OverDrive - Atkins on the Blue Jays' season outlook, the additions to the roster and Guerrero Jr.'s contract perspective

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

Toronto Blue Jays General Manager Ross Atkins joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the Blue Jays, the overview of the roster entering the season, the additions to the team, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s contract negotiations and the importance of an extension, the strength of the rotation, the success of the Blue Jays' organization and more.

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Thanks for having me on, guys. Good to be back. Yeah, thank you for doing this. Yeah, it's good to have you back. As you know, I just referenced, you guys haven't started the season at home in a long time. Is this unique for you now or what? It's always on the road. It feels good.

Yeah, it feels good with the pandemic hitting us two years and then the renovations. It has been a while. So it's a much better transition and a lot more excitement around opening day when it is at home, fired up especially for the first year guys. But yeah, fired up for Bow and Blatty too because it's special for them, guys that have been here like Alejandro and Varsh and George and Jose. So it'll be a big day tomorrow.

Looking forward to it. Ross, before we get ranting and raving on this show on a daily basis, why don't you give us some expectations this year so we know what we're getting into? Like what do you think is reasonable for the Jays heading into this season? Yeah, I mean more raving than ranting. I would say. Okay. I like it. Alright.

No, I'd say it feels good. We've, you know, the team's had some success. This group that's been together for a while has had some success and we had a, a brutal year last year and they seem to have grown from it and, you know, getting spit out of the playoffs a couple of times, having some crash landings has, has just made us a little bit better and a little bit stronger. And then to come in after a trade deadline of acquiring some good players that has risen the floor and added depth, really good stories out of Vladian Bowden and Ernie Clement last year.

Bringing in guys like Alan Roden to start the season, Will Wagner on the roster is exciting and then of course the off-season acquisitions that are bullpen ads and Anthony Santander, Andres Jimenez, Max Scherzer, those are really exciting pieces to add to that group and they've transitioned well. I think there's a there is a difference when guys have some link to their contracts that come in and immediately fit in and they're thinking about team, they're thinking about winning and all players always do have that on some part of their windshield and hopefully it's just taking up more of their windshields because in our view it takes a little pressure off when you focus on winning and focus on the team.

Ross, you talked about length of the contract. You signed Alejandro Kirk to a five-year extension. Was that the right wheelhouse as far as term and money to fit for both sides, or what was the thought process of locking him up that long? Yeah, I mean, that's what it takes, right? It takes both sides aligning on the value. And when you can find the shared risk

is when extensions happen. It's hard to do free agent deals on uh... with extension dialogue and with a la hondra with it it lined up uh... there's a couple other guys looking for extensions right now ross and i know you're aware of who they would be and that would be gladi and bichette i saw your presser down at the roger center earlier this afternoon and i heard you speaking spanish

and are you fluent in spanish like what what's the story there now i i mean i i i grew up in miami i played baseball in venezuela and spain and i've all you know i do speak spanish but i don't call myself fluent i can speak baseball and i can get by uh... problem you're not gonna uh... host a talk show or sell. You got to order drinks in Spanish.

He knows the swear word. If you order a drink in Spanish, man, you got some action play in there. I like that play. Big time with Ross Atkins. So obviously, you're being asked a million times about Vladimir in the future and and you know, nothing's nothing's done yet But I want to ask you about you know His his role in this in the process that he has decided to take in terms of speaking, you know He's done some interviews. He's gone out of his way in my opinion to say don't forget the Yankees

I'll speak with the Yankees next summer And you know the Red Sox and he's on on Instagram liking pictures of him in a Red Sox uniform and him in a Yankee uniform. How have you reacted to those actions and to Vladi, his approach to all of this? Yeah, it's interesting because obviously you would always prefer that things stay the more private the better. But I think the world of Vladi, my interactions with him are very productive. They're very warm.

We obviously have feedback for him at times that isn't so warm, whether that be talking about baseball or just how we can be better. But it comes from such a good place. There's no doubt in my mind that Vladdy wants to be a Blue J. And that's the most important thing to us. And hopefully we'll be able to line up and share some of that risk with him,

as I mentioned about Alejandro. So the word risk, can you give us any more detail to what that means from your standpoint? Like is that about team building? Is that about budget? Is that the owner? Yeah what that means from your standpoint? Is that about team building? Is that about budget? Is that the owner? Yeah.

What does that mean? There's another year to play. It's different to use free agent values and it's just to talk about extension is one aspect of it. Free agency is very different than an extension deal because there's other suitors and there's momentum and there's things you can't account or control for. So trying to line up on objective values is how extensions happen. And sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. So it really just comes down to what the value we think is fair and reasonable and whether

or not that lines up. Will you possibly... If you're taking on more, then you're taking on too much risk. Absolutely. And could the way you define risk be affected by the way he plays this year? Well, everything matters. risk be affected by the way he plays this year? Well everything matters. Everything's information, performance matters.

There's nothing that we're not going to factor into the decision. With Ross Atkins, in free agency you landed Max Scherzer. He's broken camp with you, he's up here, I think he's slated to start the third game of the series against the Orioles Where do we stand here with you know with his thumb with with his body holding up because I know a lot of people in Toronto a lot of blue jay fans could not wait to see him pitch and you know dying to see him live I think you're gonna get a lot of fans went lining up for road trips if they know he's You know slotted to pitch in Detroit or Cleveland, Seattle, whatever. Where do things stand with Max and how confident are you that you can

get close to a full season of production out of him? I feel very good. I'm very glad that he's here. His performance has been ridiculous. He has absolutely dominated every hitter he's faced in spring. His recovery has been ridiculous. He has absolutely dominated every hitter he's faced in spring. And his recovery has been as we expected. As he's communicated, we knew it wasn't going to be perfect, but he's found ways to recover and we expect that to continue. And in the event that we need to be careful or cautious, we'll try to be proactive with that. But we feel like he's in a good place. He's very honest with us, obviously, about how he's feeling, and we'll try to be proactive in managing it.

