Re-upper Madness!
A little bit of media navel-gazing in the wake of fresh contract extensions for Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider...
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The start of this week brought one last kick in the teeth for the most annoying Jays fan in your life before the 2026 campaign officially begins, as the team announced in back-to-back press releases on Monday morning that GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider have signed contract extensions. Atkins’ new deal will—at least theoretically—keep him in place through the 2031 season, while Schneider’s will take him only through 2028. Each previously had just one year remaining on their current contracts.
These were, of course, completely predictable outcomes given the magical run that the Blue Jays took us all on in 2025, as well as club president Mark Shapiro’s deeply held belief in organizational stability.
Of course, that they were predictable doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll look back one day and unequivocally be able to say that they were the right moves. They certainly wouldn’t have been met with universal acclaim if these announcements had been made a year ago. But this isn’t a year ago.
The Blue Jays are on an incredible trajectory, rippling with momentum up and down the organization. A sudden change at this point would obviously be out of the question, and even just letting the question linger all season would have been bizarre and counterproductive.
So these are the moves they had to make, and also the moves that they wanted to have to make all along. That’s a really good, really validating outcome for the franchise, if you ask me.
But not if you ask everybody…
Predictably, in the wake of the news we had Rosie Dimanno of the Star self-servingly twisting reality to suit her narcissism. It’s OK that Schneider has been extended, you see. Because he is, she suspects, “no longer a puppet in the dugout” for those dastardly Cleveland carpetbaggers she believes are so self-evidently awful, “and no longer prostrating himself at the altar of analytics.” LOL.
When not conveniently misremembering the tenor of the relationship between Jays fans and Pat Gillick before his team finally broke through and won it all in 1992, not to mention the way the Gillick era ended, the Globe’s Cathal Kelly oddly calls Atkins and Shapiro “proven masters” of “vague promises and modest expectations,” then preemptively scolds them for not instantly, but also in the future, becoming the Dodgers (or something).
Steve Simmons of the Sun laughably starts off his piece by claiming that “it has been challenging over the years to describe Ross Atkins in glowing terms,” as though he ever for a second would have considered trying to do that. Then, through a laundry list of the most negatively slanted things he could think of about Ross and his tenure, down even to his looks, he essentially argues that every rotten thing he’s ever written about the guy was right, and that his success is all-but-accidental, but it’s a results-based business so, hey, what are you gonna do?
A possibly overzealous editor makes it appear we might get more of the same from the Star’s Gregor Chisholm, giving his piece the emphatic title: “The Blue Jays just gave GM Ross Atkins an extension. But I’m not admitting I was wrong.” Personally, though, I thought it was a pretty even-handed effort. And the tone of the “I’m not wrong” stuff is far lighter than advertised.
Is it time to admit I was wrong? I’m not prepared to go that far quite yet — hey, I’m a stubborn man — but logic dictates that after an extra-innings Game 7 thriller, you don’t head into a new season with a lame-duck front office. Stability is the reward for results.
In fact, it was from a different place altogether in the Star’s constellation that I found my least favourite take on all this, and the take that I think embodies a lot of this other stuff—and, frankly, a lot of the worst of it. And that was on one of this week’s episodes of Mike Wilner’s Deep Left Field podcast…
We’ll begin at the 7:40 mark. Deep breath!
Ross Atkins is joined to the hip with Mark Shapiro. And as long as Mark Shapiro has a job here, Ross Atkins has a job here. We found that out with a huge exclamation point after the 2024 season, when after the horrible playoff run of 2023 that lasted less than 48 hours, in which the Blue Jays scored one run and embarrassed themselves with the smartest guy in the room move of taking José Berríos out in the fourth inning.
Atkins got to keep his job and then got to keep it through a season in which they finished in last place.
Once that happened, you knew that unless Shapiro was out, Atkins was staying.
Now, there were a few words recapping the news that I’ve excluded from the start of my transcript. Instead, I’ve chosen to start here because it’s where I was first truly taken aback.
We know that as long as Shapiro is here Atkins will be too? We know? Know???
