Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro comments about uncertain future in Toronto
The 2025 MLB season certainly has gone better than most predicted for the Toronto Blue Jays.
With the Blue Jays’ surprising run over the last two months vaulting them to first place in the American League East, pretty much everyone’s preseason predictions have been thrown out the window.
It’s no secret that Toronto’s front office has had its fair share of naysayers as the team has yet to win a single playoff game since 2016, but has upped its approval rating given how 2025 has gone so far.
In the final year of his five-year deal, Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro was pretty mum about his future, but stated that his conversations with the team’s owners and board members were positive about his next contract.
“It’s not appropriate for me to comment beyond the fact that…I want to remain here, and I can also say that [Rogers executives] Edward [Rogers] and Tony [Staffieri] have been reciprocal in that desire,” Shapiro said Tuesday in a media availability.
The comments from Shapiro today echo similar comments made back in March.
“I never think about that,” Shapiro said about his long-term future prior to the start of the season in an interview with the Toronto Sun’s Rob Longley. “Honestly, I never really do that. The best answer I can give you is I was in Cleveland for 24 years. This is my 10th season here. I’m clearly not someone that jumps around. I’m only focused on what I can control.”
The Blue Jays enter a series with the Chicago Cubs carrying a 69-50 record that is first place in the American League.
“I think we’ve just established our brand of baseball, that is rooted in the toughness and cohesiveness of our players,” Shapiro added Tuesday. “We’re tough to strike out, playing good defence… really putting the pressure on the other team. That identity is married to the culture and the values that our players bring to the ballpark every day.”
Shapiro’s role in Toronto’s front office isn’t entirely an on-field one, as he’s also been a key decision maker in the organization’s renovations to both their Rogers Centre stadium as well as their spring training and minor league complex in Dunedin, Florida.
The Jays president believes that this year’s roster has the talent to compete for a World Series.
“We’re capable of winning the last game played, which is the ultimate goal,” Shapiro said. “We have to be playing the best baseball at the right time for that to happen.
It’s hard to predict how exactly the two sides might navigate Shapiro’s contract situation moving forward: will they wait for the offseason to make a move, or will they look to lock him up before the postseason to avoid a potentially distracting storyline? Only time will tell.
You might also like: