Shapiro won’t comment on Atkins’ job status, but is ‘huge believer in stability’

As the Toronto Blue Jays continue to forge through the disappointment that has been the 2024 season, Mark Shapiro’s conversations within the front office are focused on how they can do better moving forward.

Of course, the face of that front office group is general manager Ross Atkins, who has been with the Blue Jays since December 2015 and is signed through the end of the 2026 season.

While meeting with reporters at Rogers Centre on Wednesday, Shapiro refused to commit to Atkins as his general manager in 2025 but emphasized his belief that change doesn’t always produce improved results.

“Commenting on job status during the season, throughout my entire career when I’ve been asked about those things, it’s not something I have or will ever do,” the Blue Jays president and CEO said.

“That being said, contextually, I’m a huge believer in stability and continuity and that those are competitive advantages,” he added. “In professional sports, reacting and change don’t necessarily mean improvement.”

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With Toronto selling at this year’s trade deadline, dealing away eight players in what was supposed to be the Blue Jays’ championship window, Shapiro pointed to other successful organizations who have had success by allowing people to make adjustments while dealing with adversity as why he values stability so much.

“If you’re certain you can be better, you make a change,” Shapiro said when asked how he weighs stability versus when change is needed.

When asked where things went wrong in 2024, Shapiro pointed to the bullpen and a number of hitters who haven’t performed to the level the Blue Jays expected.

So, one of the areas that Toronto has begun to evaluate internally is how they approach roster construction.

“In the nine seasons I’ve been through (with Toronto), this is the biggest disconnect from expectations,” Shapiro said. “… We need to learn. We need to get better from it. The trade deadline was the start of that. Making sure we get better challenges, adversity and disappointment.

“But that has to happen in the way we put the team together next year, for sure.”

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