Blue Jays president hints at worst-case scenario involving Ross Atkins

An argument can be made that no team in MLB has been more disappointing than the Toronto Blue Jays. They were expected to, at the very least, compete for a postseason spot, but they've been sitting in last place in the AL East for virtually the entire season, and wound up selling a ton of their players at the trade deadline.

Nobody is to blame more than the players on the field who failed to meet expectations, but an argument can (and should) be made that the Blue Jays need to shake things up somehow. They'll miss the postseason in 2024 proving that they're headed in the wrong direction, and haven't won a playoff game since 2016. The lone constant in that timeframe is Ross Atkins, who hasn't accomplished much of note with his own team (Alex Anthopoulos built much of the 2016 Blue Jays.)

Knowing that the team was as bad as it was this season and that Atkins has failed for the most part as GM of the Blue Jays, most fans have been calling for Atkins' firing, and it's hard to blame them.

Unfortunately for those fans, it sounds as if Atkins being let go isn't in the cards yet. That at least is what can be inferred from what Blue Jays President and CEO Mark Shapiro had to say on Wednesday.

Blue Jays president hints at Ross Atkins return

When asked if Atkins would return in 2025, Shapiro would not give a straight answer but commented on how important he believes stability is and that changes don't necessarily mean improvement.

He's right on all fronts. Having a front office that's on the same page is a great thing, and who knows, the Jays could easily hire someone worse than Atkins. The issue with this statement, though, is that this front office being on the same page has proven to be pretty bad, and they can easily hire someone better than Atkins who can bring fresh ideas to the mix.

The Blue Jays changed up their organizational thought process after getting swept in the 2022 Wild Card series. They traded offense-first players like Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and replaced them with more defensive-minded players like Daulton Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier. As a result, their defense improved exponentially, but their offense took a major step back.

They wound up making the postseason in 2023, but looked nowhere near as good in the regular season or postseason. This season, of course, has been an unmitigated disaster with virtually everyone not named Vladimir Guerrero Jr. having down years.

Firing Atkins might not solve the problem, but how much worse can it realistically get? Again, the Jays have won one playoff series under Atkins' leadership for the most part of a decade, and that came with a roster that he did mostly nothing with. Why does he get such a long leash? Firing manager John Schneider won't have nearly as big of an impact when the Jays are clearly undermanned roster-wise compared to their AL East counterparts.

If the plan is truly to compete in 2025, firing Atkins is the way to go. He did well selling at the deadline and did build a core centered around Guerrero Jr., but when it comes to building a winner, he has proven for almost a decade now that he is subpar. Refusing to fire him in large part because you're afraid to hire someone worse is not what Jays fans should want to hear.