Former Guardians fan favorites deserved better after Blue Jays' devastation

There were plenty of former Guardians’ fingerprints all over the Toronto Blue Jays race to the World Series. Ernie Clement set the record for the most hits in a single postseason, Andrés Giménez produced at the bottom of the lineup and Shane Bieber did his part on the mound. 

But it ended up not being enough, as the Dodgers’ picked up a big 5-4 win in Game 7 thanks to an extra inning home run off…. none other than Bieber. 

The Blue Jays’ postseason run featured plenty of highlight moments that reverberated throughout North America, but all of their accompaniments are going to be branded with the “yeah but” that will come because they lost the series. 

Clement’s star turn was arguably the most impressive given how things went for him in Cleveland. He was always a defensive wizard at third, but his lack of production at the plate (.214 average in 103 games) along with the presence of José Ramírez made him expendable. 

He ended up in Toronto after a short stint in Oakland, and has since turned into one of the sport’s best infielders. He was nominated for a Gold Glove at two positions and set a new MLB record with 30 hits in the postseason. 

Bieber, meanwhile, posted a 3.86 ERA across 18 2/3 innings for Toronto in the postseason. After a rough initial start, he finished the postseason with three solid starts. But that’s not going to matter in the annals of history thanks to the slider he hung to Smith in the 11th inning. 

The Blue Jays' core of former Guardians ended up pushing the Dodgers to the limit

He’s now set to be a free agent for the first time in his career, and will likely earn a solid payday (even if his pitch to Smith may stick in the team's heads longer than he’d like). 

While Giménez’s postseason batting average of .215 doesn’t jump off the page, he drove in 12 runs from the bottom of the lineup while proving some solid defense. He hit a big double in Game 7 and saved the game (at the time) by nailing down the potential go-ahead run at home in the 10th inning. 

Had the Blue Jays won, those would have been the kind of plays that stand out in Blue Jays lore ahead of a huge World Series win. Now it’s a fun afterthought.  

Seeing so many former Guardians push the loaded Dodgers to the limit was fun, but Los Angeles ended up winning the battle of attrition in extra innings. They (like the Guardians) will begin a new quest to dethrone Los Angeles next March with the start of the 2026 season.