Toronto Blue Jays add World Series winning GM James Click to front office

On Monday morning, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that the club is hiring James Click to be the Vice President of Baseball Strategy.

Click is best known for his historic tenure as the Houston Astros General Manager. Just a few weeks after winning the 2022 World Series in Houston, he was surprisingly let go from his role and the Jays have capitalized.

For Click, he will "work closely with General Manager Ross Atkins and department heads on strategic planning, decision making and evaluation", per team announcement.

He will also work "both professional and amateur levels to identify best practices, develop plans and implement strategies."

There was never a doubt that the 45-year-old would land on his feet and quickly find a new job. In his three-year stint with the Astros, the club made the postseason in each year and won a championship along the way.

Before his Houston days, Click spent 15 years with the Tampa Bay Rays, functioning as a baseball operations coordinator initially and then slowly making his way up the organizational depth chart before becoming the Vice President of Baseball Operations in 2017.

As Keegan Matheson of MLB.com and MLB Trade Rumors noted, this signing is very similiar to the Jays bringing Ben Cherington aboard from 2016 to 2019. He was hired as the Vice President of Baseball Operations and held that position until the Pittsburgh Pirates hired him as their new General Manager.

The addition to a high-baseball-IQ individual like Click will likely pay off significantly behind the scenes in the overall structure of the Blue Jays.

Click's hiring will give the Blue Jays their second new front office member in as many weeks. Victor Martinez, 44, a five-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger over the course of a highly successful big league career, was recently signed to be a special assistant to the front office.