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Toronto Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins finally admits to making a massive mistake
Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins had made an admission after defending his strategy during the off season especially after losing out rookie pitching star Roki Sasaki to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
It appears that their strategy of leaving no stone unturned continues to fall short as the Blue Jays cannot seem to closeout the deals to bring superstars such as Juan Soto, Roki Sasaki, Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman.
Atkins admits to Blue Jays are proud of their steadfast approach
It seemed no matter what the Blue Jays did this offseason, they were just unable to convince players to come to the organization to play long term.
It's clear the Blue Jays organization an ownership Rogers Communications were willing to shell out the money required to land these players but it became clear that the outcome of the organization might be what's deterring them from signing.
Last year's poor performance and the fact that the Blue Jays have not won a playoff game since 2016 does not give free agents a vote of confidence that the Blue Jays will turn it around in less than a couple of years.
While the Blue Jays have good prospects in their system, they have not had many top end prospects who will make them better internally especially in pitching.
Ricky Tiedmann for example is considered a top prospect, but he is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery and will not be available till next spring training.
The Roki Sasaki saga also exposed the Blue Jays' strengths-and their flaws. Toronto has a track record of developing established pitchers-Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt, and Yusei Kikuchi are proof of that. But their farm system has struggled to produce high-impact arms, forcing them to rely on external additions. Supradeep Dutta
Free agents want to win now and for many seasons
It seems that these pools of free agents are looking for teams that are willing to do what it takes to win now and to win in the future.
Atkins along with his management team seemed to be treading water and not really finding ways to make the team far better and appeared to be more concerned about financials rather than putting a great team on the field.
While the Blue Jays do have good players in their roster, free agents like Soto do not see any reason to come north to Toronto.
The Blue Jays now have their own free agents they have to sign if they're willing to shell out the money especially to Vladimir Guerrero junior and Bo Bichette.
This season will be a crossroad for the organization as several players including some management like President Mark Shapiro and manager John Schneider are not with the contract going forward.
Blue Jays fans will need to sit and wait to see how all of this plays out over the coming months especially if the team does not have a good start.
Source: Essentially Sports
Blue Jays GM Forced to Defend Himself With Honest Admission After Roki Sasaki Miss
Blue Jays GM Forced to Defend Himself With Honest Admission After Roki Sasaki Miss
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