Why James Click is not the right choice to replace Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins

The Toronto Blue Jays are in a really bad spot as an organization. A front office on the verge of being canned is making consequential decisions about the future. A farm system that is bereft of the crown jewels needed to help spark a turnaround. A major league roster that is nowhere near talented enough to compete with the elite clubs of baseball. Sitting atop all of that is a baseball executive who may be able to get everything back on track. Can he step up and deliver a clutch hit to save this flailing organization?

James Click has emerged as a name to watch if the Blue Jays make a change in the upper levels of the front office. In February 2023, he was hired by Toronto as Vice President of Baseball Strategy. He previously worked for the Tampa Bay Rays under Chaim Bloom as an intern in 2005 and eventually a VP of baseball operations in 2017. Before the Rays, Click graduated from Yale University and wrote for Baseball Prospectus. Only hardcore baseball fans probably even recognize his name as he gained notoriety with the Houston Astros a few years ago. In 2022, he was in his third season as Houston general manager when they won a World Series.

Everything seemed to be going swimmingly in Texas until a shocking piece of breaking news emerged. Click would be gone from the Astros after he rejected a one-year contract offer and the team decided to part ways. To be parting ways with an organization after a successful run raised many eyebrows around the sport. What was really going on?

A fascinating article from Ball Nine's Kevin Kernan pointed out how then-manager Dusty Baker and the front office would constantly fight about roster construction. One such debate about whether to trade for star catcher Wilson Contreras or stick with Martin Maldonado pitted the two sides in opposing camps. Baker always seemed to feel like he was fighting back against an overreaching front office and specifically preferred Maldonado because of his strong personal relationship with the club's pitching staff even though he was a subpar offensive talent. Kernan also noted how Baker fought with his front office to keep shortstop Jeremy Pena batting second in the lineup. Pena went on to win World Series MVP and Baker (not the front office) seems to have had the correct baseball instincts in both situations.

Click's current role in Toronto is extremely unclear as it is not known what his scope of authority is. He could be an influential voice or someone that is only offering his thoughts periodically. That setup is common nowadays as many front offices have advisers like Click who offer their opinions on how to run a baseball team. For example, the Yankees are known to employ Omar Minaya and Brain Sabean for such roles in New York.

A Click administration would look a lot like the current leadership. We all know how fans feel about the current leadership. For one, his background in organizations like Houston and Tampa Bay suggest he will continue incorporating analytics into decision-making. It probably means that Jose Berrios would have been handled the exact same way as Atkins and company did in the 2023 playoffs. Angry about lineup decisions that seem to prioritize analytics? Does it bother you that players seem to get days off when they are performing well? Those trends would all probably continue under a Click administration. To a certain extent, every organization in baseball is moving in this direction. But one can expect Click to move Toronto more forcefully in that direction.

On a larger level, there is so much unknown about how good Click really was in Houston. He inherited most of the players everyone has heard including Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, etc. In two of three drafts, he was stripped of draft picks in the first two rounds due to the penalties from the Houston sign stealing scandal. Who knows how players like Joey Loperfido and Spencer Arrighetti will perform as it is still so early in their careers. Like all GMs, he has good and bad player moves on his resume. Does his connection with Bloom mean he will be successful or a failure like Bloom was in Boston? Nobody really knows just yet.

All Canadian baseball fans can agree that the Blue Jays are a mess and need a makeover as soon as possible. Creative solutions and outside-the-box ideas need to be implemented to turn this team around. Someone like Dayton Moore could be a cleaner fit who checks those boxes. Moore has plenty of experience, won a championship, and can provide a fresh set of eyes that this team so desperately needs. The Blue Jays still have time to make this important decision and it will have enormous ramifications for the future of the franchise.