Shapiro outlines key themes for Blue Jays’ season forward of Opening Day

TORONTO – Early Wednesday afternoon, Mark Shapiro took his seat on the entrance of a Rogers Centre boardroom and surveyed the scene in entrance of him.

A gathering of native media members turned their eyes to the entrance of the room, the place Shapiro settled in on the head of an extended desk. With the Blue Jays’ fiftieth season about to start, it was time for the staff president to take questions.

A short silence descended over the room – “I’m just going to call on people,” Shapiro joked – however quickly the dialog began rolling. Over the course of the following hour, Shapiro spoke at size about key subjects regarding the Blue Jays, together with expectations for the upcoming season, plans for future occasions at Rogers Centre and the way recruiting free brokers has change into a power of the group.

“Guys love playing here, and that is no longer a small subset,” he mentioned. “They still want to get paid, but they want to play here.”

Starting with Rogers Centre itself and making our method to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., right here’s a better have a look at among the key themes to emerge from Shapiro’s annual pre-season availability: 

The big-picture outlook for Rogers Centre

While the largest renovations at Rogers Centre are actually full, Shapiro mentioned the Blue Jays might have a look at some smaller-scale upgrades, comparable to freshening up the stadium’s many suites and including an even bigger youngsters’ space.

Eventually, a dialogue in regards to the stadium’s long-term future can be obligatory, however that’s doubtless “a good 15 years” away. It’s maybe untimely to debate what which means in a lot element, however Shapiro mentioned all choices must be thought-about, together with an excellent larger-scale renovation of Rogers Centre or constructing a wholly new stadium on the identical web site (a situation that will doubtless require a brief dwelling elsewhere for a 12 months or two). 

“You’d hate to ever give up this location,” he mentioned. “It’s just such a unique one. There’s not many like it. Maybe the Cubs, (but) not really. Maybe the Red Sox. Maybe San Francisco. There’s not many teams that are in such a central walking distance in downtown.”

For now, the bones of the stadium are holding up properly, giving the Blue Jays stability for now and suppleness years down the road.

“We’re in good shape from a structural perspective,” Shapiro mentioned. “And I think now we’re in good shape from offering fans a true best-in-class fan experience and players a best-in-class player experience. We’re always going to need to fight to keep current and fight to keep that up to date. But I do think we bought ourselves some time.”

Only two groups have waited longer than the Blue Jays to host an All-Star Game: the Cubs, who’re slated to host in 2027, and the Athletics, whose stadium fell into disrepair earlier than they moved, briefly, to Sacramento. Any truthful distribution of All-Star Games would logically see the occasion return to Canada for the primary time since 1991, however MLB officers have instructed Shapiro there’s no timeline for that to occur.

As Shapiro famous, MLB’s involvement within the upcoming Los Angeles Olympics might have an enormous say on how and if the 2028 All-Star Game unfolds. Under these circumstances, the Blue Jays may need to attend till 2029 or later.

“It’s been put, frankly, on maintain because of the Olympics,” Shapiro mentioned. “Things keep coming up that keep pushing us a little bit further in the queue. But we have an application in. We’re going to have an All-Star Game here. It’s just a question of when. But things have pushed it back, whether it’s the U.S. celebration for Philadelphia (this summer), things have just conspired to kind of push us back a little further.”

Toronto hasn’t hosted World Baseball Classic video games since 2009, however the Blue Jays want to see that change. Asked whether or not Rogers Centre might host a part of a future event, Shapiro answered with out hesitation: “Yes.”

“We’ve lobbed that interest,” he added. “It’d be great for the city.”

Some logistical considerations would exist, as there’s no apparent alternate web site for groups to coach on days they aren’t taking part in video games, which happen in March when it’s usually chilly outdoors in Toronto. 

The Blue Jays are spending to historic ranges with an opening-day payroll of roughly $318 million, in response to Roster Resource. Asked whether or not he expects to have the ability to maintain a equally substantial payroll in years to return, Shapiro pointed to their previous couple of seasons.

“The question is best answered by the recent precedent,” he replied. “We do have a budget every year when we go in. We do go through the process of looking at where our major-league payroll is and where it could go. But we also are given, from Edward (Rogers) and from Tony Staffieri (the president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., which also owns Sportsnet), a clear mandate that if there’s an opportunity to make this club meaningfully better, bring it to them. You’ve seen the outcome of that, whether it’s the trade deadline or the off-season, that we’ve been greenlit to go and pursue some upper-level talent that has impacted and helped in many ways … That’s the mandate. The mandate’s still there. The desire from ownership is to win.”

For context, the Blue Jays spent $258 million on payroll in 2023, $234 million in 2024 and $286 million final 12 months, in response to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

When the subject of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got here up, Shapiro in contrast the primary baseman to Hall of Fame outfielder Kirby Puckett, who hit .318 with an .837 OPS in 12 seasons with the Twins. 

“Kirby made it better for every single person to come to the ballpark,” Shapiro mentioned. “Whether it was the equipment manager, the groundskeeper, or the starting third baseman. Everybody, every single person, enjoyed coming more because of Kirby. He had that energy, and Vlad, he has that same joyful exuberance, love of the game, joy in playing the game. So I think the power that he brings (is) a joy of playing the game of baseball. That impacts us more powerfully. And if that never changes, then that will be his greatest impact on this team and on this franchise and on his fan base because they feel it. It’s authentic, it’s genuine, and I do think that he’s thinking about leadership differently.”