Toronto Blue Jays

Blue Jays front office still deserves credit despite recent struggles

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Despite the recent struggles of the team, Blue Jays fans have to be pleased with meaningful baseball to watch in September and being in playoff position with less than 25 games remaining

Here we are on September 9th and the Blue Jays currently sit in a playoff spot. Granted they are one game back of first in the A.L. East as of this writing, but they play the East-leading Red Sox three times this weekend in what may be the biggest series of the season for both clubs..

As I read about Alex Anthopoulos being considered for the president’s job with the Minnesota Twins, I couldn’t help but think back to October 29th, when it seemed the Blue Jays 2017 season was going to be doomed before it started. We lost our charismatic GM, the man responsible for bringing in the likes of David Price, Troy Tulowitzki, and building the first Blue Jays playoff team since 1993. How could we let him get away like that?

I’ll be the first to admit that I was extremely upset with Anthopoulos’ departure, and equally unimpressed with the addition of Mark Shapiro and his bringing Ross Atkins aboard. Knowing how well-liked Anthopoulos was amongst the players, it was a scary proposition to think about losing the GM, and having so many key players coming into free agency between the 2016 and ’17 seasons.

My how a year can change your perspective.

Fast forward a little over 10 months, and there has been little to complain about from the new Blue Jays regime. Yes, David Price signed with the rival Boston Red Sox, but his over-sized contract and the performances of Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ have made it easy to forget the anger we felt when Price signed with a division rival.

In fact, the Estrada and Happ signings were just a few of the savvy moves the new front office has made, and the results have been nearly universally positive. No front office is perfect with their additions, but it’s worth taking a moment to consider how well some moves have paid off.

Nobody is perfect, and the Atkins/Shapiro combination hasn’t been either (see: Drew Storen), but considering the feelings expressed by most Blue Jay fans upon AA’s departure, it’s a welcome and pleasant surprise that I’d say something like this:

I'm as big a fan of AA as a GM as there is, but I'm finally willing to admit it. I think Atkins & Shapiro have done a great job. #BlueJays

— Baseball 4 Brains (@Baseball4Brains) August 12, 2016