https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-sign-gm-ross-atkins-five-year-contract-extension/The Toronto Blue Jays continue to lock in their senior leadership, announcing a five-year extension for general manager Ross Atkins on Wednesday.
The move was hinted at by Mark Shapiro in an interview with Sportsnet last month, and puts Atkins in place contractually through the 2026 season, one year beyond the term of the club president and CEO.
On the heels of manager Charlie Montoyo also having his club option for 2022 being picked up, three of the organization’s pivotal leadership positions have been stabilized in recent months. Shapiro signed a five-year extension through 2025 back in January.
“I obviously feel extremely happy about and proud of the job he's done in building out infrastructure and, most importantly probably, acquiring and developing talent, and leading the baseball organization,” Shapiro said of Atkins last month. “I see Ross as part of a long-term future here and want him to be here, and that's shared at the ownership level.”
“If you look at the most successful sports franchises, there are ones that react year-to-year, season-to-season on fast cycles and they're kind of perpetually spinning,” said Shapiro. “The ones that have the strength and resilience to stick with some stability and continuity, even through the down times, gives those people the ability to make adjustments because things rarely go the way that you think they're going to go. Continuity gives you the ability to course-adjust and to adapt a plan, because a plan will almost certainly have to be adapted and adjusted.
“When you turn it over, it just takes so much time to deal with a new style, a new set of values and new leadership expectations, building trust back again,” he continued. “If you look at the Pittsburgh Steelers, if you look at the San Antonio Spurs, New England Patriots, there's usually a lot of stability at the top. That's a very difficult model to maintain in professional sports, where emotion and momentum factors into so many decisions. But if you have the strength to do it, it usually is a benefit.”
