President & CEO Mark Shapiro on disappointing '24, outlook for '25

TORONTO -- The slow funeral procession for the Blue Jays’ 2024 season ended on July 30, a flurry of eight trades bringing a formal end to what’s been an unexpectedly disappointing season.

These next two months almost don’t feel like they’re part of the 2024 season at all. The narrative effectively came crashing to an end by July, and with the Blue Jays so intent on competing again in ‘25, it’s all about next year now.

The disappointment stretches to reach every corner of the organization, just as the responsibility does. President and CEO Mark Shapiro addressed this Wednesday prior to the Blue Jays’ 7-3 loss to the Orioles, which dropped their record to 52-62.

“In the nine seasons I’ve been through, this is the biggest disconnect from expectations,” Shapiro said. “It doesn’t mean we haven’t had difficult endings to seasons and it doesn’t mean we haven’t had seasons where we knew we were going to have a challenge competing, but this has been, by far, the biggest disconnect from our expectations and the biggest disappointment. We need to learn. We need to get better from it.”

All of these frustrations are stacked on top of one another now, growing taller and taller. The Blue Jays are making a habit of early exits from the postseason, each more painful than the last. This season was supposed to be different … even though the team the Blue Jays brought back was very similar.

The Blue Jays bet on internal improvements that never came. Those that did come were offset by other strengths, like their once-mighty bullpen, cratering. It’s that bullpen, which has been decimated by injuries and performed as one of the worst groups in Major League Baseball, that Shapiro pointed to immediately when he assessed the season.

If changes to the roster haven’t helped, what about changes higher up the ladder? Last October, soon after the Blue Jays’ crushing loss to the Twins in the AL Wild Card Series, Shapiro preached the value of continuity and kept his support fully behind general manager Ross Atkins. This is Atkins’ ninth year as GM, and while Shapiro wouldn’t openly commit to a 10th, you can read between the lines.

“I very rarely am unequivocal about anything,” Shapiro began. “Commenting on a job status during the season, throughout my entire career when I’ve been asked about those things, is not something I have or will ever do. That being said, contextually, I’m a huge believer in stability and continuity and those are competitive advantages in professional sports. Reacting and changing don’t necessarily mean improvement. We need to be better. We have to be better. Stability, continuity and making adjustments are where I’m focused right now.”

There has to be a line, though. When, if ever, would Shapiro consider a change?

“If you’re certain you can be better, you make a change,” Shapiro said.

Simple enough.

“We’ve done a good job identifying talent individually,” Shapiro said. “We have not done as good a job, collectively, placing that talent on a roster to win. It’s that connection between identification of talent, where I think we actually have done a pretty good job individually, but they haven’t come together to produce the numbers that we would expect from a championship offense.”

Shapiro’s point here is valid. Most of the Blue Jays’ major acquisitions via trade or free agency have worked out. George Springer’s first half looked scary for a stretch, but for the most part, this organization has avoided albatross contracts even while spending big. No one will bat 1.000 on trades, either, but the Blue Jays haven’t been crippled by anything too regrettable.

It just hasn’t come together. There’s something missing. Fans need to see this turn around soon, too, or the impact of this could really be seen in next year’s attendance numbers.

“Absolutely. When you lose, your sales are impacted,” Shapiro said. “The renovations were done with the expectation that from a long-term perspective -- not one year, but over 10 to 15 years -- we can buffer ourselves somewhat from year to year volatility and it’s done that, 100%. But yes, there is a direct correlation between winning and coming to the ballpark, so we need to win.”

Shapiro doesn’t expect “any large-scale pullback” in payroll, which is a start, and the Blue Jays are back under the CBT line, which will be important if they can finish the season there. No shortcoming will be caused by a lack of resources.

Until seasons stop ending up in the same place, fans will want change. Here the Blue Jays are, trying to determine what “change” means once again.