Should the Blue Jays Consider Replacing GM Ross Atkins?

Should GM Ross Atkins Be Fired?

So it might sound odd to be asking if GM Ross Atkins should be fired. Obviously, he won’t be fired by team president Mark Shapiro this offseason, and he’s potentially here through 2026. But is there a case to be made that the Jays need to upgrade their front office for the GM position?

Atkins is now certainly on the clock in terms of being next on the firing line should the Blue Jays regress in 2023. He’s certainly failed to build the club for postseason success since inheriting the 2016 ALCS team, where the top ten players by WAR were acquired by his predecessors, Alex Anthopoulos andTony LaCava.

And he was hired to replace the Canadian-born Anthopoulos, who has been affiliated with postseason clubs every year since the Jays 2015 ALCS team and who continues to build a potential Hall of Fame resume as the president and GM of the Atlanta Braves, winners of the 2021 World Series and five consecutive NL East pennants since he arrived.

According to Anthopoulos, there may have been some issues that led to his departure from Toronto despite a contract extension offer. When he was hired in Atlanta after the 2017 season, he spoke with Jeff Blair and Stephen Brunt on Sportsnet 590 The Fan’s ‘Jeff Blair Show’ and cryptically said,

"… you can have the greatest organization in the world, if you’re working for people you don’t enjoy, you don’t believe in them, they don’t believe in you, what environment is that going to be? How rewarding is that going to be?"

But what specific issues could be cited should Rogers decide to replace Atkins?