was thrown out on a play that would have ended the game.

Blue Jays just became another Dodgers footnote, and can't be preoccupied with Yankees

The Jays had it. We were all convinced, too. Yankees fans were waiting to live a true life of hell in 2026 as Toronto fans paraded around with the ultimate bragging rights. But they fumbled it harder than arguably any other World Series loser ... ever? It's quite possible.

And then you have the offseason. Yes, the Blue Jays have been impressive on that front. Spending money aggressively and with pointed intent, but all they needed to do was finish the job with Tucker in order to cap off what would've been an epic rising from the embers moment after the loss to the Dodgers. Adding Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce, Kazuma Okamoto and Tyler Rogers while welcoming back Shane Bieber in to the fold was seen as the best offseason to date ... until the Dodgers interrupted it yet again.

Tucker represented the final piece for the Blue Jays to effectively combat a Dodgers three-peat. It also would've been a cutthroat move to kick the Yankees further down the standings as well. But just like how Hal Steinbrenner had to bow to Steve Cohen after getting hosed in the Juan Soto negotiations, Toronto suffered the same fate. The direct competition took the wind out of the Blue Jays sails by swiping the only remaining marquee target that would have altered the dynamic of the postseason picture in either direction.

And at this rate, are we sure the Blue Jays are that much better year over year, with Bo Bichette officially signing with the Mets? Can't forget about that one, too! The Jays weren't even a top suitor for their own player as the Phillies and Mets circled the waters before Steven Cohen delivered the short-term high AAV deal to sway him (three years, $126 million). They will no doubt be a contender and the team to beat in the AL East, but they are projected to lose a major offensive piece that was supposed to be filled by Tucker. If history tells us anything, it's that the Jays need to go out and prove in 2026 that their perennial contendership is for real, given how inconsistent they have been for 30 years.

So before you win back-to-back playoff series for the first time since 2015-2016; before you make it past the Wild Card round for just the second time in 10 years; before you prove that these offseason additions and momentum from last season are for real ... we'd pumped the brakes on trying to big boy the Yankees in any capacity. There's no banner for ALDS victories. There's no banner for back-to-back seasons of outpeforming your division rival. There's no banner for "we got closer to winning the World Series than you did."

Yankees fans are aware that this won't stop any vitriol from the Jays fan base, but deep down we'll know they are only further digging their grave and setting themselves up for the next failure to be that much more disheartening.