Mark Shapiro was introduced to the media Monday afternoon at Rogers Centre as the new President and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays. He spoke generally for a few minutes about himself and the Jays organization, and then took questions from the notoriously harsh Toronto media. Shapiro was under fire from many fans and reporters even before his first press conference, in the wake of GM Alex Anthopoulos’s announcement of his departure from the team (the blame for which has been pinned, rightly or wrongly, on Shapiro by a lot of people).
First Impressions of Mark Shapiro, Blue Jays President
He opened up with an attempt to endear himself to some Toronto fans who may feel some animosity towards him, expressing his respect for his predecessor Paul Beeston, and quipping he hoped his first official duty with the Blue Jays would be “should be to drive the float in the World Series parade that [Beeston] is on“, and that it is “an incredibly exciting time to be joining the Blue Jays organization“. He also told reporters about his excitement to represent a team that represents an entire country, praising Canada for the passion shown during the postseason.
Here’s what you need to know from his press conference.
On Alex Anthopoulos:
Shapiro began his presser by acknowledging the elephant in the room. “At the outset let me acknowledge that this was not the transition I originally expected.” He expressed his regret for Anthopoulos’s departure. “Like all of you, I’m disappointed that Alex won’t be back,” he remarked, adding that he had hoped to work with and learn from Anthopoulos. He told reporters that approximately ninety-five percent of his conversations with Anthopoulos had been about the former GM’s baseball philosophy rather than his contract, and that Anthopoulos had been “honest and forthright”, unwilling to speculate on his reasoning, however. Shapiro asserted that everything he had discussed with the general manager matched up with what the media had been told, that there were personal reasons involved in Anthopoulos’s departure and that specific details of his decision were not disclosed.
Many people in the media suggested last week that Shapiro had “scolded” Anthopoulos for trading away prospects at the trade deadline. In response to this, he began by expressing that he thought the deals for Troy Tulowitzki and David Price were “great trades“, but that “there’s risk/reward, there’s short-term and long-term. In this case clearly the short-term benefit of those trades is absolutely apparent and was tremendous. At the same point there are challenges that come with trading players and those challenges, I think, need to become part of a long-term strategy“. This does seem to imply that he would not have been as keen to trade away young future talent to load up the current team, preferring to look longer term (which may or may not be a good thing, as the Blue Jays are currently quite clearly in a win-now situation). It’s certainly possible to infer that Shapiro believes Anthopoulos mismanaged prospects, and did not have a “long-term strategy” in place.
On Autonomy:
It was heavily speculated that one of the reasons for Anthopoulos’s departure was that Shapiro insisted on having the final say on all baseball decisions. He was asked about this, and said that his mantra is “It’s not about autonomy, it’s about collective success“. Shapiro stressed that he believes important decisions should be made by all the qualified minds available. He said he will not be involved in “minutiae“, but that collaboration and agreement on larger matters is important to him. Effectively he did confirm that Alex Anthopoulos would not have had the final say on baseball-related decisions, having instead to be approved by Shapiro.
On Tony LaCava, John Gibbons and the Blue Jays Staff:
It was announced just before the press conference that Tony LaCava, former assistant GM and Director of Player Development for the Blue Jays, would be taking over as interim general manager. In the course of his introduction, Shapiro also announced that manager John Gibbons, as well as the rest of the team’s management and front-office staff, will remain with the club for the next season.
Shapiro spoke briefly about LaCava, saying that he is “comfortable in Tony guiding our baseball ops staff,” but that his position is temporary. There is currently no timetable set for the hiring of a new GM, and Shapiro made it clear that he will not be rushing the decision, however he did imply (refusing to say it explicitly) that LaCava is not a likely candidate to be given the job permanently.
On Re-signing Players:
Weighing heavily on everyone’s mind was certainly the topic of whether free agents like David Price and Marco Estrada will return to Toronto in 2016. Shapiro skated around many of these questions, obviously refusing to make any specific statements about players. He did say that the easy decision to pick up the team option on certain players (notably Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and R.A. Dickey) is likely to be made in the next couple of days.
Paul Beeston famously had an in-house rule against signing contracts longer than five years. When asked about that, Shapiro said “I don’t believe in absolutes,” and that he “could foresee a seven-year deal” in certain special situations. However, he did also maintain that “No one player holds the key to the future of this organization“, which some fans took to mean the team may not go all-out on re-signing David Price. Shapiro did also mention that he has not reached out to any players yet, but that he is aware of the team’s need for pitching. On that topic, he said “It’s important to fill two spots in the rotation, either with guys that exist internally or externally“, and that there are players on the free agent market who have interested him. There is speculation that if Price and Estrada do not return to the Jays, one of Aaron Sanchez or Roberto Osuna could fill a spot in the starting rotation.
On Payroll:
With the Cleveland Indians, Shapiro was used to a significantly smaller payroll than the Blue Jays have at their disposal. The Indians are routinely in the bottom ten among major league teams, and the Jays are often near the top. When asked whether he will have to alter his approach to running a team in a larger market, he did acknowledge that there is an adjustment to be made. There is much more flexibility when, as he vaguely put it, “the resources are there“. Shapiro noted that “If you have a larger payroll you have a greater tolerance for risk“, although he did not make any concrete statements about projected numbers.
Thoughts:
Overall, Shapiro spoke well. He gives the impression of a businessman (or, more cynically, a salesman), and prompted many fans to suggest he may have a future in politics. He avoided most difficult questions, speaking in general terms and always using praise for Alex Anthopoulos, Paul Beeston or Blue Jays fans as a fallback. However, despite a lot of unsubstantial answers, there was some important insight gained from the press conference.
In summary, it can absolutely be assumed that Anthopoulos would have had a different role in the new organization, with less autonomy than he was used to, and that Shapiro is more hesitant to go all-in on one year. The quote about no single player being the key to the team also implies the Jays are unlikely to break the bank for David Price.
Not a whole lot was learned about Mark Shapiro’s intentions as President and CEO of the Blue Jays today. His true colours will come out over the next few days. On November 7th, the exclusive negotiating period with the team’s free agents ends. On or shortly after that day we will begin to get a sense of Shapiro’s view for the team going forward, and we will see how he manages a larger payroll over this coming winter.
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