The Toronto Blue Jays are just one game from beating the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Toronto finished the 2024 season in last place in the American League East, and reporters expected it to fare better this year, but the turnaround has been shocking.
The Blue Jays made all the right moves to go from worst to first and contend for a World Series. They added all the right veterans, like Jeff Hoffman and Shane Bieber, they paid their star, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., for life, and hit for contact with a healthy dose of power sprinkled in.
After the Jays won two out of three games on their Fall Classic road trip to Los Angeles, radio hosts Adam Jones and Rich Keefe of the "Jones & Keefe" show on WEEI broke down the parts of their lineup and compared them to the Red Sox. Based on their assessment, Boston isn't far from having the type of season Toronto had.
The Red Sox had a superior bullpen to the Blue Jays, with the second-lowest relief ERA in MLB and the lowest in the American League. Garrett Crochet, Boston's ace who is under contract until 2030, is a better pitcher than the Jays' ace, Kevin Gausman. The Sox have young pitchers with as much promise as breakout rookie Trey Yesavage — Payton Tolle and Conelly Early could have a similar level of success next year.
Boston radio hosts outline the few changes necessary for Red Sox's roster to match up to World Series-finalist Blue Jays
Comparing the Red Sox and Blue Jays, the Red Sox really aren't that far off. pic.twitter.com/izFmut3tUX
— Jones & Keefe (@JonesandKeefe) October 30, 2025
A full season with Roman Anthony in 2026 should bring consistent offense and a dose of power, but he alone won't be enough to lift the Sox to the Jays' offensive level. Toronto led the league with 1,461 hits this season, and Boston wasn't far behind with 1,414 in fourth place. The streaky offense the Red Sox had in 2025 won't get them to the Blue Jays' level, but as Jones and Keefe said, the Sox aren't far away from matching up with a club that made it to the World Series.
Boston had a top-10 offense by almost every metric in the regular season, and full seasons of Anthony and a healthy Bregman should help elevate that even farther. The Red Sox did not rank in the top 10 in home runs, however, and the Jays tied for the 11th-most in the league (although, you wouldn't know it by the way Guerrero and Alejandro Kirk are slugging in the postseason). Adding a power bat, such as Kyle Schwarber, will help lift the Sox's offense to the same level as other clubs that lasted longer in the playoffs. Schwarber also takes a lot of walks, so he would add length to Boston's lineup in other ways besides his uncanny ability to hit home runs.
If the Red Sox re-sign Bregman and add Schwarber or another slugger like Pete Alonso or Munetaka Murakami, their payroll will increase well past the luxury tax. Boston's ownership has been reluctant to take the leap since winning the 2018 World Series, but the Blue Jays, Dodgers and Yankees all spent bigger and stayed alive longer in the playoff chase.
The Red Sox's contending window is fully open, and they need to capitalize while Crochet, Anthony, Brayan Bello and Ceddanne Rafaela are under contract, and Bregman is still a top tier player. Luckily, as Jones and Keefe pointed out, it won't take much for Boston to match up with a current World Series team, which also happens to be the top team in its division.