Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro shares message to critical fanbase
It’s been quite the week for the Toronto Blue Jays front office.
The news dropped late Sunday night that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would be staying with the team on a 14-year, $500 million megadeal that is more than three times larger than any other in franchise history.
Just hours before the reports of the deal came out, team president Mark Shapiro, who is in the final year of his contract, joined the popular Gate 14 Podcast alongside hosts Johnny Giunta and Avery Chenier to share a little insight on the day-to-day of his job.
Among many topics, Shapiro touched on the day-to-day criticism levied by many Blue Jays fans at the front office and shared how he deals with the naysayers.
“To sustain a career in this business, you have to not live and die and not go up and down,” Shapiro told the hosts. “When things go well, you’re cheered, and you’re smart, and then when things go bad, you’re a moron. The reality is that we know that fans are passionate by nature, that they don’t want to intellectualize sport, which is fine. Directing your disappointment, and you have to direct it at someone, and it’s usually not going to be a player… especially in this market, it’s usually a front office executive. And I think what’s most important to sustain working in these businesses is that your self-esteem cannot yo-yo.”
General manager Ross Atkins (whose own contract expires after 2026) and Shapiro joined the team’s front office after the 2015 season. The duo have overseen a revamping of the Blue Jays’ facilities both in Toronto and Dunedin, Florida, while seeing stars like Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette develop throughout their tenure.
But the Jays have yet to win a playoff series since 2016 under the two executives. Meanwhile, the pair have often been criticized for failing to lure big-name external free agents, often finishing second fiddle in infamous negotiations like those with Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto each of the past two offseasons.
“I’ve got to be clear about who I am as a person, most importantly, as a dad, a partner, a brother, a friend, a son, and that’s who I am as a leader as well. I don’t put a different cape on when I walk in the building and become CEO of the Jays. I’m the same person all the time, I’m pretty confident about that. I am a work in progress as a human being, but I’m working to be better as a leader and better as a partner and better as a father and better as a CEO, too.”
Shapiro then offered some more thoughts to an oft-critical Blue Jays fanbase.
“It’s not the critic that counts,” Shapiro added. “If you get in the ring, do the job, put yourself on the line… those are the people I respect, not the critic just sitting from the sideline throwing darts. Understand how hard it is [to be a baseball executive]. Understand how challenging these roles are and these jobs are, and then demand that we’re doing the best we can possibly do, and demand that we get better and learn from the mistakes we make; I expect that. I demand that from myself and those around me.”
The full interview with Shapiro is available on YouTube and many major podcast platforms.