This was always the most likely outcome.

Heading into the final weekend of the season, there was a slight chance that the Blue Jays could pass the Yankees in the standings. They would have had to sweep the Orioles and the Yanks would have had to drop at least two of three to the Marlins.

The Yanks held up their end of the bargain, shitting their pants against Miami and dropping two of three, but the Jays ran into the issue of having to use Tanner Roark on Sunday in the season finale, pretty much wiping out the possibility of a sweep.

The best outcome, I think, would have been Toronto winning, passing New York, and facing the Chicago White Sox as the No. 5 seed. But that would have involved the Jays winning Sunday, the Yankees losing, and Cleveland losing, and Cleveland was facing the completely incompetent Pirates, so that wasn’t happening.

Had Toronto won Sunday, they would have ended up facing Cleveland in the wild-card round. Given Cleveland’s pitching staff, with surefire Cy Young winner Shane Bieber leading the way, that probably isn’t a match-up you want.

So, anyway, just as we all expected, it’ll be the Blue Jays and Rays at The Trop. Buckle up!