Kevin Barker wants the Blue Jays to face the Yankees in October, and he's not being subtle about it.
Toronto has gone 13-10 since the trade deadline despite being mostly sellers, pulling within 3.5 games of the Guardians for the final wild-card spot heading into Friday.
That's a real path back into October for a team that looked done a month ago.
If the Blue Jays get there, the Yankees sit atop the current wild-card picture at 75-58, with the Red Sox close behind at 73-60.
On a recent episode of Blair & Barker on Sportsnet 590 The FAN, Barker made his case for wanting exactly that matchup.
"I would love to face them," Barker said. "The Jays are frustrated. The Yankees are just dumb. They play dumb baseball. There is no way that team will win any playoffs."
He didn't stop at confident. He called it a lock.
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"Give me that any day. Absolutely, they'd win that series. Guaranteed playoff win. 140%. Jays and Yankees, book the next round. Book the hotel rooms for the next round," Barker said.
The Yankees currently sit 11 games ahead of Toronto in the AL East, which makes this take a bold one on the surface.
But the season series between these two clubs has been anything but one-sided.
Toronto and New York have split four series this year, with the Blue Jays holding a 6-7 edge overall in head-to-head games.
They split a four-game set in May, lost two of three in June, won two of three from Aug. 14-16, then dropped their most recent series from Aug. 21-23.
Neither team has really dominated the other, which makes Barker's confidence more about vibes than the actual scoreboard between these two clubs.
Toronto still made a World Series run just last year, proof that anything can happen once October arrives.
For any of this to matter, the Blue Jays need to keep climbing the standings first. A guaranteed series win means nothing if Toronto never gets the invite.
Do you think the Blue Jays would beat the Yankees in a playoff series this year?
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