Like, I can understand saying a thing like this as hyperbole. It does seem like the Jays’ situation would have to get pretty bad for Shapiro to throw his beloved right-hand man under the bus. But saying that there is literally no universe in which he would ever fire Atkins? That at no point in the past, no matter how poorly things had gone, that would have been an option?
I don’t believe it.
And the proof of this is because of 2024? Because that season was evidently so bad that no GM would possibly survive unless his boss had already crowned him Employee of the Month for Life? No takesies backsies?
The season that looks so ugly on the surface because the Jays went from six games under .500 at the end of July to 14 under by the end of the year because they sold half the team off at the trade deadline?? In trades that everybody thought did a pretty good job of helping restock the upper levels of the farm system? That 2024?
The year when change at the top would very likely have meant steps backward, which may have pushed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. into free agency or even have made him a trade candidate?
The one that came after a run of three years averaging more than 90 wins?
Funny that it seemed so obvious then that Shapiro was doing what no person in their right mind would have otherwise done, because here’s some of what I wrote when predicting that Atkins would keep his job in a piece from back in September of that year:
If a larger body of work needs to be considered, I think Atkins ends up looking better than a lot of fans think. Especially in the eyes of Mark Shaprio, who is the only one who actually matters here. Yes, this season has been a setback, the whole house of cards may fall in on itself if they can’t get Vlad re-signed, and obviously there are player development issues they’re already trying to address. But at its core the GM’s job is to build a roster each year that puts the team in a position to win a championship, and as much as a lot of fans want to pretend this isn’t true, his track record of doing just that is pretty good. They projected well this season, the 2023 team would have looked and felt a lot better if not for their brutal RISP luck1, and in 2021 and 2022 they were poised to be very dangerous October teams before dumb fate stepped in.
To make a change that big at this stage? A new president might, but I don’t think Shapiro will. (And that’s fine.)
Now, as you can see, I do think it’s fair to suggest that it’s hard to see Mark firing Ross ever actually happening. But that’s not the same thing. And, I don’t know, I guess I’m just having a bit of deja vu here from all the times over the years I had to tell fans screaming bloody murder about Atkins’ track record that “just because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean it can’t happen or won’t happen.”
Words have meanings.
The second thing that stuck out here was, of course, the eye-roll-worthy stuff about 2023.
Now, maybe there was more about 2023 that Mike didn’t like. I mean, there must have been. I sure hope there was more, because it can’t have just been this. But he’ll go on to say later that he’d have fired Atkins after that season, and the Berríos pull comes up again as a serious sore spot. Clearly it matters a lot to him. And that’s baffling to me.
This is a guy who was out here talking about sabermetrics, sample sizes, and pushing back on baseball orthodoxies before almost anybody else in mainstream media in this country. This is where he now chooses to plant his flag?
He’d have fired a GM based largely on a two game sample of offence and an unusual pitching decision, with an understandable rationale for anybody who wanted to actually try to think about it with even a hint of fairness, in a game where the team was held of the scoreboard and would have lost anyway?
And he’s still saying as much after watching the Jays masterfully navigate matchups with their bullpen throughout the 2025 playoffs, including in the full-on bullpen game when they clinched the ALDS at Yankee Stadium?
Woof.
I didn’t love the Berríos pull, and obviously the team and players should have been on the same page about it much better than they were, but the level of importance it was given then, and has maintained since, is unbelievably out of whack. And I think that’s almost entirely because it’s a such an easy thing to throw in the faces of Schneider and Atkins.
So Ross Atkins is going to wind up being the general manager of the Blue Jays, assuming he makes it through this contract, which he very well may not—but again, the only way he doesn’t is if Mark Shapiro gets fired or leaves. Atkins will finish up number two on the list of seniority among Blue Jays general managers, in the history of the franchise. And he has a chance to pass Pat Gillick, which is kind of blasphemous, if you ask me.
See what I mean when I say that I don’t think he’s being hyperbolic about how irrevocably bound he thinks Shapiro and Atkins are? He’s being very clear, very deliberate, and I think very serious. Odd!
