Let’s start off with some honesty. I grew up in Montreal and learned to hate the Blue Jays. The Expos were life and they came first and the Blue Jays wanted to take over the country.
It didn’t help when they voted for contraction of the Expos franchise in 2001, the vote was 28-2, would it have hurt to make it 27-3? I was the team’s play by play announcer at the time.
Eventually I moved to Toronto to host the morning show on 590 the Fan in 2017 and my hate subsided. I wouldn’t say I love the Blue Jays, I like when they win, but I don’t feel the losses.
I wouldn’t say indifferent. I can also laugh when things go very wrong. I’m a huge fan of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Amused so many doubted just what they had on their hands, including some media in Toronto.
He’s from my hometown (Born there), so is Alex Anthopoulos, the current General Manager of the Atlanta Braves, who I must admit I don’t remember from his first job with the Expos when I was working for the team.
Alex was the GM of The Blue Jays in 2015 when they made the playoffs for the first time since 1993. The Jays were struggling to contend, their record on July 29th was a mediocre 51-51. They were six games back of the Yankees in the AL East and 7th overall in the American League.
On August 31st the team hired Mark Shapiro as President. By then Anthopoulos’ shrewd moves had them at 74-56, in first place, 1 1/2 ahead of the Yanks and 2nd behind Kansas City in the League.
Surely Anthopoulos could see the writing on the wall and feeling his power slipping away, he rejected the Jays extension offer. Here’s my good friend Richard Griffin on the subject for the Toronto Star.
But the Shapiro era had begun in Toronto, and while he’s built them some terrific things, with a new state of the art spring training complex as well as renovations to old Rogers Center.
You don’t want to go to a fancy place to watch a highly paid disappointment.
Both the 2015 and 2016 teams built by Anthopolous made the post season and lost in the ALCS.
Three bad seasons followed under the new regime and attendance plummeted as the losses mounted. 86, 89 and 95 loss seasons. Attendance: 3.2 Million, 2.3M, 1.75M. The rebuild was the thing.
Major payroll increases
The pandemic came, the payroll was about to get a jolt, the young players had matured and post seasons were once again Jays territory.
A payroll that was 22nd overall at $54.5 Million in 2019 jumped to 11th and $83.5M in 2021, followed by $162M, $179M and $222M this season.
Three playoff appearances, three playoff sweeps. No wins. six losses. And finally 2024 and a missed post season when all that was required was 86 victories.
The Jays finished 74-88, twenty games behind the first place Yankees, twelve games out of the wild card.
With their recent media availability, Shapiro and Atkins have kept the love of upper management and have both escaped the firing line despite the hew and cry from a majority of Jays fans across the country.
There can’t be more than one season left. They’ve yet to secure the services of their best player, Guererro, who now comes up to his walk season after returning to once again look like one of the best hitters in the game.
Plenty of Jays fans and pundits have wondered aloud if Atkins would be forced to fall on the sword for the annual disappointments, but Shapiro keeps riding with his hire. One wonders how deep into next season either will last should 2025 look like this one.
