OK, Blue Jays? No more than OK, when compared to Cleveland

Over the years Toronto Blue Jays fans have rarely regarded Mark Shapiro (President of Blue Jays since the fall of 2015) as either very likeable or very competent. He began his tenure with the Jays by not doing enough to convince genius-General Manager Alex Antholoulos to remain with the team, and the Blue Jays have enjoyed little playoff success since. Things have finally taken a turn for the better in the 2025 season; the Jays won their division and are currently up 2 games to none over the Yankees in the Divisional Series. It was with that recent success in mind that Globe and Mail sports columnist Cathal Kelly came to Shapiro’s defence a few days ago. That prompted the letter below, comparing the performance of the Blue Jays and the Cleveland Indians/Guardians. (I’ve been a fan of the Guardians since April 2024, when Maureen and I visited Cleveland to see the eclipse, and to watch a couple of baseball games.) I wrote a similar letter to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, concluding that, if any management team deserves congratulations on their team’s success over the past decade, it is surely Antonetti and Chernoff and Francona and Vogt of the Indians/Guardians.

[The letter was published in a slightly edited version in the 7 October issue of the Globe.]

Re “Shapiro may have the last laugh” (October 3): Of Mark Shapiro and the Toronto Blue Jays, Cathal Kelly writes this: “the only measure of success is success. He has provided it.”

But how much of it? From November 2001 to 2015 Mark Shapiro was at first GM and then President of the Cleveland Indians; the team made the playoffs just three times in those fifteen years. In the ten years since he left Cleveland, the Indians/Guardians have made the playoffs seven times (under President Chris Antonetti, GM Mike Chernoff, and managers Terry Francona and Stephen Vogt). The Blue Jays under Shapiro (together with General manager Ross Atkins and Managers Charlie Montoyo and John Schneider) have made the playoffs just five times over the same period—even though the Toronto payroll is more than double the Cleveland payroll.

And Alex Antholoulos, the GM who Shapiro didn’t manage to retain in 2015? He has since been GM of the Dodgers and Braves; his teams have made the playoffs nine times in those same ten years.

Maureen at Progressive Field, Cleveland, April 2024

Maureen at Progressive Field, Cleveland (2), April 2024

Other Guards fans at Progressive Field, April 2024

Family (Francesco, Blake, Brian, Jenny, Naomi, Nick, Fran, Dominic, me) and others in crowd, Blue Jays vs. Rays at the Skydome, 3 September 2018

Me, holding a Stubby Clapp sign, 3 September 2018 at the Skydome. By September of 2018 it was clear the Blue Jays would not resign John Gibbons as manager for the 2019 season; I was among those who thought that Canadian Stubby Clapp, who had been on Canada’s team several times in the World Baseball Classic and who in 2018 had just managed the Triple A Memphis Redbirds to consecutive Pacific Coast League championships, should get the Blue Jays’ manager’s job. (Instead, the job went to Charlie Montoya; Clapp was hired as first-base coach by the St. Louis Cardinals.)