Atkins says Blue Jays focusing on adding position players in offseason

Toronto Blue Jays manager Ross Atkins believes his club is still in a strong position to succeed despite another disappointing early playoff exit.

The Blue Jays were considered World Series favourites entering the 2023 season but struggled with consistency at the plate all year long. It resulted in them barely making the playoffs and shortly after bowing out to the Minnesota Twins in the AL Wild Card Series.

Given the lack of success during Atkins’ tenure, many Blue Jays fans are losing their patience. Atkins himself, however, is still seeing plenty of positives with his current group, though he admits that the team needs to be better moving forward.

“We’re in such a strong position, albeit we’ve got to get better,” Atkins said at the Annual MLB general managers meetings in Arizona, as per Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. “This is not enough. Our focus will be leaning heavily towards position players.”

There could be several new position players on the Blue Jays roster next season, given that Kevin Kiermaier, Whit Merrifield, Matt Chapman, and Brandon Belt are all free agents. The issue to many is that after Shohei Ohtani and Cody Bellinger, this year’s free-agent class isn’t particularly strong. Atkins, however, is still seeing other players available that can provide value.

“It’s a little deeper than two players,” Atkins said. “There are some really compelling players after the two I think you’re referring to. We’ll obviously be open to both (trade and free agency). We’re in a very fortunate position that we have resources, we’ve always been given support to (spend) from ownership. And then we also have had a system that we still have the depth to trade from.”

Though Atkins may not want to admit it, the pressure is mounting regarding his job status. If he is unable to lead this group to playoff success again in 2024, he and the Blue Jays may be parting ways, making this offseason a crucial one for him.

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