TORONTO: When Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro last spoke to the media, it was in March before to the start of the season. He was optimistic about the team’s core group’s ability to improve and lead a genuine championship contender.
Four and a half months later, Shapiro spoke to the media once more, describing the Blue Jays’ dismal season performance as “bitterly disappointing.”
“In the nine seasons I’ve been through, this is the biggest disconnect from expectations,” Shapiro said, standing in front of the home dugout. “It doesn’t mean we haven’t had difficult endings to seasons. That doesn’t mean we haven’t had seasons where we knew we were going to have a challenge competing, but this has been by far the biggest disconnect in our expectations and the biggest disappointment.”
In his seventeen minutes on Wednesday, Shapiro covered a number of subjects. Shapiro discussed the club’s goal to compete in 2025, what went wrong this season, and the possibility that Ross Atkins may rejoin as general manager for the next campaign. He also provided an update on payroll going ahead.
Here are key takeaways from Shapiro’s session with the media.
On the disappointment of the 2024 season
Shapiro blamed injuries and poor performance from key back-end relievers on the bullpen, calling it “an Achilles (heel) for us all year” and the main reason the team failed to live up to expectations.
The club’s underwhelming performance was also caused by the collapsing offense and a number of regulars, including George Springer, Bo Bichette, and Alejandro Kirk, who failed to deliver the “carrying levels of performance” that they had promised.
After the trade deadline passed, according to Shapiro, the Blue Jays are now focused on figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it.
“We need to learn. We need to get better,” Shapiro said. “I think the trade deadline was the start of that, making sure we get better from challenges, adversity and disappointment, but that has to happen in the way we put the team together for next year.”
On the job status of GM Ross Atkins and the coaching staff
Whether Atkins will stay on as general manager for the Blue Jays the following season is a major question that remains after the trade deadline, especially with a growingly irate fan base.
Shapiro responded bluntly when asked if Atkins, who has a contract that runs until 2026, will return, adding, “I very rarely am categorical about anything.” I have never done, and I will never do, respond to questions concerning my employment status during the season or during the course of my career.
“That being said, contextually, I’m a huge believer in stability and continuity, and that those are competitive advantages in professional sports, that reacting and change don’t necessarily mean improvement,” he continued. “We need to be better. We have to be better. And, again, I think stability and continuity and making adjustments are where I’m focused right now.”
It is a response that leaves opportunity for Shapiro to make a decision about Atkins’ future after the season, since it implies that he does not necessarily think a GM change is the answer to the team’s difficulties but also does not express a strong vote of confidence in Atkins.
Shapiro responded as follows when asked how to balance the advantages of stability vs making a change to move the club in a different direction: “If you’re certain you can be better, you make a change,” but he didn’t detail how he would come to that conclusion.
As for the performance of manager John Schneider and the coaching staff, Shapiro said he would leave it to Atkins to comment on specifics but did say he was pleased with how the coaching staff has remained “solution-focused.”
“There’s been no finger-pointing, no blaming,” Shapiro said. “They’ve stayed consistent. They’ve stayed determined to get better and find solutions and be a part of how we can continue to get better. They’ve been a source of strength throughout a very tough year, as have our players.”
On plans for 2025 and beyond
The Blue Jays could have done a full sell-off at the trade deadline, moving players like Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman, as well as starters Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bichette, to acquire a wealth of prospects. The Blue Jays mostly focused on transferring players whose contracts were about to expire, a move that further demonstrated their dedication to competing next season and beyond, even if they did move a few players with team control left (Nate Pearson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa).
“We believe that there’s enough talent in place to build a contending, championship-caliber team next year,” Shapiro said. “Had we not, we would have made a different set of decisions (at the deadline). That being said, that work will need to be done to both make sure we continue to develop the players here, identify players that could possibly contribute that are in our system that aren’t here, and understand what to expect from our veteran players, and then do a better job of putting all that together and supplementing externally. There’s a lot of work still to be done before we can make definitive statements about ’25 but that intent is clear.”
Maybe not making “definitive remarks” about the upcoming season allows Shapiro the flexibility to alter plans in the event that the offseason does not go as planned. It is not possible to run it back a third time with essentially the same team. Over the past three seasons, this team has seen a decline: from 92 victories in 2022 to 89 wins in 2023, they are currently on track to win 75 games this season. Rebuilding the bullpen, adding a starter or two, and rearranging the lineup are just a few of the significant adjustments that are required.
Nevertheless, Shapiro implied that the group feels “that type of (championship) core can be put together with enough talent in place, in our system, on our squad, and accessible to us elsewhere.”
Shapiro stated that while he believes the company has done a fantastic job “spotting talent individually,” “we have not done as good a job collectively placing that talent and a roster together to win.” This raises questions about how they can improve as a team. He noted that although they would not be able to tell with certainty what the team needs going ahead until the season is over, talks about next year have centered on roster construction, handedness, and striking a balance between offense and defense.
Over the next eight weeks, they will be analyzing the new members in the team and projecting what they may anticipate from their young players and veterans in the next season.
“Those three things combined with learning from the mistakes that we made this year, and ensuring that as we blend that talent with any talent we acquire externally, we do a better job,” Shapiro said.
The only thing Shapiro would say about the potential long-term deals that Guerrero and Bichette, who become free agents after the 2019 season, might sign is that “it is absolutely easier to develop a sustainable championship club with talent like that in place for extended periods of time.”
On payroll now and moving forward
At the trade deadline, the Blue Jays prioritized off-season player acquisition over meeting the competitive balance tax level.
“The primary concern and the relentless focus was infusing talent into our system. The CBT was something that we were cognizant of because of the baseball benefits — the draft picks, where we pick, but not something we were focussed on,” the club president said.
The Blue Jays are now just shy of the $237 million CBT barrier, according to Shapiro, who also pointed out that the figure is subject to change depending on roster changes made during the season.
“Whether we’re under it at this moment or not, which we are very slightly, those things can change throughout the rest of the year,” he said.The Blue Jays have surpassed previous team records in terms of salary expenditures. Shapiro stated that they do not have a budget for the upcoming season. “commit payroll in August” but that “I would not characterize there being any large scale pullback on payroll.”
Their on-field performance, however, has impacted their bottom line this year, Shapiro confirmed, saying, “When you lose, your sales are impacted.”
That said, lower ticket sales will have a “very marginal impact, if any,” on baseball decisions, Shapiro said, but, “there’s a direct correlation between winning and fans coming to the ballpark, so we need to win.”
Regarding if the Blue Jays must make a major announcement early in the offseason in order to placate an unhappy fan base, Shapiro stated, “It’s important to get better and win.”
(Top photo of Shapiro: Tom Szczerbowski / Getty Images)
