The Toronto Blue Jays prepare for 2026 with a different reality, and John Schneider has stressed that their 2025 World Series loss has raised the floor for the franchise. The manager’s message centers on higher expectations, a new organizational standard, and how last October must fuel every decision now. For the Blue Jays, the World Series heartbreak last October has become a daily source of motivation rather than a scarring memory.

Schneider has repeatedly said the Blue Jays are not defending anything in 2026 and instead are attacking the season with intent. He believes the team’s raised floor comes directly from pushing the Los Angeles Dodgers to an extra-innings Game 7 at Rogers Centre, a heartbreak that now forces everyone in the room to treat deep October runs as the baseline expectation. The raised standards heading into 2026 now frame every conversation inside the clubhouse as well.

MLB Network brought the perspective from the Blue Jays manager to a wider audience on X (formerly known as Twitter), posting a clip of Schneider at spring training explaining how last year’s run reshaped the values and expectations of the franchise. In that video, the manager connected the sting of the World Series loss directly to the way he expects his Blue Jays team to prepare and how the organization's front office now evaluates progress.

“Raised the level of expectations, raised the floor of this organization… that's what you focus on now, what we value.”

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The post captured the essence of his message about a new norm in Toronto, a target on the team’s back, and a higher bar for success. He points to the World Series loss as the moment when simply making the postseason stopped being enough. The organization backed that mindset by picking up his 2026 option and engaging in extension talks, reinforcing the raised-floor theme Schneider continues to push to players and fans.

For Schneider, that World Series defeat now shapes how the Blue Jays approach every workout, series, and October run. In 2026, anything short of returning to the game’s biggest stage will feel like falling below their new floor.