The Year: 2026
W/L Record: 119-43
Run Differential: 880 RS vs. 570 RA +310 Runs
Awards: AL Stolen Base Leader: Jorge Vasquez 59, AL ERA Leader: Corey Bosworth 2.40, AL Cy Young Award: Corey Bosworth, AL Gold Glove: Jed McQueen (C), Mike Vanner (1B), and John Vanmeter (SS)
All Stars: SP Corey Bosworth, SP Ivan Cruz, SP Alejandro Castilla
League Leading Stat Categories: 14 complete games, 3.27 Team ERA, 66 Home Wins, .287 Opponent OBP, .357 Opponent Slugging Percentage, 3.17 Starter ERA, 570 Runs Allowed
Lineup/Bench Rotation/Bullpen
CF Jorge Vasquez Corey Bosworth
SS Jon Vanmeter Dennis Clapsaddle
DH Chris Munroe Alejandro Castilla
1B Mike Vanner Ivan Cruz
3B Sean Vogel Justin Tincher
LF Pat Wells CL Gary Kirsopp
RF Walter Deborah SU Lucas McCullar
2B Josh Diamond SR Efrain Luquis
C Jed McQueen SR Travis Miles
MR Scott McGuire
LR Brian Duff
2B Charlie Siegel
OF Leif Weber
LF Greg Quinmore
C Derrick Werrett
IF Craig Winters
OF Philip MacGruer
OF Donald McDowell
The Key Players: The Jays in 2026 were strangely lead by pitching and not hitting. It was an interesting year for the franchise as well having gone to three consecutive World Series and losing all of them. The aging core that won its way to the Series 6 of the last 8 seasons (winning just two titles) was starting to run out of time to hoist a third trophy. Several of the key components of those earlier teams (Steve Eickholt, Adeinny Hechavarria, Rob Wood) had all moved on to varying places and the team was bringing along a new group of young hitters and pitchers to try and maintain their successful run. In 2026 the young hitters had not quite taken that next step that they would soon enough, but enough of them had emerged to support a brilliant pitching staff lead by one of the grey-beard veterans of the previous core: Corey Bosworth.
The Boz was a 4th Round Pick (111th overall) in the second ever FCM draft. It was the beginning of what would be a special run by the Jays in which they drafted their ace (Boz) and his running buddy for many years Steve Eickholt. But despite a far inferior history of health, Boz outlasted his pitching partner and continued with the Blue Jays for nearly a decade longer. His 4 Cy Young awards (including 2026) are second only to Donovan Pace all time in FCM. He posted a 3.04 ERA and only .63 HR/9 in a hitter's haven in Toronto on his way to 256 career wins, 9 all-star appearances, and a spot in the FCM Hall of Fame. He also logged a long and successful post-season career that saw him earn 3 World Titles and nearly 20 postseason victories. In 2026 Boz went 15-2 with a 2.40 ERA in 172 innings. He struck out 145, gave up only 10 home runs, and allowed his opponents a meager .198 OBP. 2026 became the 3rd of his Cy Young years with Toronto.
This team is the ultimate clash of young and old, so with the old portion of the rotation taken care of it's time to talk about the youngsters. At just 24 years old Alejandro Castilla - another future HOFer - had already had four big league seasons under his belt coming into 2026. None of those years had yet flashed the brilliance he'd show later, but they were a damn fine start for such a young arm. In 2026 Castilla pitched 205 innings, struck out 150 batters, allowed a .228 OBP, with a 3.60 ERA and a 16-7 record. 26 year old Dennis Clapsaddle may best have been known as the arm the Blue Jays used to acquire Fernando Ontario and Jorge Vendor, but in 2026 he was a pivotal part of their rotation. Clapsaddle pitched 193 innings with a 3.60 ERA, a .231 opponents OBP, and went 19-6.
Rounding out the rotation were a group of guys that weren't going to impress you with their overalls or maybe even their vitals, but they kept the ball in the infield and made it easy for the elite Blue Jay defense to convert contact into outs. 35 year old journeyman Ivan Cruz pitched 153 innings for the team and went 15-5 with a 3.24 ERA and a .221 opponent's OBP. 29 year old journeyman Justin Tincher posted a 3.70 ERA with a 12-7 record in 146 innings. Youngster Brian Duff posted a 3.54 ERA in 122 innings and an 8-3 record. And lastly, and near and dear to the hearts of many Toronto fans (and their former GM), was the feisty James Derose. Toronto was Derose's fifth major league team by the age of 28 and he had never seen real success at any of his previous stops. But in 2018 he came to Toronto and helped them win their first title by posting a ridiculous 1.83 ERA and going 9-2 in the regular season before taking a legendary Game 7 start when everyone else couldn't go and holding down the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series. He pitched only 72 innings but posted a 4-2 record with a 2.61 ERA not to mentioning inspiring Canadians everywhere to dust off their old Derose jerseys for one last go around.