And you guys, you know, as a group, yourself and Mark, your staff, you've always invested heavily in the rotation. And you look at the way your rotation stacks up. I was having a chat earlier this afternoon. Steve Phillips was saying he thinks you've got the best rotation in the American league East and other teams in the East have taken hits whether it's via free agency or injuries. And I'm curious how you look at, you know, presuming health, Gozman, Bassett, Scherzer,

you know, Francis, is he, if he pitches like he did in August and September, you've got an ace on your hands there. But how do you think your rotation stacks up and how important is it for them to set the tone for this? We focus so much on offense and run production, you're bullpen turning things around after last year. But how much of just getting the ball rolling is reliant on your rotation doing what you believe they can do?

I do think it is very important and we have put a lot of resources into it and we also have some exciting arms coming healthy that hopefully will be in the fold here in the second half of the season and certainly beyond that. But my view on that is guys who have been successful and reliable and dependable and still have very good weapons have an openness to evolving that you're going to put yourself in a very good position. And we've seen that with Jose making adjustments this off season. Kevin Gossman had an electric spring. His stuff was more than effective.

Bowden's last two outings were the Bowden we saw in August and September, as we've already talked about Scherzer and Bassett was extremely effective over the course of spring. The thing that I fall back on with them, and it's something that Pat Gillick talked about for years, is dependable and reliable, and they are that with openness to improve and their weapons are not showing decline. So those are all good signs for us. How often are your starting pitchers even bullpen arms? Curious about how the rest of the roster is going to play out. In other words, you've got Varsha on the IL to start the season. You've probably got youth playing third base.

It sounds like we're not quite certain who's going to play left field every day. How important is it for the staff to kind of have some familiarity and understanding that they're going to get defensive help on a daily basis? Yeah, part of it, I think that's been a big selling point for us. Over the years, we've been a very good defensive team and just gotten better and better the last two years with the team gold glove We add vars back into that fold will be an electric defense having added andres jimenez to it And I think that was attractive to max scherzer

and it is something that you know, we we lean into and it's something that is important that they Uh, you know understand what is behind them and that they can trust what's behind them With ross akins, I mentioned I think just prior to having you on your you know Obviously you guys are starting at home and that's a big benefit and you got a couple of series to kick-start things But your your first six weeks is is crazy When the schedule came out you got Baltimore twice Boston twice you go into New York to play the Mets into New York to play The Yankees at Houston You got the Braves in town

Like when you look at the scat obviously you're happy to start at home But did you have to send an email to Rob Manfred and say what's happening here? Like this is a really crazy start you got and I get it feels like a sink or swim almost by May 1st I mean, I don't want to be too hyperbbolic but this is a big big star for your club yeah it is it seems like it always is in the al east uh... that the balance schedule we're not benefiting too much from in our start because of the other opponents that you mentioned that were playing

uh... but you know i we we really don't focus on that. We focus on things we can control. It's not something that's daunting to our players at all. Just, you know, it's something that we, as I said, just can't control and embrace the challenge of it. Ross, I was listening this morning as well, and one of the questions was asked, like, it was just about the criticism. If you, like, how do you enjoy this on a day-to-day basis?

How do you go about doing it? Is it like for a general manager in this position in big league sports, the only way to truly enjoy it to the top level is winning the ultimate prize? Well, certainly that is our goal. But I enjoy every single day. I don't enjoy losing. That is extremely painful for me. It hits me extremely hard. But as we ask of our players, we have to learn to deal with ups. We have to learn to deal with downs. And I am very fortunate and I'm honored to come to work with a great deal

of responsibility every day to do everything in my power to compete at a sport at the highest level and I embrace that every day and feel very fortunate with a great deal of joy. How much comfort do you take in the familiarity around you that John Schneider is now into I think year three here, Mark's been here the whole time, the ownership has not changed. There's been a lot of consistency and Mark Shapiro has spoken about that, that he's a believer in consistency. Does that allow you to breathe easier? Does it affect your mentality on a daily basis?

How do you respond to that? Yeah, I mean my heart palpitations are probably at, you know, varying between as high as they could possibly be or breathing easy is not something that, you know, we're extremely driven and extremely competitive and that comes with pressure and that comes with stress and emotion. But the people around me is exactly what gives me confidence. Not necessarily peace and just knowing that things will work out, but it gives me confidence and working with Pete Walker for every day that I've been here.

John Schneider has been here every day that I've been here. John Schneider has been here every day that I've been here just in different roles. And there's a long list that we have a great group we've added to the group and our hitting coaches and our pitching staff that supports Pete this year. They've transitioned incredibly well. Having DiMarlo and Donny Hale, our baseball ops, adding David Bell and James Click to it. There's so much, you know, just bandwidth and power, brain power here that I get better every day. I learn from the group that I'm working with and I do feel very fortunate.

Opening days, it's always a blast. It'll be fun tomorrow. It'll be electric downtown, walking into the park. It'll be a packed house and it's a marathon from there. So enjoy it, Ross, and we appreciate you doing this today. Thank you. Yeah, thanks guys, thanks Hayes, thanks for having me on. You got it, there he is, Ross Atkins.

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