Jays, Leafs disappoint in playoffs

It all comes down to postseason, everything that matters to teams led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, everything that matters to teams led by Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.

Everything that matters to fans of the Blue Jays and the Maple Leafs, the two Toronto teams of similar strength and historical disappointment.

This is one of the deepest teams in Blue Jays history, with more starting pitching, more bullpen, more defence, more options than almost any of the Jays teams since the World Series years. But so far, nothing official to show for it, not a single post-season victory of the GuerreroBichette era.

Even those great Alex Anthopoulos-built teams of 2015 and 2016 came up short in consecutive playoff runs — with just three wins to show for two trips to the American League Championship Series, each time with the Jays losing to inferior teams in consecutive seasons.

This has been one of the great runs of regular-season play in Maple Leafs history. For the seven seasons of Matthews, Marner and William

Nylander, the Leafs have dabbled around the 100-point mark, individual scoring marks have been set and yet almost every spring has found the Leafs facing questions they have no answers for.

It’s remarkable, really, how nearly grand the Jays and Leafs have been. Never terrible enough to be bad. Never strong enough when it mattered to be great. With too many memorable and challenging defeats that belie the talent on either roster.

And so a Blue Jays regular season is about to end and another Leafs season is about to begin: it’s all about playoffs. The Jays season begins in April and playoffs begin in

October. And the Leafs regular season begins in October with playoffs coming in April.

THIS AND THAT

Missing from Kevin Gausman’s impressive career resume: a great post-season start. If the Jays are forced to use Gausman on Sunday afternoon, the possibility exists that he won’t make a playoff start this season. The Jays did not want to go to the final game of the season, not knowing by early Saturday evening, whether they had clinched a playoff spot or not … This is a bet a lot of us would have lost: Yusei Kikuchi made 32 starts for the

Jays and Toronto went 21-11 in those games … George Springer, who hasn’t had a great season offensively until September, should get serious Gold Glove consideration for his play in right-field … The Baltimore Orioles won 100 games for the sixth time in their history this season. The last time the O’s won 100, they actually missed the playoffs by three games in 1980 … Pitchers aside, who had great seasons for the Blue Jays? Bo Bichette was their MVP and led all of baseball in opposite field hits. Kevin Kiermaier had his best offensive year. But Matt Chapman, Springer, Daulton Varsho, Alejandro Kirk posted disappointing numbers. And from a possible playoff matchup, Yandy Diaz, Isaac Peredes, Josh Lowe, Randy Arozarena and Harold Ramirez all had fine years and that’s playing without Wander Franco, who may never play again, and for a lot of the season and with Junior Caminero in the minors. These aren’t the who are they Rays anymore … Diaz was probably the Rays MVP. An amazing season for an amazing story of a man, who tried to defect from Cuba five times, was arrested four times, spent months in prison, and eventually escaped to the Dominican Republic.

HEAR AND THERE

Why are so many annoyed about the coverage Taylor Swift is getting for showing up at a Kansas City Chiefs game and apparently dating or befriending Travis Kelce? She is probably the largest entertainer in the world right now. He is one of the largest stars in the National Football League. Why are so many people bothered by this or is this just another chance to be angry about nothing? … Bill Belichick hit the right nerve with his comment on Kelce, which is completely out of Belichick’s wheelhouse. “Well, I would say that Travis Kelce’s had a lot of big catches in his career. This would be the biggest,” Belichick said on a Boston radio station … By the way, sales of Kelce jerseys have gone up 400 per cent since his friendship with Swift became news. And female viewership just happened to be up 63 per cent for the recent Kansas City game. Taylor Swift is good for business, it seems just about everybody’s business … The reason Auston Matthews might kill penalties this season: because GM Brad Treliving likes the idea of his best players playing in the most important situations.