Shapiro: 'Our fans deserve better' than Blue Jays' step back in '24

TORONTO -- The Blue Jays’ offseason started on a familiar note Wednesday.

This time, there was no soul-crushing postseason loss to dissect, only the long, frustrating, 74-88 season that long ago strayed from being competitive. The messaging from club president and CEO Mark Shapiro remained the same, though, along with general manager Ross Atkins. They, along with manager John Schneider, are taking another run at this thing.

It opened with the obvious: A lot went wrong in 2024.

“This past season was a bitter disappointment, incredibly disappointing,” Shapiro said. “As the leader of the organization, the accountability and the responsibility clearly lies with me. I get woken up each night and have trouble falling asleep thinking about the fact that we’re letting down fans, that we’re not creating the opportunity for fans to build memories around October baseball.”

• Blue Jays enter crucial period as disappointing season ends

Minor changes are coming to the Blue Jays’ coaching staff under Schneider. Hitting coach Guillermo Martinez will not be back. Field coordinator Gil Kim and bullpen pitching coach Jeff Ware won’t be back with the Major League staff, but they could return to the organization in other roles. Don Mattingly, who spent a year in the newly minted role of “offensive coordinator,” will pivot back to a more traditional bench-coach role.

That’s the extent of it, so with 2024 representing a significant step backward for an organization that is running out of opportunities to step forward, Shapiro stood behind Atkins, pointing back to the years that have already passed.

“I also think about the fact that we played in the playoffs three of the past five years and [in] four of the past five, we’ve played meaningful games in September,” Shapiro said. “In each of the last four, we’ve left Spring Training objectively with a chance to be a playoff team and [a] contending team. To me, that’s not grounds to make a change. If I felt there was a better alternative to run our baseball operation, I’d make that change.”

What’s clear is that somehow, some way, major changes are needed. Assuming cloning science doesn’t advance in time for Opening Day and allow the Blue Jays to roll out nine Vladimir Guerrero Jr.s, this organization needs to make significant moves via free agency and trade to not just try again, but try to compete in a different, more effective way. It is still searching for that.

There’s only one magic fix. There’s only one thing fans care about.

“Win. It’s not a mystery,” Shapiro said. “We objectively thought we had a team that was good enough to win the American League East and play in the postseason. I can’t think of a bigger disconnect from expectations in the time I’ve been here.”

The Blue Jays are closing in on a decade of baseball where fans have transitioned out of those brilliant postseason years led by José Bautista and friends but supported the organization through a rebuild and the rise of a new core around Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. Each of those players have one year -- 2025 -- left on their deals. The clock’s ticking.

To lose Guerrero, in particular, would be devastating to a fan base that, quite simply, loves him. Guerrero has the talent and personality to be the face of this franchise, one that orbits around him, and that will hang over this organization until there’s a resolution.

Atkins and his front office are now tasked with rebuilding a bullpen and adding to their lineup, all while protecting a rotation that’s been solid but could use several layers of depth. This is a pivotal offseason for the Blue Jays, both in 2025 and for their identity beyond that.

“I need to be better,” Atkins said. “I have got to do a better job of building this team around a very good core that has been successful. I’m committed to doing so.”

Winning makes all of this go away. Winning has the incredible ability to rewrite history. If the Blue Jays find a way to make a legitimate postseason run next season -- perhaps win their first postseason game since 2016 -- then this ‘24 season can be rebranded as the final stumble before it all came together.

For now, 2024 can only be seen as a step in the wrong direction, and it’s a direction the Blue Jays can’t keep moving in. The opportunity for something greater is right in front of this organization, and it has the cash to make it happen, but Toronto is still searching for a missing ingredient.

“Our fans deserve better,” Shapiro said.