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Schad wrote:That's a bit odd.

The Blue Jays fired a reported 23 employees Wednesday from various departments on the business side. The club insisted it was not a cost-cutting measure but more a shift of resources to address evolving needs. The streamlined front office is merging and re-organizing fan engagement and media relations.

Gone from the former media department are Mal Romanin, the manager of baseball information, Erik Grosman, the coordinator of baseball information, and communications coordinator Sue Mallabon. The only leftover is communications vice-president Jay Stenhouse.

The Jays expanded their existing fan engagement department last season, an area that includes business-led PR initiatives and Blue Jays social media. That department, led by Sebastian Gatica, has now merged with media in reporting to Gatica, who transferred from Sportsnet to the Jays in 2016 to coordinate personal affairs for president Mark Shapiro.

“In recent years, our business has become more focused on engaging fans through compelling experiences, unique content and personalized service,” Gatica said. “Today’s changes reflect that evolving nature of our business as we shift to meet these needs through a new structure and resources aimed at delivering memorable experiences to our passionate fan base.”

The new setup, with a one-person media department, is unique to Major League Baseball.

dagger wrote:

Schad wrote:That's a bit odd.

It feels like the Soviet Union in the 1930s.

dagger wrote:Fan engagement my rear end. You engage the fans by making the team exciting and accessible (and somewhat affordable).

Fairview4Life wrote:

dagger wrote:Fan engagement my rear end. You engage the fans by making the team exciting and accessible (and somewhat affordable).

...that sure seems like you are arguing for redirecting resources to the baseball ops side and not paying so many media and public relations people.

polo007 wrote:

The Blue Jays fired a reported 23 employees Wednesday from various departments on the business side. The club insisted it was not a cost-cutting measure but more a shift of resources to address evolving needs. The streamlined front office is merging and re-organizing fan engagement and media relations.

Ross Atkins hates the idea that the Toronto Blue Jays have come across as a heartless, soulless organization, callously laying off long-serving employees without reason or compassion.

The Jays GM said he’s been hurt by accusations that the Toronto front office has been trying to establish a “new brand” in the image of his former organization by laying off loyal workers, particularly in the communications and high performance and medical departments. The Jays have taken considerable heat over dismissals to the front office in recent weeks. One example is baseball information manager Mal Romanin, who was very highly regarded by the denizens of the Blue Jays press box, including yours truly.

From a personal perspective, there was an incident this past season when I was interviewing Jose Bautista at his stall in the Jays clubhouse when Marcus Stroman walked by and started advising Bautista that I was “dicey” and that he’d better watch what he says because I would twist his words — particularly since Bautista is a Latin player. Stroman also warned me that I would be off the beat soon and that I was “irrelevant.” Of course, the wise guys in the press box immediately started calling me “Mr. Irrelevant” after that.

Earlier, I had written a column suggesting that Stroman would be advised to rein in his emotions on the mound, especially when his frustrations were aimed at the umpires, as they might have long memories and could squeeze him in future starts. Stroman took exception to the column and let me know it on a number of occasions.

That day he went off in the clubhouse, Romanin immediately went over to defuse the situation. And he did, very professionally — even suggesting that I might have taken too much of a confrontational stance with Stroman as the argument progressed. He didn’t take sides. Simply put, Romanin was very good at his job and greatly respected by the press.

So, the question for Atkins is: How does laying off somebody like Romanin, along with his colleagues Erik Grosman and Sue Mallabon — all good at their jobs and loyal Jays people to the core — help win more ball games?

Randle McMurphy wrote: