Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins does little to soothe fans ire

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When speaking publicly, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins tends to favour staying away from the profound and playing it safe with his carefully chosen words.

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Often the end result is him saying next to nothing.

Of course, when you are the GM of a last-place team, that can serve only to further frustrate a fan base aching for the man running the show to tell them that everything is going to be all right.

The way the 2024 off-season has begun, there isn’t tangible reason for even cautious optimism, however. Not with so many holes in the lineup that cratered last season. Not with the team losing out on its high-wire, big-money bid for Juan Soto. And not with the future of its lone home-grown star, Vlad Guerrero Jr., clouded in doubt.

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With the activity picking up steam at Major League Baseball’s annual winter meetings down in Dallas, Atkins once again is taking some heat in the court of public opinion.

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That’s what happens when you are at the rudder of an outfit that in two short years plummets from a team of the future to last place in the American League East.

During a briefing with reporters on Monday in Texas, Atkins had a handful of comments that would at the least raise the eyebrows of Jays fans and observers.

Safe to say fans (and, let’s face it, several veteran players in the Jays clubhouse) have long grown weary of the front office firing duds while big-game hunting.

Here’s a closer look at some of the gems from Atkins as he faces the most critical off-season of his tenure in Toronto.

1. “He’s a really good player and a really good person on and off the field. He had a lot of interest. We were grateful to be a part of the process.”

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That wonderful person, of course, was Soto, who signed that historic 15-year, $765-million US contract with the Mets on Sunday.

So why do comments like this drive Jays fans bonkers? It’s the “grateful to be part of the process” bit.

It’s getting to the point now where fans are tired of being “in” on the top of market stars and instead being seen as pawns to drive up the price for the teams that eventually land them.

Sure, the front office has spent considerably on players such as George Springer, Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios, but it’s hard not to feel as though too many teams are passing them now.

As the front office frustratingly is finding out, It’s one thing to have the money to spend, it’s quite another to be able to spend it. The harsh reality hitting home now: Top-end free agents are going to get the money from many potential suitors, but they want to play for winners.

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Toronto’s reputation in that regard has been seriously downgraded and we’re starting to see the results.

2. “With Teo, there are so many positives about him that we are definitely interested in figuring out a way for (bringing free agent Teoscar Hernandez back) to be a possibility.”

Seriously? Would that be the same Teoscar Hernandez whom the Jays couldn’t run out of town quickly enough following the 2022 season, signaling the start to the maddening mantra of run prevention as the team’s super highway to success?

How has that worked out for them?

We have no way of knowing this, but Atkins’ response to the question may have just been a politically correct way of playing nice. Nothing to be gained from saying they have no interest in a player who was wildly popular during his time here and played a notable role in the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the 2024 World Series.

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But there was a reason Atkins and the front office dealt him very early in that 2022 off-season. They knew it eventually would cost big money to keep him long-term and the Jays didn’t see Hernandez as that type of player.

The Jays may have modest interest in Hernandez again, but aren’t likely to overpay for him. And, as a further kick, there could be a return to the AL East for Hernandez, given that the Red Sox are widely reported to be one of his top suitors.

3. “We actually didn’t ask (Vlad Guerrero Jr.) to go to an unnatural extent to be a part of a presentation (to Soto).”

Those were Atkins’ words when asked by reporters whether Guerrero was asked to help recruit Soto, whom he knows well from the Dominican Republic.

Forgive us for being cynical, but there must have been a reason for this. Let’s start with the fact that Guerrero surely seems headed for free agency himself and was taken to arbitration by the team a year ago, hardly making him the ideal pitch man.

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