Covering a franchise shift: a conversation with Toronto Sun’s Rob Longley

The Toronto Blue Jays are having one of their best offseason's in quite some time. They've landed a number of high profile free agents and have upgraded a roster that got to the World Series in 2025. Even though this is the same front office group that has been at the helm since December of 2015, it feels like they have a new internal mandate.

I had the chance to sit down with Rob Longley, Blue Jays writer and columnist at the Toronto Sun, for a conversation that explored how differently the Blue Jays now operate compared to previous regimes.

Covering a franchise shift: a conversation with Toronto Sun’s Rob Longley

From the outside looking in, it’s simple to point to their ability to spend as the obvious answer. There's been massive contracts handed out to massive names, resulting in massive expections. While talking to someone who has lived through plenty of Blue Jays teams, the change in ambition feels deeper than payroll alone.

Zaitchik: You’ve covered the Blue Jays with the Toronto Sun for almost a decade now, but you’ve been following the team for much longer than that. As someone inside the ropes, how big of an organizational change are you feeling in terms of ambition? Can you feel that energy in the rooms you’ve been in and the people you've talked to?

Longley: In the years I’ve covered them, they currently have more momentum than they ever have. It’s a combination of things. The front office, the emergence of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as a true star and leader. It's also a real change in commitment from ownership. To be competitive, you need to spend, and that commitment has really escalated over the last three years.

It was clear from his answer that the financial commitment didn’t suddenly arrive in a vacuum, it followed success, belief, and a clearer internal identity. He continued, "Now that they’ve had success and made a lot of money from that success, the willingness to spend is pretty impressive. They’ve elevated from a smaller-market team to what’s now perceived as a big-market team."

That shift in perception followed Longley to the Winter Meetings in Orlando, where league-wide conversations involving the Blue Jays with agents and executives were prominent.

Zaitchik: Did it feel like the Blue Jays were involved in a lot of the conversations this year?

Longley: Definitely. There wasn’t a conversation that didn’t involve them. People were talking about what they’d already done this offseason and what they were still intending to do. Agents and executives were talking about them being players at the highest level of the market. This was the first time I’ve been at the Winter Meetings where the Blue Jays were that central in conversations.

Zaitchik: You had a chance to talk to Dylan Cease at the Winter Meetings. Did he give you any insight into why he chose Toronto?

Longley: Once the money was there, he really started to look into what the Blue Jays would offer him beyond that. He’s an interesting guy, he feels like he hasn’t reached his potential yet.

Cease’s decision, according to Longley, reflected Toronto's ability to sell pitchers on individualized development at an elite level. "He took a deep dive into what the Jays could do to help him reach that potential, and his conversations with Pete Walker really piqued his interest. They talked about specifics and that made him believe he could become a better pitcher by coming here." And of course, the Blue Jays’ World Series run inspired Cease to sign with Toronto as well.

The combination of money, development, and environment has now carried over into the international market with the signing of six-time NPB all-star, Kazuma Okamoto. In doing so, it has sparked debate among fans about whether the Blue Jays still have the flexibility to pursue Kyle Tucker or Bo Bichette.

Zaitchik: Do you think the Blue Jays are still as much in the hunt for Bichette and Tucker as they were before the Okamoto signing?

Longley: It’s really hard to say because Ross Atkins plays his cards very close to the vest. What I would say is that it certainly lessens the urgency to get another bat, because they’ve acquired some offense. My sense is the priority might be Tucker, based on positional fit. I think there’s probably a sense in the front office that playing the waiting game for either is the better move, because the market isn’t overheating with offers to both of them. I wouldn’t rule either of them out.

All of it leads back to the same underlying question: Is this the most attractive Toronto has ever looked to free agents? "In the time I’ve been with the team, certainly," Longley said. "I wasn’t around in ’92 or ’93, but back then the attraction was probably just about winning, not to dismiss that. There’s more that’s attractive about the Blue Jays now than there ever has been in their history." What makes this era different, Longley explained, is how much has changed beyond the on-field product.

"The way they go about business is attractive. They’ve made the Rogers Centre a really cool place to be, and players respond to that. Players feel like they have a real home-field advantage. The money they've pumped into their facility in Dunedin is attractive to players too. When I started in 2017, it was probably the worst in terms of what they had to work with in spring, but now its undisputedly the best.

The improvements in the stadium are amazing for the players too. The clubhouse is state of the art, hot tub/cold tubs, cooldown areas, amazing family rooms. They've just done so much more to make this team attractive and more popular than ever before."

One thing seems evident from those closest to the organization: the Blue Jays are no longer trying to convince the league they belong at the top table. They’re already sitting there.