There’s an adage in political circles that says, “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” Spend too much time attempting to convey nuance and detail, walking someone down a circuitous route to understand your side of the argument, and it is more likely that you’re going lose them than convince them.
Last week, Toronto Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins took to the stage to address the press, and through them, his core constituency, the fans. And his message, so far as there was one, was that everything was fine. Everything went as planned, but also, neither he nor anyone in particular bore any specific responsibility for anything that might have appeared to go wrong.
From the demeanour of the general manager, the fans’ profound disappointment in the Blue Jays’ season — and another spirit-crushing conclusion — seemed not to have pierced the bubble of the front office. After four straight seasons ending in an acutely painful manner, a bland reassurance that all was well wasn’t the response that anyone was seeking.
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This is especially the case after the season came crashing down around three things: A chronically underperforming offence; a too-clever-by-half strategic decision, whose deployment seemed disconnected from the actual game; and baserunning that was equal parts obtuse and overzealous.
For Jays fans, these were not isolated incidents. Rather, they were the summation of a promising season gone awry. Or, maybe more to the point, they were promises broken.
The response from the front office, through Atkins, seemed to show only the vaguest levels of concern over how the wild-card series and the season played out. Moreover, it seemed more oriented toward deflecting blame and minimizing the front office’s role.
The Blue Jays have long preached that they are an organization with a collaborative approach. But Atkins’ responses last week might have served to only heighten the concerns of some fans that this collective approach has as much to do with diffusing blame as it does with building a greater decision-making model.
This all matters to fans because they feel the frustration of the past season, and the growing disgruntlement over a succession of teams that always seemed to stop short of reaching their promise. When the response from the team’s off-field leadership seems aloof and unconcerned, there is a trust that is broken.
These fans are clearly aware of the steep challenges that await in the coming seasons, especially playing in the American League East. Fans see the Baltimore Orioles, whose ascendancy has seen them speed past the Jays. They see the Tampa Bay Rays, who perpetually exceed expectations. And they see the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, who won’t accept the disappointing seasons like the ones they’ve just concluded. Maybe most importantly, they remember how the Jays looked playing against those divisional rivals this past season.
Jays fans just went through a season of torment, wherein the Jays had the most minute margin for error. They never went on an extended run of great play, and seemed built to win (or lose) games 3-2. Every night. It was exhausting, and for much of the season, not especially fun.
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In the face of all of that past displeasure and future disquiet, the current brain trust’s response thus far has been deeply inadequate. And it matters because when the business side of the Blue Jays starts peddling hope for 2024, it will find itself with a far more difficult task, selling to a far more cynical fanbase.
And yes, to be fair, the building block upon which the next team is built will be an 89-win playoff team with arguably the best pitching staff in the big leagues. There may be some offensive upside there too, supposing that there is any urgency to understand and address why the entirety of the roster seemed to underwhelm at the plate.
“Action is eloquence,” Shakespeare once wrote. It’s not what you say you are or what you proclaim to value that matters, it’s what you actually do.
Blue Jays fans have heard a lot of talk in recent years about the team’s organizational commitment to winning. But for many fans to commit their time, energy, attention and dollars to another season of this team, they’ll need something more than platitudes to help seal their trust, and keep their faith.
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