Given that we’re about to enter the six weeks of unbridled optimism otherwise known as baseball’s spring training, we’d expect nothing less from Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins.
In what has certainly been a roller-coaster of an off season thus far, some late acquisitions at least averted a near wipeout of an off-season for the American League East cellar-dwellers desperate to avoid a similar fate in 2025.
After a relatively slow start, the Jays made some potentially impactful headway — notably the additions of slugging outfielder Anthony Santander and future Hall of Fame starter Max Scherzer.
Those moves by the Atkins-led front office both quieted some of the noise around the franchise and improved the potential for improvement.
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The acquisitions also helped mitigate the high-profile misses on free-agent darling Juan Soto, who went to the Mets, and the purported next great Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki, who landed with the Dodgers.
Given that body of work, Atkins sounded cautiously optimistic that his team is better equipped to compete in 2025, even with the glaring absence of at least one more impact bat as camp is about to open.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into every off-season,” Atkins said on a recent video press conference with the Toronto media. “And we were fortunate to be in talks that got very deep with (Soto and Sasaki.) But (I) feel great about the team.
“We’ll see, but we’re very confident that this is a good group of players that we look forward to gelling and look forward to winning a lot of baseball.”
Atkins was particularly enthusiastic about the trade with the Cleveland Guardians that brought defensive ace second baseman Andres Gimenez to the Jays. The acquisition of reliever Jeff Hoffman as the probable closer is the other highlight of the Jays self-improvement efforts.
The GM was asked about how emotions play into the up and down machinations of an off-season, especially when playing at the big boy table.
While the fan base is increasingly frustrated with losing out on the biggest names despite being in the big-money hunt, Atkins said the key is to move on to the next task as quickly as possible.
“I find myself thinking about players and how they have to feel about the emotions and success and failure, wins and losses,” Atkins said. “The more I do this, the more that I realize you focus on things you can control. We talk about that all the time to the players and the quick you can turn the page and focus on things that make you better, the better you’re going to be.”
There is still time to make further additions, of course, though Atkins admitted any notable changes at this point would have to come via trade and given that the assets the Jays have at their disposable aren’t bountiful, expectations are muted.
All that said, it would certainly seem that the Jays are positioned to improve on the 74-win 2024 season, but will it be enough to vault the team into realistic playoff connection? As Atkins says, we’ll see.
In its pre-season prognostications, statistics and analytics hub FanGraphs projects the Jays to win 82 games (81.7, actually) and to finish last in the AL East for a second consecutive season.
Furthermore, the Jays are projected to have a 12% chance to win the division and 37.6% to make the playoffs.
TO THE MAX
Landing Scherzer on a one-year, $15.5-million deal was not a last-ditch pursuit for Atkins, even though it came later in the free-agent period. In fact, the Jays GM said that he has pursued the 40-year-old at previous points of the multi-time all-star’s career.
“We had discussions before on the trade front,” Atkins said. “I think every team in baseball, when they think of Max, he is the best at what he does in the game.
“I can’t imagine there’s a GM that’s been doing (the job) for more than five or six years that hasn’t tried to do that in the same way.”
Atkins clearly is a fan of both what Scherzer can bring to the clubhouse as well as his career accomplishments on the mound.
“Very much looking forward to seeing the Toronto Blue Jays on the back of one of the best baseball cards in the game,” Atkins said when introducing Scherzer to the media. “We’re fired up to have you here.”
WELCOME BACK, KK
After two seasons as a player with the Blue Jays, now-retired centre fielder Kevin Kiermaier is returning to the Jays in an advisory role.
MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson reports that Kiermaier has rejoined the team as a special assistant who will work with outfielders at multiple levels throughout the organization.
“Just trust me. Let me be a part of this,” Kiermaier told Matheson in describing his pitch to the Jays. “Let me offer my services here from top to bottom in the organization. Let me show you what I can do. Let me be the outfield whisperer to these guys.”