Toronto Blue Jays to have resources
The Toronto Blue Jays found themselves in a bit of an odd situation when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They had a young team that was still likely a couple of years away from legitimately competing for the division or World Series title, but still had plenty of talent to boast about.
When Major League Baseball announced that they would expand their playoff format in 2020 to allow for eight teams from both the American League and National League to qualify, Toronto knew they had to do something immediately. They made trades to improve their squad and bolster their pitching by acquiring the likes of Taijuan Walker, Robbie Ray and Ross Stripling at the end of August to help the club qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2017.
It worked, as the Blue Jays exceeded most people’s expectations by reaching the playoffs. While they were ultimately swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card round, young players still gained the valuable experience of playing in the playoffs and knowing what it feels like to be in a race to qualify.
Toronto is not going to stop building for the future though as they look to continue to develop their roster of talented youngsters. On Wednesday, the Blue Jays’ president and CEO Mark Shapiro confirmed the team is going to continue the path they have started on and that he expects the resources that he needs to be there from team ownership.
“Every indication has been very strongly that they expect us to continue to pursue where we need to add to our core, continue to pursue players this off-season,” Shapiro said on a Zoom call with local media, via Sportsnet. “That takes two parties, not just us, but also the players we’re pursuing. But I think the resources are going to be there. If we think the right deals are there and we make those recommendations, the resources are going to be there for us to add in a meaningful way.”
The Blue Jays deserve even more credit for reaching the playoffs in 2020 considering they could not play home games in Toronto. With the Canadian government keeping the boarder to the United States closed, the team were forced to play their home games in Buffalo. The Buffalo Bisons are the Blue Jays’ Triple A affiliate, so many players who had come up through the team’s system were already familiar with the city and stadium. Still, it was not an easy process by any stretch of the imagination as the team waited in limbo until they received confirmation they could even play in Buffalo.
It remains to be seen whether the Canadian government will allow the Blue Jays to return to Toronto in 2021 so they could play games at their own stadium the Rogers Centre. However, even if the team cannot return home there seems to be a clear plan in place for the future of the club and the direction that the franchise is headed.
