Jays' front office will be calculated at trade deadline despite pressure to win

General managers and team presidents are people too. They have feelings. They share the same concerns that everybody else does. They think about how they will take care of their families, pay for college for the kids, strive for financial security, etc. Yet, they know in the business of baseball that they are hired to ultimately get fired. There are very few executives who leave on their own terms. 

Blue Jays team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins are no different. Their contracts are winding down. Reports are that Shapiro’s deal is up at the end of this season and Atkins after next season. Both are under pressure to not only have a winning team in 2025, but make the postseason and maybe even win at least one series. Fair or not, the world of professional sports is about winning (and making money). One opinion matters and it’s the owner’s.

In my last season (2003) as general manager of the Mets, I knew I needed to win, or I was in trouble. Even after making the playoffs in back-to-back years (1999-2000) for the first time in franchise history and going to the World Series in 2000, I knew that the clock was ticking. We had underperformed in 2001 and were a weaker team in 2002. When 2003 came around I started worrying about what I would do if I was fired. Would I stay in baseball? Would I move my family? Could I find a job outside of the game if it kept my kids in the same school system? I had saved some money but knew that if I was out of work I would eat into that quickly. 

It can make a person feel desperate to keep their job. It makes you think about making decisions that would serve one’s immediate interests, even if it wasn’t the right thing for the franchise. I got offers of major league-ready players for my top prospects Jose Reyes and David Wright. Trading the kids could have helped my team win immediately but it would have mortgaged the future in doing so.  

I never even considered making decisions for me. I knew what the right thing was and I did it. I realized my standing in the game would have been compromised if I made selfish moves.

Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins are high character individuals. They will only do what is right for the Jays franchise. I expect them to be all-in on winning this year, but I do not expect them to sell the farm. The starting pitchers are getting older and Bo Bichette is in the last year of his deal.  George Springer is 35 and his resurgence this year may be his last hurrah. They just signed Vladdy to a $500 million deal which is a screaming win-now statement. The Jays will aggressively buy, but Shapiro and Atkins will not gut the farm system to save their jobs.   

If you remember, after the 2015 season when Shapiro came on board, there were reports that he was unhappy with how many prospects former GM Alex Anthopoulos traded away at the preceding trade deadline. Perspective matters. At the time Shapiro was beginning his tenure and was going to be judged moving forward. He didn’t want to start his run as team president devoid of prospect talent even if he knew it led to great success in the 2015 season. If Shapiro and Atkins don’t return, their successors will not have the same complaint. 

Takeaways from All-Star festivities

Kyle Schwarber Philadelphia Phillies

Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game and festivities are the best of all the major sports. The game most closely matches the way baseball is played when it counts in the standings. The Home Run Derby is always fun and entertaining. I enjoy the All-Star Futures Game the weekend before, and the gameday red carpet event has allowed us to engage the personalities of baseball’s stars, too. 

This year’s game featured a couple of unique features. The first was the usage of the automated ball-strike challenge system (ABS). It allowed hitters, catchers or pitchers to challenge a ball-strike call by the umpire. Each team was given two challenges that they would keep if they got the challenge right. There were five challenges in the game and four of them were successful overturning the initial call. There is a good chance that we will see this system implemented in the 2026 season. I am totally in favour of its usage as I believe that any one pitch can change the entire dynamic of a game. We need to get things right so that what actually happens on the field is the true outcome. 

The other interesting aspect of Tuesday’s midsummer classic was the home run derby in place of extra innings. The American League rallied to tie things in the ninth inning after trailing 6-0 earlier in the game.  Instead of sending an automatic runner to second base and playing extras, a home run swing-off was used. Before the game, each manager had to stipulate who would be part of the swing-off if it came into play. 

National League manager Dave Roberts chose D-Backs third baseman Eugenio Suarez, Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber and Mets first baseman Pete Alonso. Aaron Boone selected Athletics DH Brent Rooker, Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena and Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda for the American League. Roberts had to replace Suarez with Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers after Suarez was hit by a pitch in his final at-bat of the game. 

That meant there was no Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani or MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh. Many All-Stars leave the stadium after their appearances in the game, so both managers chose reserves to participate. Each hitter got three swings to hit as many homers as they could. The National League ended up winning 4-3. Schwarber hit all three of his swings out of the ballpark and was named the MVP of the game. 

I love this system and want to see it implemented for the regular season. Fans will stay around if the game is close just to see the swing-off. Plus, from a roster construction point of view, I could see general managers keeping a power hitter on the roster for the games tied after the ninth inning, which would usually be between 10 and 20 per team each season.

Also, I would like the rule to be that only players who are currently in the game or haven’t played yet in the game can participate in the derby. If a player was removed for any reason, then they would not be able to participate in the swing-off. Managers will have to decide if removing a player late in the game is worth them being unavailable for the potential derby. It would add an entire layer of strategy.