Should the Blue Jays part ways with Ross Atkins?

The Toronto Blue Jays entered play on Saturday at third in the American League East with an 18-20 record after dropping back-to-back winnable series against the Angels and Guardians.

A recurring theme emerged in both: overworking the bullpen and the team's persistent failure to drive in runners in scoring position.

This lack of run production has plagued the Blue Jays all season. And, if General Manager Ross Atkins remains in charge, it's hard to believe it will improve anytime soon.

If the Blue Jays want to be competitive this season and beyond, they must part ways with Atkins.

Since trading Teoscar Hernández after the 2022 season, Atkins has doubled down on his strong belief that defense and pitching wins games. That philosophy became clear when he traded Hernández, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Gabriel Moreno in return for pitching and outfielder Daulton Varsho, a player known more for his glove than his bat.

While Varsho is looking more and more like a cornerstone, he can't do it all on his own. Both Hernández and Gurriel are impact sluggers, while Moreno helped lead Arizona to the World Series in his first year in the desert.

While preventing runs is certainly part of building a contender, it's tough to win consistently when your offense can't seem to score more than three runs in one game. It doesn't seem like Atkins thought about that when he made these trades, and now the Blue Jays are paying the price.

In 2022, the Blue Jays ranked fourth in MLB at 4.78 runs per game, and their offensive production has plummeted since then. They've ranked 16th or worse every year since, and currently sit 25th in the league, averaging just 3.65 runs per game.

They enter play on Saturday with just one player in the lineup who has more than four home runs (Anthony Santander has five) and just four regulars hitting .280 or better.

They entered play on Saturday with 27 home runs as a team, which is tied with White Sox and Royals for the lowest mark in the majors.

That needs to change immediately, but, based on Atkins' track record since 2022, there's no evidence that it will.

We’ve seen what this offense can look like under a general manager like Alex Anthopoulos who prioritized big bats and run scoring. The current Blue Jays regime was able to ink Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a contract extension and signed Santander to a five-year contract, but they've also put together an incomplete offense.

A playoff-caliber team simply cannot afford to consistently roll out a lineup with Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes, Myles Straw, and Ernie Clement in it.

Ross Atkins has been in charge of constructing this roster for far too long, and if the Blue Jays are serious about winning, his tenure needs to come to an end.