In the aftermath of the American League wild-card series, a question lots of fans seem to be asking is: Who should take the blame for the Blue Jays stunning collapse?

The answers vary, but everyone has an opinion.

Some fault the decisions made in the dugout. Others point to the costly defensive miscue in centre field, a bullpen that lacked depth or the front office that put this group together, flaws and all.

With emotions still running high from Saturdays 10-9 loss to the Seattle Mariners, its only natural to do a bit of finger-pointing. People are upset and trying to make sense of what happened. Debates like these come with the territory for supporters of the team and sports journalists alike.

Based on the social media reaction, public enemy No. 1 is manager John Schneider. A few of Schneiders moves from Game 2 were called into question, but the one criticized the most was his decision to replace starter Kevin Gausman with the bases loaded during the sixth inning.

The move for lefty Tim Mayza, who went on to surrender a three-run homer to Carlos Santana, has every reason to be second-guessed; regardless of what the Jays say publicly, theyd be foolish not to do things differently if given the chance. But Schneider had his reasons and, results aside, they werent as insane as some might think.

The Jays had a seven-run lead when Gausman opened the sixth inning by allowing the first three batters to reach base. He bounced back by striking out Mitch Haniger and getting Adam Frazier to pop out. With the bottom third of the order due up next, Schneider was left with a difficult decision.

The interim skipper had to go with Mayza right then and there or remain committed to Gausman who was at 94 pitches for a few more hitters. MLBs three-batter minimum for pitchers meant delaying the move by one would have risked Mayza facing star leadoff man Julio Rodrguez, who bats right, in a much closer game.

Schneider presumably didnt want to take that chance. Was it the right call? Obviously not, but even after Mayza allowed four runs to score in lightning-quick fashion, the Jays escaped with a three-run lead. By the seventh, theyd extended it to four. The game should have been over, but somehow it wasnt.

Another critique of Schneider involves Raimel Tapia entering to play left field after Whit Merrifield was struck on the head by a pitch in fifth. Arguments have been made that if Jackie Bradley Jr. was out there instead, he would have caught a blooper in the sixth and a fly ball in the eighth that fell for hits.

Except there was never a scenario in which Bradley would have been in left. He hasnt played the position once this season and has made just 14 appearances there since 2016. Hes more comfortable in right, which is why, as recently as Sept. 24, Teoscar Hernndez moved to left when both guys were assigned to the corners. Maybe injured starter Lourdes Gurriel Jr. would have made those plays, but Hernndez doesnt.

Bo Bichette has been taking a lot of heat, too. According to Statcast, the eighth-inning blooper that led to a violent collision between the Jays shortstop and centre-fielder George Springer had a catch probability of 75 per cent. At most, two runs should have scored, giving closer Jordan Romano another chance to escape. Instead, three crossed the plate to tie the game.

Bichette appeared to get caught up in the moment and tried to do too much. If anyone was going to make that catch it was Springer, while Bichettes responsibility was to peel off and make way for the incoming defender. Assign as much blame here as you want, but Bichette doubled, reached base twice and make a sensational leaping grab earlier in the game. Its not like he failed to show up. Still, his defence has been a talking point for a while and that doesnt figure to change any time soon.

The other major issue was the bullpen. Jays relievers had a seven-run lead in the sixth and it was four with six outs to go, but they couldnt seal the deal. Mayza shoulders some of that, as does trade deadline acquisition Anthony Bass, who didnt retire any of the three batters he faced. After the game, an emotional Romano tried to blame himself.

Bullpen woes are nothing new for this team. A lack of depth was an issue much of last season and again through this years all-star break. The numbers improved during the second half, but outside of Romano and Yimi Garca this group didnt possess much in the way of high velocity or swing-and-miss stuff. It was bound to cost them at some point. The only surprise was how fast it happened.

Outside of the Phillies and banged-up Yankees, the Jays had the weakest pen of the 12 post-season teams. The inability to develop their own late-inning arms outside of Romano remains this organizations greatest failure. Fixing that problem must be a top priority this winter.

There were other reasons the Jays lost that went beyond Saturday night, too.

Alek Manoah wasnt himself in Game 1, but if he didnt start off by hitting Rodrguez before making the same mistake again in the fifth things might have been different. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went hitless in the opener and had two total bases in the series with four men left on base. The poor health of Springer and Gurriels injury didnt help, either.

The point is, theres a lot of blame to go around, too much for it to be put on one guy.

Players and coaches overuse you win as a team and you lose as a team, but every now and then that clich seems appropriate. This is one of those times.

This wasnt Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series, or Buck Showalter refusing to use Zack Britton in the 2016 wild-card game. This was a series of unfortunate mistakes that led to an early exit and a lot of people were responsible, not just one.

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Anatomy of the Blue Jays meltdown: Theres plenty of blame to go around - Toronto Star