Ross Atkins Salary: Ross Atkins discusses the Blue Jays’ payroll, upcoming free agents, Nate Pearson, and other topics. The off-season has officially begun with Ross Atkins’ end-of-season media availability on Wednesday. Atkins discussed a number of topics, including the team’s Payroll situation moving forward, a desire to re-sign all three of the major pending free agents, and areas where the team can improve heading into next season.
Let’s get started: Payroll, free agent re-signings, and contract renewals…
Atkins didn’t go into great detail about the team’s financial condition this offseason, but he did add that “we’re in a pretty strong position” in terms of both payroll flexibility and the ability to offer prospects the opportunity to acquire talent through trade. Extensions for the young core, and the future status of both Bo Bichette and Nate Pearson. Currently, the Blue Jays have only four players on their payroll for the 2022 season: George Springer, Hyun Jin Ryu, Randal Grichuk, and Lourdes Gurriel, who cost a total of $58,000,000.
There are a few players that are eligible for arbitration, most notably Vladimir Guererro Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez, so that number will undoubtedly grow once their new contracts are finalized. When questioned about re-signing core players to long-term contracts, Atkins stated the possibility is open and something the team is “always” considering. He also mentioned that these types of chats are easier to conduct during the off-season than during the regular season when players are preoccupied with game preparation and don’t want to be distracted.
14-year contract of $340 million
Fernando Tatis Jr. was signed to a hefty 14-year contract of $340 million by the Padres last winter. It was the longest contract ever signed in Major League Baseball, surpassing Giancarlo Stanton’s and Bryce Harper’s 13-year contracts, and it was the richest contract ever granted to a player before they were eligible for arbitration. Tatis debuted in the league as a 20-year-old in 2019, with a.317/.379/.969 slash line in 84 games. He followed that up with a.277/.366/.937 line in 59 games in 2020.
This winter, Vladdy will be eligible for arbitration for the first time, while Bichette will be eligible next season. I believe Vladdy is more likely to sign a long-term contract this winter, but it wouldn’t surprise me if both of them did. Later on, I’ll go into more detail on Bo. With that offense and a solid glove, San Diego was able to recoup their $340 million investment after Tatis had only played 143 major league games. Despite the fact that Atkins didn’t go into great depth regarding Toronto’s two major impending free agents soon-to-be AL Cy Young champion Robbie Ray and soon-to-be AL MVP finalist Marcus Semien he did state that the team intends to keep in touch with both players once they enter the open market.
Atkins also stated that the Blue Jays are interested in re-signing Steven Matz, another potential free agent. A qualifying offer is available to all three. The Blue Jays reportedly shelved a contract extension offer to Semien during the season and we’re about to do the same with Ray, according to sources from September. After their incredible seasons, both players are expected to test the open market to see what they can get, and we won’t see either of them signed until the league and the Players’ Association reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The Blue Jays have signed GM Ross Atkins
9:32 a.m: According to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, Atkins’ deal starts at the end of this season and runs through the 2022-26 seasons. He now has a one-year contract, one year longer than Shapiro. The Blue Jays announced on Wednesday that general manager Ross Atkins has been extended for another five years. The length of Atkins’ last contract was not made public, however, he did sign a new extension in June 2019. This new five-year deal clarifies Atkins’ contractual standing and ensures that he and president Mark Shapiro, who was recently extended through the 2025 season, will continue to lead Blue Jay’s operations for the foreseeable future.
Atkins has led Toronto’s baseball operations department for the past five years after being named as the team’s general manager in December 2015. From 2017 through 2019, the Jays struggled as Atkins, Shapiro, and the rest of the front office attempted to flip over the farm system and put together a foundation on which they could develop. According to Baseball America and The Athletic, the Jays have the third-best farm system in the league. The results of their efforts to reload the farm began to show in 2020 when the Jays earned a postseason berth in the expanded field from last year.
With players like Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Teoscar Hernandez coming together in the big leagues, the Blue Jays began replenishing their core on the free-agent market heading into the 2020 season. Hyun Jin Ryu signed a four-year, $80 million deal to lead a rotation that included highly touted pitching prospect Nate Pearson, and the Jays made an even bigger splash this offseason when they signed George Springer to the richest contract in franchise history: a six-year, $150 million deal.
Guerrero, Rowdy Tellez, and Danny Jansen were all added to the current roster before Atkins was hired. As with most front-office shuffles, the previous group set some groundwork that continues to affect the club’s long-term strategy and provides some continuity from regime to regime. Tony LaCava, for example, was an assistant general manager under Alex Anthopoulos and is now a major figure in the present group (senior vice president of player personnel).
Atkins has Definitely Earned Ownership’s Trust
Hernandez’s acquisition from the Astros in exchange for Francisco Liriano is arguably Atkins’ most prominent trade win, but major foreign additions like Gurriel and Alejandro Kirk have already begun to give value at the MLB level. Time will tell if the Springer investment pays off, but the Ryu investment has so far paid well, and it’s hard to argue with a one-year deal for a player of Marcus Semien’s level. There have been blunders along the way — the Randal Grichuk trade worked out well; his extension did not — but Atkins has definitely earned ownership’s trust and is now being rewarded for his efforts with a long deal.
Despite the Jays’ recent buying spree, the inexpensive nature of their young core allows them to remain aggressive in the market next winter. Despite a very poor rotation makeup, the Jays’ expenditures came to a halt this winter. However, the Jays have only committed approximately $65 million to the 2022 roster so far, and Hernandez (who’ll earn a raise from this year’s $4.325 million contract) and Guerrero (who’ll be arb-eligible for the first time) appears to be the only significant arbitration rises on the docket.
The Blue Jays aren’t considered division favorites in 2021, but they do have one of the best farm systems in baseball, a solid core of young, controllable big leaguers to build around, and significant budget flexibility heading into a historically strong free-agent class next winter. The future appears to be promising. Ross Atkins was born on 7 August 1973 in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, and is an American baseball executive.
