The World Series had just wrapped up, but it wasn’t the winning team that was on the tips of tongues in Baltimore. It was the Blue Jays, who lost in seven games to the Dodgers but proved something else.

An immediate turnaround, from trough to crest, is possible.

As the Orioles unveiled Craig Albernaz as their new manager, the last-to-first bounce back from Toronto was a main talking point. The message from three of Baltimore’s biggest decision-makers — owner David Rubenstein, president of baseball operations Mike Elias and Albernaz — was clear: If the Blue Jays can do it, so can the Orioles.

“Remember, Toronto was in last place the year before they went to the World Series,” Rubenstein said. “So you can come back from the bottom, and we expect to do that.”

The story of how the Blue Jays came back — from a 74-88 record in 2024, good for a fifth-place finish in the American League East — to a divisional title and World Series berth begins with money. It extends to prudent trades, unexpected breakthroughs and positive regression for holdover players.

For the Orioles to follow in their footsteps, there is plenty of work to do. Even though many of the main pieces returned to play large roles for Toronto, the Blue Jays didn’t sit tight. The biggest swing came in April, when Toronto extended Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a massive 14-year, $500 million contract that allowed its star to play without pending free agency hanging over his head.

Beyond that, Toronto restructured its bullpen, leaned on key veterans and maximized the value of under-the-radar additions, such as Ernie Clement. Clement, signed as a minor league free agent in 2023, showcased the Blue Jays’ pro scouting and player development chops.

Baltimore can follow that script. Even then, though, one area of incalculable value is luck. When evaluating how Toronto restructured its roster, that can’t be overlooked.

“A 162-game season is the toughest thing to navigate in sports,” Albernaz said. “Even the Dodgers this year, they spend all that money, yes, they won the World Series, but it was a grind for them to get there. It wasn’t a cakewalk through the 162-game season. So for us it’s just taking one day at a time, try to win today and have our players get better each day. And then, when you look up after 162, hopefully we punch our ticket into the playoffs and then anything can happen.”

“Remember, Toronto was in last place the year before they went to the World Series. So you can come back from the bottom, and we expect to do that.”

Orioles owner David Rubenstein

The unpredictability renders computer analysis faulty at times. Per ZiPS, a projection system, Baltimore had the best chance to win the American League East entering 2025, at 29.8%. The Blue Jays sat at 13.2% and did it anyway, then made a run to the World Series.

The Orioles have been on the wrong side of postseason randomness. They finished 2023 and 2024 winless when it mattered most in October, because of a lack of clutch hitting coupled with pitching ineffectiveness. Baltimore crashed out two years in a row, then missed the postseason this season by finishing 75-87, one game better than Toronto had the previous season.

Many of the Orioles’ key players didn’t perform to their potential, with injuries one of the reasons. Catcher Adley Rutschman hit .220, outfielder Colton Cowser batted .196 and shortstop Gunnar Henderson (who still hit .274) finished the year with a .787 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, nearly 100 percentage points below his 2024 mark.

That is reminiscent of where the Blue Jays were in 2024. George Springer, who received a large contract in free agency ahead of the 2021 season, produced his worst season in Toronto by hitting .220 with a .674 OPS. He rebounded this year with a career-high .309 average and .959 OPS.

Alejandro Kirk improved his OPS by nearly 100 percentage points. Bo Bichette recovered from a .598 OPS in 2024 to produce an .840 OPS this year.

And Guerrero, of course, continued his star-level numbers with a contract to match it.

The first order of business for Baltimore, then, will be to see more consistent results from its core batters. The Blue Jays found success with a new hitting coach, David Popkins, who said before the season his aim was to help the team “become the most creative lineup at scoring runs in baseball.”

It did that, partly, by increasing bat speed and putting the ball in play. While chasing pitches outside the strike zone isn’t usually a recipe for success (and it’s something the Orioles staunchly avoid), the Blue Jays made the most of their swings. When chasing outside the zone, they made contact 63.3% of the time, per Statcast, which was the highest rate in the majors. Toronto’s in-zone contact rate of 84.8% was the second best.

The Orioles, meanwhile, missed far too frequently. When swinging at pitches within the strike zone, Baltimore’s 80.8% contact rate was tied for fourth lowest (its 52.1% chase contact rate was also fourth lowest).

Toronto didn’t miss much. The Blue Jays whiffed on just 21.6% of their swings, the best in the majors, while the Orioles’ 27.2% whiff rate was fourth worst. That, by itself, can be one area of improvement under new hitting coach Dustin Lind.

When Albernaz spoke of his offensive philosophy, he sounded a lot like Popkins. The new manager said he will aim for a “diverse offense.”

“We have to do the little things right,” Albernaz said. “When guys are struggling or going through a little rut, you have to find a way to keep the line moving and be productive for your team and for the organization.”

The Blue Jays showcased their scrappiness throughout the season and maintained that in the postseason. But Toronto also boasted an improved bullpen, and it became possible through investment in the offseason and at the trade deadline.

The Blue Jays signed right-hander Jeff Hoffman, then traded for righties Seranthony Domínguez and Louis Varland. Another trade for a starter, Shane Bieber, further cemented their rotation. And the breakthrough for right-handed prospect Trey Yesavage came at the perfect moment.

The Orioles must do much of the same for their pitching staff, both in retooling the bullpen and adding a starter (or two). Even if a signing doesn’t pan out (Toronto got little out of outfielder Anthony Santander, for instance), a certain amount of aggression is important in the winter.

“Everyone talks about the American League East,” Elias said. “It gets a little tired after a while, but we have five really good teams and really good organizations in this division right now, and there’s no one rebuilding, everybody’s going for it, so we all kind of get into a cage match every year and see what happens.

“I thought it [Toronto] was a very talented team. It has been a very talented team, even last year, when things just didn’t work out too well for them. But I think what they demonstrated was the right mix. They made some changes and they were able to kind of replace the mojo they had been lacking the last couple years. And that team was really close and played with a lot of flow all year long.”

To continue Elias’s message, the Orioles must find the mojo they lost midway through the 2024 season. It’s possible to go from last to first. The Blue Jays just proved it. But, to make it happen, Baltimore needs improvement from internal and external sources, along with a little luck.

“We’re going to lean on Craig and the coaching staff and the moves that we make this winter, and hopefully get things in a much better place,” Elias said. “Pretty confident that we will.”