Anyway, as I noted above, Mike’s not the only one of these writers to have mentioned Gillick, and sure, I guess that maybe will be weird to think of if we do actually get there. But also… so what?? Blasphemous??
I keep thinking here of all those people saying Bam Adebayo should have stopped scoring at 81 the other week out of respect for Kobe. Complete nonsense in service of keeping a “record” no one cares about in the hands of one guy over another because you simply like the first guy better.
Look, I have been very plain on this program, and in the newspaper, and in my previous incarnation on the radio, of not being Ross Atkins’ biggest fan. I think that this front office tends to overthink, out-think itself, out-manoeuvre itself, and that leads to a lot of bad decisions.
I’ve pointed this out many times myself! The too-clever-by-half thing with this front office has been real. It can be frustrating at times. And so, surely we’re about to hear a truly devastating, concrete, unassailable, major example of how they’ve burned themselves that way, right?
I mentioned Richard Lovelady—they kept him instead of keeping Ryan Yarbrough.
LMAO.
Now, the Jays went to the World Series, and they came within two outs, or two feet, of winning the World Series, so you can’t really nitpick anything that happened.
CORRECT.
Because everything that happened on the way to that led to that. And yet, assets could have been managed better over the course of last season.
Even last season, what were the big improvements that the Jays made in the offseason to bolster the offence? Anthony Santander and Andrés Giménez. Neither of them worked. But when they got hurt, it allowed the Jays to discover Addison Barger and Nathan Lukes and give them playing time. They’d had those guys all along. Didn’t recognize that that’s what they had. Ernie Clement became an everyday player as well. Didn’t recognize that that’s what they had.
“Discover,” he says. “Didn’t recognize that that’s what they had.”
Look, it’s completely fair to criticize the Giménez and Santander deals. Personally, I wouldn’t be out here claiming that the Giménez one had much to do with bolstering the offence, but that was definitely a weird decision from the moment it was announced. The Santander signing felt completely necessary given the state of the offence coming out of 2024, but sure… there were red flags the club looked past that I think are fair game for criticism, even if I’d argue overzealous critics are a little too unforgiving about the freak health problems he’s suffered since the deal was signed.
But discovered?? WHERE??? BARGER AND LUKES HAD BOTH BEEN ON THE TEAM’S 40-MAN SINCE 2022! CLEMENT GOT 450 PLATE APPEARANCES FOR THEM IN 2024!
So they should have handed Barger an everyday job after his 225 PA audition in 2024 produced a 69 wRC+? They should have promoted a quintessentially league average guy in Lukes from his perfect role as cheap depth and not attempted to do better? And Clement was in the Opening Day lineup! He started 23 of 36 games before Giménez got hurt!
Didn’t recognize that that’s what they had?? Atkins literally said in November of 2024 that “you could make the case that we have 10 wins within our roster right now.” The team kept spots open where some of their upper minors guys could force their way in, and that’s exactly what happened. Where Will Wagner and Alan Roden stumbled, Barger and Lukes soared. Plan executed!
What are we doing here? Ridiculous.
And they needed to go spend prospect capital and $100 million on Andrés Giménez, and $92 million on Anthony Santander.
Technically there was only just $96.5 million left on Giménez’s deal when they acquired him. And many people would probably have pointed out here that, because of deferrals, Santander’s deal had a present day value of just $68.6 million when it was signed. But OK. Sure. Still looking bad for both deals. Can’t disagree.
Now you’ve got Giménez as your shortstop. Can he hit? We don’t know. But having him as a tremendous defensive shortstop? Definitely an asset. But, again, just like Myles Straw, probably could have got him from Cleveland for a lot less than Spencer Horwitz had you done it this winter. And Horwitz would have been a lot better as a designated hitter than Anthony Santander was last year, when he only played 54 games and didn’t hit .200. And, I believe, hit six home runs.
OK, not sure how or why Atkins would have used a time machine to go and make those trades in the future. But that’s not even the weirdest thing here, because what on earth were the Jays going to do with Horwitz once it became clear that George Springer needed to be in the DH spot last season?
