Blue Jays' Mark Shapiro says that Ross Atkins will be returning as GM

Despite many calls for change, the Toronto Blue Jays appear to be running their leadership brass back next season.

Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro met the media at Rogers Centre on Thursday morning, and his opening question confirmed that Ross Atkins will be returning as the team’s general manager in 2024.

“I think in general, in sports organizations, stability and continuity are a competitive advantage,” Shapiro said today. “And that’s a general statement that doesn’t apply unequivocally, but when evaluating you’re not evaluating on a series or even a season, and in Ross’s case, the body of work to me is in an undeniable over eight seasons.”

The news comes five days after Atkins announced that manager John Schneider will be back for another season.

Atkins was originally hired in December 2015 as Toronto’s general manager, taking over for Alex Anthopolous, who rejected a contract extension from the franchise. The Jays have gone 609-585 under Atkins, the seventh-best mark in the American League and a .510 winning percentage, having made the playoffs in 2016, 2020, 2022, and 2023, but failing to win a playoff game in each of the team’s last three appearances.

“[Ross’ success includes] three of the last four years in the postseason, building out great resources, hiring great leadership team that’s been successful, both internationally and domestically,” Shapiro added of Atkins. “We need to get better, Ross needs to get better but he’s done a good job and certainly deserved and put us in [a] good position next year to be a very good team and certainly deserves that opportunity to continue to lead the the baseball organization.”

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