Shapiro sees no grounds to fire Blue Jays GM after disappointing year

Despite the fact that the Toronto Blue Jays finished last in the American League East, team president Mark Shapiro said Wednesday that general manager Ross Atkins will remain in his role.

Speaking at a conference to put a bow on a season where the Blue Jays finished 74-88, Shapiro said that he and Atkins were not proud of the season.

“Ross needs to be better. I need to be better. Our entire baseball operations need to be better,” he told reporters before trumpeting the fact that the current regime has led the Blue Jays to the postseason during three of the past five seasons.

“We left spring training objectively with a chance to to be a contending team and playoff team. And to me, that’s not grounds to make a change. … If I felt there was a better alternative to run our baseball operation, I’d make that change.”

While it is true that Toronto did make playoff appearances, in each instance they were in the wild card round and failed to collect a win in any of the series.

Blue Jays players put a bow of their own on a disappointing season by being swept by being outscored by the Miami Marlins 26-7 during a three-game sweep.

Although the front office remains largely untouched, Atkins told reporters that changes have been made to the coaching staff as the team fired hitting coach Guillermo Martinez, field coordinator Gil Kim and bullpen coach Jeff Ware.

“We’ve also made an adjustment to Donnie’s (Mattingly) role,” Atkins said. “Donnie is no longer going to be overseeing the offense. He will go back to a more traditional role of a bench coach.”

Given how the team finished the 2024 season, some might believe it is time for a rebuild. However, the team will not head in that direction and will look to return to its winning ways, the GM said.

Vladdy Guerrero and Bo Bichette, two of the team’s biggest names, are headed into the final year of their contracts- so it begs the question of whether the team should look to deal either player if they are unable to agree to an extension this summer.

Atkins was non-committal when asked how the situation should be handled.

“I would never say that we have to do something or don’t have to do something,” he explained. “And, we’re fortunate to have incredible support that we aren’t ever backed into a corner that way.”

How much support the team has remains up for debate among many Blue Jays supporters, but Shapiro does not expect any major changes to payroll for the upcoming season.

“I don’t see it being dramatically different next year,” the Jays president told reporters. “I know that’s not a precise number, not that I would ever give you one anyway, but I don’t see it either growing or decreasing in a big way.”

Atkins was brought in by Shapiro in 2016 after former GM Alex Anthopoulos resigned from the club, citing the fact he believed Shapiro would not give him the autonomy he desired to run the club.

In his final season as GM, Anthopoulos’ Jays finished with a 93-69 record and reached the AL Championship series.

A year later with Atkins in charge, the Jays returned to the AL Championship series after finishing with an 89-73 record.