The Toronto bullpen was also quite good. Gary Kirsopp lead the way as the team's closer for his second year. He went an amazing 10-1 on the season while converting 36 save opportunities and posted a 2.69 ERA. Setting him up was Lucas McCullar who pitched 70 innings of 2.21 ERA ball and went 3-2 with 4 saves. Lefty specialist Efrain Luquis pitched 70 innings as well with a 4.28 ERA a 2-2 record and 4 saves. Another lefty, Travis Miles, pittched 86 innings with a 2.71 ERA and a 7-2 record. Lastly was Scott Mcguire who pitched 94 innings and went 5-4 with a 4.01 ERA.
The Toronto lineup was the lesser half of the team but nothing to slouch at. The top of the lineup featured FCM's greatest base thief. He holds a record that will never be broken - 1,037 stolen bases. that's 200 more than Rafael Romero. 400 more than Peter Carson. He had over 3,000 hits and 1800 runs. He was a two time gold glover. It may be an understatement to say that he is one of the league's most underrated players. He bounced around a good deal during his time in FCM but he found his longest home in Toronto. After making his full time debut in 2016 (and not retiring until 2036) - Vasquez played 8 of his 20 big league seasons in Toronto and tallied over 500 stolen bases in that time. His 2026 saw him record 107 runs, 42 doubles, 8 triples, 60 RBI, 59 stolen bases and a slash line of .291/333/387 and a .720 OPS. He was the lead-off catalyst for the team, thought it was far from his best year in Toronto.
Setting things up with Vasquez was second year breakout player John Vanmeter. You heard about him a bit the last time but 2026 was his coming out party. He was a gold glove defender with only 6 errors in 1357 innings and making 502 assists, 268 putouts, and turning 121 double plays. He would've been worthy of a starting gig for his defense alone but he brought plenty with the bat. In 2026 he scored 98 times, had 40 doubles, 13 triples, 23 home runs (76 XBHs), drove in 100 runs, stole 39 bases, and slashed /264/.319/.487 with an .806 OPS.
In the middle of the Toronto offense was stalwart, grey-bearded Mike Vanner. Vanner came up a catcher with the Blue Jays but was converted to 1B to make room for another young backstop named Jose Castillo. When Castillo left, Vanner stayed at first and became the prototypical masher from the corner along with transforming himself into a gold glove defender. From 2020 to 2026 Vanner did pretty much exactly what he did in 2026 - 29 home runs, 100 RBI, an .812 OPS, 38 doubles, 85 runs scored - some very close version of that year in and year out. His partner in the middle was young masher Chris Munroe in his rookie season. Munroe hit 33 home runs, drove in 89, walked 92 times, hit 46 doubles, and scored 110 runs while posting a .279/377/533 slash line and a .910 OPS. (How wasn't he rookie of the year you ask? Mogul said he was a second year player due to 29 September at bats the previous year)
Munroe wasn't the only new kid in town, Batting fifth was a young switch hitting third baseman just getting his feet wet in the big leagues. Sean Vogel wasn't his future self, but for a young player at third base he did very well. He hit 25 home runs, drove in 73, scored 66, hit 33 doubles, and posted a .788 OPS while playing excellent defense in the corner. Also chipping in was fourth year OF Pat Wells who had quite a season. He scored 82 runs, hit 36 doubles, 3 triples, 29 home runs, drove in 103, stole 23 bases, and OPS'd .873 all while missing about a month of the season.
Rounding out the offense was Josh Diamond at 2B who was acquired after Charlie Siegel could never quite get right again. A young player with a huge amount of talent cut down in his second season by a year long injury to his rotator cuff. The Jays turned to Diamond instead who posted a .318 batting average, 10 home runs, 62 runs scored, and 66 RBI. Switch hitter Walter Deborah manned RF and hit 24 home runs with a .252 batting average and 81 RBI. 2026 not only saw the demise of Charlie Siegel but also 4-time all-star Vic Caudales who was making 20M a year but never recovered from his injuries. Those losses paved the way for one other important debut - Philip "P-Mac" MacGruer who came in to take over LF during the stretch to the playoffs. The last two players of note were defensive specialist Jed McQueen at catcher who hit .297 with 4 home runs, 50 runs, and 47 RBI and a key trade deadline acquisition of Donald McDowell who posted an .892 OPS with 12 home runs, 43 RBI, and 51 runs scored in just 290 at-bats with the team. His presence allowed the team to make up for several late season injuries.
Interview with the Owner: Andy's Thoughts Sprinkled In Throughout
What Sets Them Apart: The 2026 Blue Jays were a transition point in the Toronto dynasty but they represent the third best record in FCM history and a World Series championship to top it off. Unlike many of the Jays teams on this list, this was the one that featured pitching most prominently. What was most impressive was that as the team was moving on from one core (Vanner, Siegel, Bosworth) and on to the next (Vogel, Munroe, Castilla) - they managed to merge those two eras of Blue Jay baseball into one of FCM's greatest teams.
Coming Next: 10th Best Team in FCM History: The Dominican Demon
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