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In the final part of a six-part series, Rob Longley breaks down what lies ahead for the Blue Jays after a disappointing 2023Shapiro was speaking about his longtime sidekick and general manager for the past eight seasons, Ross Atkins. He also was using the platform of his season-ending news conference to put out fires lit large a little more than a week after his team went up in flames in one of the more dramatic and frustrating season endings in franchise history.
So after this past season’s blueprint for betterment resulted instead in regression — despite the fact the Jays had one of the best pitching groups in baseball — Atkins faces a stout challenge to remake an offence capable of complementing that defensive excellence.from the likely departure of Matt Chapman at third base, to the expected exits of Brandon Belt, Whit Merrifield, Kevin Kiermaier and more, Atkins will need to be both creative and productive.
To his credit — and to the point of Shapiro’s ongoing advocacy — Atkins did construct a team that averaged 91 wins over the past three seasons, elevating a talented young core to contender status. During his eight-year tenure, Atkins meticulously oversaw the transition from the John Gibbons-Jose Bautista-Josh Donaldson playoff seasons of 2015-2016 to a young team built for sustainable success. He has cycled through two managers and revamped many corners of the operation.
How long the vault remains open remains to be seen after the team already squandered a record payroll in 2023. Although, in the short-term, there appears to be more where that came from. The obvious immediate priority, meanwhile, is to discover a boost to re-ignite on offence that was such a liability throughout the 2023 season and into a short-lived playoff season that yielded just one run over two games.
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