Springer only started in the outfield a handful of times after the All-Star break. We’re complaining about how that worked out now? Because the team no longer has an 11 HR guy who could realistically only ever DH for them? They should have known Santander was going to have a literally unfathomable, off-the-charts awful season? Bizarre!
Look, this front office, and it’s not Atkins, because Mark Shapiro is very, very active in the baseball operations department. Ross Atkins does not act independently, it’s not his show. It’s Shapiro’s show for any of the big moves, and it’s Edward Rogers’ show for any of the really big moves, like signing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to that contract when neither Shapiro nor Atkins wanted to do it. So, it’s hard for me to say Ross Atkins and evaluate him as a general manager, because it really is a collaborative effort.
Oh. OK. So what the fuck are we doing here, exactly? I mean, other than ham-fistedly trying to take credit away from Shapiro and Atkins for Vlad being extended, as though the owner just steamrolled the president and GM of the team on that one and didn’t have a conversation with his baseball people about the wisdom of spending $500 million on a baseball player. Insulting our intelligence doesn’t even begin!
And the truth of the matter is that in four of the last six years the Blue Jays have made the playoffs. In one of those other two years they missed by one game, in a year in which they played the first two thirds of the season completely on the road. And in the other year they finished in last place. This is not a damning indictment of this entire front office.
Sounds pretty good, honestly!
But I thought Ross Atkins should have been gone after 2023. I thought Ross Atkins should have been gone after 2024.
And what happened in 2025 changes nothing???
They just went to game seven of the World Series, so you cannot fire the GM. And you cannot go into it with the GM in the last year of his contract.
Correct. But also: IT’S GOOD TO EXTEND THE GUY WHO BUILT THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS. WHY IS THIS SO HARD FOR PEOPLE TO SAY?
Five years? That’s Mark Shapiro doing Ross Atkins a solid. Extending him one year beyond Shapiro’s contract to protect Atkins.
Oh, so now this is where the goalposts have shifted? Alright, well, another reading here would be that the guy who values stability is setting up a scenario where if he chooses not to renew at the end of his contract, or the team decides not to pick it up, the upheaval could be kept to a minimum for the organization as they look for the next person in charge.
But why start being charitable now, eh?
And that is not something unique to the Blue Jays at all. That’s the way this game works.
Oh? OK.
As far as John Schneider only getting two years? That’s how managers work. Atkins is not going to do Schneider a solid by extending him beyond his tenure and giving him six years. But you heard him yesterday on the program, you heard our interactions, our conversations. I’m a huge fan of John Schneider. I don’t understand why so much of the fan base seems to think not terribly highly of John Schneider, to say the least.
Might I suggest that the reason for that could have something to do with the fact that he’s Atkins and Shapiro’s guy? And that there is no shortage of people covering this team who seem more interested in saving face than being fair, and are so dug in on Shapiro and (especially) Atkins being obvious mediocrities that they can’t help but keep validating fans’ worst and dumbest instincts, even while—begrudgingly, minimally—acknowledging the unbelievable success of the team’s best season in over three decades, which took them as close to a World Series championship as literally possible and brought them here to the cusp of the 2026 season as one of the favourites?
He is a Blue Jays lifer—this is going to be his 25th season with this team. He has been training for this job for the last 15 years, at least. Managing his way up through the minor league system the way you’re supposed to do it. And then serving a three-year apprenticeship as a coach at the major league level before taking over for Charlie Montoyo.
The way you’re supposed to do it? Lol. Aaron Boone out here catching strays!
He has presided over a team that went to game seven of the World Series. He has presided over a team that finished in last place in the division. And he has presided over a team that squeaked into the playoffs and then got drummed out and scored only one run while he was forced to make a pitching move that he didn’t want to do.
Hey, here’s another theory: maybe the reason fans haven’t taken as well to Schneider as one might expect because people continue making a huge deal of the Berríos decision? And because absolutely no one believes rhetorical-needle-threading bullshit like this idea that Atkins all but forced him from the Target Field dugout at gunpoint?
