A shocking Ross Atkins solution awaits Blue Jays fans this winter

No team in the American League has had a more frustrating year than the Toronto Blue Jays. They scored just one run in two postseason games last season, leading to another early exit. They went all-out for Shohei Ohtani over the offseason, only to watch him sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. They then proceeded to play so poorly for much of the 2024 season to the point where they were sellers at the trade deadline.

At 67-73, the Blue Jays sit in last place in the AL East and their chances of making the postseason are all but dead. This isn't what Jays fans expected from a roster that had been to the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, but that's where we are.

As frustrating as this season has been, there appeared to be a silver lining. There was no conceivable way Ross Atkins would keep his job after everything that transpired, right? Well, not exactly. Rather than the Jays doing what everyone expected, there appears to be a real chance that Atkins keeps his job.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal made it seem like it's likely that Atkins will remain Toronto's GM even after this disaster of a year.

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Blue Jays fans have reason to expect the worst with Ross Atkins' job security

Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro already hinted at the possibility of Atkins keeping his job by going on and on about how much he values stability in his organization. Rosenthal used that same quote as a prime example of why an Atkins firing appears unlikely.

While yes, stability is important, why is it important to have stability when what's in place isn't working? Ross Atkins has been the GM since 2016, replacing Alex Anthopoulos. The Blue Jays have not won a single playoff game, let alone series, since 2016 when Atkins inherited Anthopoulos' roster. Stability is important and could be why the team shouldn't fire John Schneider, who hasn't been manager for long, but why does Atkins deserve to be running the team for nearly a decade with no success to speak of?

Atkins did well at the trade deadline but still has an underwhelming farm system. He has a superstar having an MVP-caliber year in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. -- but he has just one more year of club control remaining. He has decent starting pitching, but they're mostly older and are having down years. How exactly are the Jays set up to win now or in the future?

"The Blue Jays are in last place with a club-record payroll. They have not won a playoff game since 2016, the year after former GM Alex Anthopoulos rejected a five-year extension to work under Shapiro. But why should the team’s owner, Rogers Communications, worry? Rogers has a monopoly on baseball in Canada. And the team still ranks ninth in the majors in home attendance, even with renovations reducing the capacity at Rogers Centre," Rosenthal wrote.

From what Rosenthal had to say, where the Jays are organizationally doesn't even really matter. Rogers is making money hand over fist, so they have no real need to fire Atkins, especially since fans are showing up to Rogers Centre even during a bad season.

Unfortunately for Blue Jays fans, it might come down to the team being so bad to the point that fans don't even show up for them to make this important change. It's never good to make a rash decision, but Atkins has proven for the better part of a decade that he should not be in this role. The time to fire him is now, but it sounds like Blue Jays fans are going to be waiting a whole lot longer than that.