This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The postseason has forgotten the Blue Jays by now, rolling on with the battle of Texas in the ALCS and the underdog D-backs facing those electrifying Phillies in the NLCS. 

There’s no solace to be found here if you’re the Blue Jays. The D-backs won just 84 games and their postseason run has been powered, in part, by the two players Toronto traded to Arizona for Daulton Varsho: Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. The postseason can be so unpredictable, but the Blue Jays keep crashing to the same finish while others rise around them. 

Three sweeps in the Wild Card Series in four seasons is disappointing, especially with a roster as talented as this one on paper, and another shift in team identity could be coming after their biggest letdown to date.

“What I keep thinking about is how much we let down the fans,” team president and CEO Mark Shapiro said Thursday. “I understand the frustration. The bitterness is palpable for me and for the other leaders of this organization. They are among the best fans in Major League Baseball. Three million of them came to see us here and millions more watched us night in, night out. It’s not acceptable for us to have fallen short of expectations.”

Here is your 2023 Season in Review:

Defining moment: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., picked off in Game 2

The decision to lift a dominant José Berríos for Yusei Kikuchi isn’t done hanging over this club -- not close -- but the image of Guerrero Jr. being picked off at second base later in that Game 2 Wild Card loss captured so much of this Blue Jays season in an instant. 

Down 2-0 with two outs, Guerrero on second, George Springer on third and Bo Bichette at the plate, the Blue Jays had their chance to tie the game with a base hit and keep their season alive. Instead, Twins starter Sonny Gray and shortstop Carlos Correa connected on a brilliantly planned and executed pickoff play. 

There it is, the Blue Jays’ season. This roster was spilling over with talent, boasting one of the best pitching staffs and defenses in Major League Baseball, but too often got in its own way. The clean, tight brand of baseball we’d heard about all season abandoned them in the moments that mattered most.

What we learned: “Windows” aren’t a simple thing

From the outside looking in, the Blue Jays were set up so well for 2023. Their young core, led by Guerrero, Bichette and Alek Manoah, had been supported by major free-agent signings and trades. This was a roster without holes back in February, with Spring Training only sorting out some smaller depth issues. The AL East was right in front of the Blue Jays, then the season started.

The Orioles exploded onto the scene, winning 101 games ahead of schedule while going 10-3 against the Blue Jays. The Rays, as always, lived near the top of the division, and while the Yankees and Red Sox stumbled, those franchises won’t stay down for long. The Blue Jays need to compete for the division in 2024, not just another Wild Card spot, but the changing realities of the AL East make that a tall task. 

Best development: Bounce-back seasons from Berríos, Kikuchi

My apologies, as I know that seeing those two names so close together may still be difficult. 

These two pitchers saved the Blue Jays, though. Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt were simply excellent, but Berríos was coming off a 5.23 ERA and Kikuchi was coming off a 5.19 ERA. Factor in Manoah’s decline and eventual demotion, and the duo of Berríos and Kikuchi protected this rotation from needing to reach into a pool of rotation depth that was… rather thin. 

Amid all of the questions this organization is facing, it can at least feel confident in its rotation entering 2024.

Area for improvement: Power

Guerrero led the team with 26 home runs and Springer was second with 21. As a team, the Blue Jays finished 16th in MLB with 188 home runs. Those numbers just don’t match what this lineup should be capable of.

The offense’s flaws were a conversation topic all season, mainly its inability to hit with runners in scoring position until that luck turned later in the year. Mix in a few more home runs, though, and so many of those problems are covered up. A step back in the direction of power needs to be part of this offseason. 

On the rise: Ricky T

No. 1 prospect Ricky Tiedemann will be one of the three biggest stories in Spring Training next February (give me Manoah and TBD for the others). Tiedemann is making up for lost time after an injury-shortened 2023 in the Arizona Fall League, where he’s found success with a 2.77 ERA and 18 strikeouts over 13 innings. 

Workload is still a factor here and it may be sensible for the Blue Jays to start Tiedemann in Triple-A in 2024, forcing him to earn that final promotion… but he’s coming. Projecting a pitching prospect’s health and performance is baseball’s riskiest game, but when it all comes together for Tiedemann, his talent is breathtaking.

Team MVP: Bo Bichette

For who he is on the field and who he’s become off of it, Bichette is this team’s MVP and the likeliest face of this franchise going forward (if we require such things).

Bichette battled injuries late in the season, but still put together a .306 average with 20 home runs over 135 games. The tutelage of Marcus Semien shows in Bichette, a young leader who continues to grow in that area, and he’s due for another significant step in 2024.