Schneider walked out there on his own and held up his left arm. You can’t act like it’s the worst in-game move in managerial history and then absolve the manager who literally went out and did it. People have eyes.
The way to absolve Schneider of it would have been to not completely overstate its magnitude and then not still bring it up years later. But I feel like we may have already crossed that bridge.
Those are John Schneider’s three full seasons as the Blue Jays’ manager. Again, I’m a big fan. The players are big fans. This is someone who could be running this show for a very, very long time, and deservedly so.
Not longer than Cito Gaston though, I hope! That would be blasphemous! (Though, actually, thinking back, Mike might not be quite so upset about that record falling.)
So, kudos to Schneider in getting his extension, that keeps him getting paid by the Jays through the end of the 2028 season.
Indeed. Well-deserved kudos to Schneider! And kudos to Ross as well, from me at the very least. The Jays are in good hands.
Hey, and before we move on, a reminder that, if you want more on the subject of the Atkins and Schneider extensions, Nick and I discussed it on this week’s episode of Blue Jays Happy Hour. Have a listen below on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts…
ALSO! Don’t miss this week’s Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, where Nick and I give our first impressions of the new food items that will be on the menu at Rogers Centre for 2026.
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From May 1st to the end of July ‘23 the Jays slashed .235/.306/.335 (82 wRC+) as a team with RISP—the second-worst mark in baseball over that span. From August 1st onward those numbers were .304/.393/.435 (131 wRC+), which ranked fourth.
Two years for John Schneider does not seem to me to be a resounding vote of confidence.
I must admit that I just read this after listening to the recent podcast so just some friendly and hopefully constructive feedback here, but maybe let's move on from dissecting what the media says in such deep dives. We know you don't like Rosie...fine...and Simmons...fine, but it sounds like it's eating you up. I mean, what do we want out of media? Saccharine smooth and all things good from the Sportsnet crew or some more critical analysis from others? Or a mix of both...which is what we have.
Who knows where the negativity comes from....maybe they have their reasons given they interact with the team more closely? Maybe it's clickbait. Or maybe it's just their job and the nature of their work and the mantra of their media outlet. I don't think they are paid to write something that nobody reads or cares about.
In Wilner's case, he has always had a smartest guy in the room vibe and it's pretty obvious he is bitter about being let go by Sportsnet...fair enough, we don't know all the background to that. He also claimed that Bieber took up his option due to 'unfinished business' with the Jays. Yeah right. He can be exceedingly painful to listen to at times, but he does the best player interviews around. No-one is perfect. I love your podcasts, but sometimes I wish you didn't mumble or agree with each other all the time. But I still listen.
For me, I love Blair and Barker, I could listen to them all day, but each to their own right?
So overall I think the Toronto media for the Blue Jays is fine....it's a decent mix that's probably mirrored in every sports market in North America. I think that's just the nature of the beast. But by ranting about it, you also risk putting yourself into the 'smartest guy in the room' category. You are a fantastic writer so let's focus on the good and interesting stuff and not the media! Unless of course it allows you to use your excellent sense of humour.
A lot of people can't admit when they're wrong. It's more pervasive in the 'gotta have a take' business. I will say though, it goes beyond just doubling down to see how odd some veteran reporters are about Atkins and Shapiro, 11 years later. I know a bunch of them were really close with Beeston, but I dunno, get over it? Simmons, on multiple occasions in the last 7 years claimed we had an assistant GM to thank for Bo and that Atkins didn't want him, as if a GM would just shrug and say 'okay, fine' on a 2nd round pick. Rosie and her 'carpet baggers from Cleveland' line as if they were city slickers coming to ruin the small-town charm of Toronto. It's fine to not like them, I certainly wanted them gone in 2024 (I was wrong!) but it felt like a good chunk started from a place of resentment right away. I've liked enough of Wilner's stuff over the years, but the 'let's strawman everything to make it me versus the drunkest moron opinion to call into JaysTalk' gets pretty exhausting. But hey! Blue Jays win! Gaus was great, Okamoto delivers, and a walk-off saves us from an overwrought discussion about Hoffman getting beat on what was actually a good pitch.