TORONTO – Mark Shapiro, in his first media availability since March 21, hinted that Ross Atkins will continue as general manager and that the Toronto Blue Jays will try to build a contender next season, although he left himself wiggle room on both fronts.
The club’s president and CEO, at times remorseful, at times testy and combative during a 17-minute session with reporters Wednesday, called this year “by far the biggest disconnect from our expectations and the biggest disappointment.”
He pointed to issues with the bullpen and underperformance in the lineup as reasons for that and said the team needed to focus on roster construction, among other issues, to ensure the 2025 season has a better outcome.
At the same time, he seemed to make a case for Atkins’ return, beginning his reply to a question about the GM’s status by saying “I very rarely am unequivocal about anything, commenting on job status during a season, throughout my entire career when I’ve been asked about those things, is not something I have or will ever do.”
“That being said,” he continued, “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. We need to be better. We have to be better. And I think stability and continuity and making adjustments are where I’m focused right now.”
In those carefully selected words, there’s a trail of breadcrumbs leading to Atkins’ return, though with just enough margin for a gear to be shifted if needed.
The same applies to the club’s plans for 2025, which is to hold on to the core players in place and try to contend, although with just a touch of grey for a pivot if needed.
“The decision coming out of the deadline and the decisions that we made there are representative of that,” Shapiro said of aiming to contend next year. “We believe that there’s enough talent in place to build a contending championship-calibre team next year. Had we not, we would have made a different set of decisions. That being said, 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 but 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. So, there’s a lot of work still to be done before we can make definitive statements about ’25. But that intent is clear.”
Pivotal to that goal are Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, who both will be eligible for free agency at the end of next season. Asked about the possibility of extending the duo, Shapiro said he wouldn’t “comment on those guys specifically. But it’s certainly easier to build a sustainable championship team with talent like that in place for extended periods of time.”
To that end, how much money the Blue Jays have to work with will be pivotal.
Shapiro said for the moment, the club is under the $237 million Competitive Balance Tax threshold but that “is fluid” and may change over the course of the season. As for how much money he’ll have to work with next year, he said, “Never do we commit payroll in August, but what I can say is … whatever that payroll ends up being, I would not characterize there being any large-scale pullback on payroll.”