Ross Atkins will return as Blue Jays GM, President Mark Shapiro says
Posted October 12, 2023 12:04 pm.
Last Updated October 12, 2023 9:22 pm.
Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro confirmed that general manager Ross Atkins will remain in his role.
Atkins’ future was up in the air after another disappointing end to the season without a playoff victory.
The Blue Jays entered the season with World Series aspirations but barely snuck into the playoffs as the final wild card, only to be swept by the Minnesota Twins in a two-game series in which they only scored one run.
“Ross will be back. Ross needs to get better but he has done a good job,” Shapiro said on Thursday.
Game 2 included a now controversial and much-discussed decision to remove starting pitcher Jose Berrios from the game after only three innings despite his strong showing and replace him with fellow starter Yusei Kikuchi. The Twins would score two runs that inning and the Blue Jays’ lineup would fail to generate any offense en route to the defeat and subsequent elimination.
Blue Jays players, including Whit Merrifield and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., publicly questioned the manager’s decision to pull Berrios at that moment. This led to Atkins admitting it was Schneider’s game plan, adding that he wasn’t sure why Berrios was lifted when he was.
Atkins has been the general manager of the Blue Jays since October of 2015 and — after a run to the ALCS in 2016 — he oversaw a deep rebuild that saw the team bottom out with 95 losses in 2019.
In the four seasons since, the Blue Jays have been swept out of the wild-card round of the playoffs three times and, in 2021, the club missed the post-season by one game.
Atkins’ tenure includes the arrival of generational stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. The GM also raised Toronto’s payroll to record levels by signing established veterans, including Hyun Jin Ryu, George Springer, Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt.
Aggressive trades for Berrios, Matt Chapman, Daulton Varsho and Jordan Hicks depleted the team’s prospect pool as Atkins went all in on this core. Now, with the organization at a crossroads, Atkins will be the one tasked with turning the current roster into a winner.
