Morning Coffee: Blue Jays can join short list of longshot division winners

Davis Alexander tied the record for the best start by a quarterback in CFL history last night.

Considering how that game ended, it might be a little while before he gets a chance to break the record.

Alexander improved to 8-0 to match Danny McManus for the most consecutive wins by a QB to start a CFL career.

A 10.5-point favourite prior to kick-off, the Alouettes trailed the Toronto Argonauts by as many as 18 points on Thursday Night Football.

Montreal could be found as high as +1100 to win the game live down by double digits in the third quarter.

The Alouettes found a spark with their first TD of the game in the third, then outscored Toronto 12-0 in the fourth quarter.

Alexander punched in the game-winning TD with just 1:49 remaining in regulation of the 26-25 comeback win.

Montreal improved to 4-0 with Alexander in the lineup.

The Alouettes are 0-2 when Alexander is sidelined.

Montreal remains FanDuel’s Grey Cup favourite at +230.

It appears the Alouettes can go as far as their MOP-calibre quarterback will take them.

Next up, Montreal will host the Calgary Stampeders on Thursday Night Football in Week 8, and there’s a good chance they will be without their star QB once again.

Alexander aggravated his injured hamstring on the go-ahead touchdown last night, leading to question marks about his availability for the near future.

When he does return to the field, Alexander will have an opportunity to break the record for the best start by a quarterback in CFL history.

Hopefully, Alouettes fans won’t have to wait long for that.

In the meantime, Week 7 continues with a West Division showdown between the Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday Night Football on TSN.

In case you missed it, I wrote about Calgary’s remarkable start in Wednesday’s column.

While the weekend CFL slate is loaded, Canada’s baseball team is also back in the spotlight Friday as the Toronto Blue Jays look to build on a franchise record 55 wins over the first half of the season.

Will the Blue Jays build on their improbable turnaround and compete for an AL East title?

If they do, Toronto will join a short list of longshot division winners that have surprised in recent seasons.

This is Morning Coffee for Friday July 18th, 2025.

Blue Jays can join short list of longshot division winners

The Blue Jays were 10-to-1 to win the AL East on Opening Day.

That number ballooned to 100-to-1 by late May after Toronto suffered a three-game sweep by the division rival Tampa Bay Rays.

The Blue Jays were 26-28 on May 28th.

Since then, Toronto has gone 29-13 to improve to 55-41 and set a franchise record for the most first-half wins.

The Blue Jays are two games up on the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East standings.

They’re three games up on the streaking Boston Red Sox – the hottest team in baseball to finish the first half after they won 10 straight before the break.

Toronto is also 5.5 games up on the Rays in the only AL division that features four teams with 50 or more wins.

Interestingly, the Blue Jays are the only first-place team that is not favoured to win its division at FanDuel.

Toronto is +190 as the second choice to win the AL East.

The Yankees are -130 as the favourite to win the division.

The Red Sox are +600 as the third choice, followed by Tampa Bay at +1100 to win the AL East.

Of course, those division odds will look a lot different if the Blue Jays can start the second half on a hot streak.

Toronto is -144 to win the opener of its three-game series against the visiting San Francisco Giants tonight.

The Blue Jays will then welcome the MLB-leading Detroit Tigers to town for a three-game series that will begin on Monday.

Toronto to make the playoffs is -500 at FanDuel.

That number represents an 83.3 per cent implied probability.

Can the Blue Jays hold off the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays atop the loaded AL East standings?

The Blue Jays would also become just the fifth team to win its division at 10-to-1 odds or longer over the last decade.

What needs to happen for Toronto to win the AL East?

The Blue Jays own the best record in the AL East, but the fourth-best run differential in the division behind the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays.

While those numbers point towards potential regression in the win column, our MLB Insider Steve Phillips made the case for Toronto to capitalize on its good fortune at the trade deadline.

Considering their starters have combined for a 4.60 ERA that ranks 25th in the majors, the biggest area of need is an obvious one for the Blue Jays.

Whether management decides to upgrade the rotation ahead of the trade deadline will signal whether they believe this team is ready to contend.

It will also go a long way towards determining whether Toronto will join the short list of longshot MLB division winners that we’ve seen over the last decade.

Have a great weekend, everyone!