What to watch for when Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro addresses media, fans

Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro doesn't often make himself available to the public, leaving communing with the media to GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider.

When he does speak, it's often to discuss high-level information about things like stadium renovations and updates on the team's complex in Dunedin.

On Thursday, Shapiro is scheduled to speak, and while there may be content related to Rogers Centre's 2024 alterations, he'll also field questions about his team's direction after another year without postseason progress.

Here are a few things to keep an eye on as the head of the Blue Jays front office speaks on a frustrating season that ended on a sour note:

Is everyone keeping their jobs?

General manager Ross Atkins has said that manager John Schneider will be back, but there's still uncertainty around the rest of the coaching staff.

There's also an extremely remote possibility that Shapiro dismisses Atkins from his role on account of his failure to take accountability for the José Berríos-Yusei Kikuchi debacle, and the perception that he threw Schneider under the bus. That would put Schneider's job — among plenty of other things — into question.

Plenty of the Blue Jays fanbase would be receptive to this outcome, but it seems extremely unlikely.

Shapiro isn't known for rash, reactionary decision-making and Atkins is the general manager he chose. Rightly or wrongly, he will almost certainly perceive the current PR mess as a passing thing.

Will there be more accountability around the Berríos-Kikuchi decision?

No one has really owned the Blue Jays decision to yank Berríos in the fourth inning of their final playoff loss against the Minnesota Twins. While it was far from the only reason the team failed to advance in the postseason, it is something that won't soon be forgotten.

Schneider was on the vague side immediately following the debacle, saying the team had "a few plans in place" for the game and that you could "second-guess him, second-guess the organization, second-guess anybody." That's not a total abdication of responsibility — but it's hardly the skipper claiming it was his call in no uncertain terms.

Meanwhile, Atkins said he was "surprised" by the move, which might be true in an extremely literal sense, but strains credulity in a wider one.

Shapiro doesn't necessarily want to get into the business of pointing fingers, but it also wouldn't be wise to let outrage linger. Expect the president to say something vague about a collaborative process, but it would be interesting if he was willing to get more specific.

Will we learn more about how the front office, manager collaborate on in-game tactics?

Speaking of collaboration, even if Shapiro is reluctant to speak in particulars about the now-infamous decision, he may shed more light on the process the team uses to make in-game decisions.

This is a delicate dance because it wouldn't be a good look to imply his manager isn't emboldened to make his own calls — something there's been plenty of speculation about lately.

At the same time, this front office is nothing if not process-oriented, and Shapiro may feel he can offer some clarity in a way that improves consumer confidence. Considering that confidence is extremely low at the moment, he might not have much to lose.

Was there an organizational emphasis on contact and opposite-field hitting in 2023?

And, if so, is it expected to remain in 2024?

One of the biggest reasons the Blue Jays offence produced disappointing results in 2023 was a lack of power, which was surprising given the personnel in the building.

Switching out Teoscar Hernández and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for Kevin Kiermaier and Daulton Varsho was always going to be a power downgrade, but established sluggers like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer underwhelmed, and Toronto went from seventh in the majors in home runs in 2022 to 16th in 2023.

At the same time, the team hit balls the opposite way at the second-highest rate in MLB (26.2%). Paired with the sixth-lowest strikeout rate in the majors (20.9%), the picture was painted of a team that craved contact and was willing to sacrifice power.

The numbers aren't entirely illuminating on this point as the Blue Jays were a low strikeout team that ranked sixth in the majors in opposite-field hitting in 2022. So, they didn't go from a team of Jose Bautista clones to a group of Alejandro Kirk types overnight.

That said, while Shapiro isn't equipped to speak on all on-field matters with the Blue Jays, things like organizational philosophies are within his wheelhouse.

Did Rogers Centre play as expected in 2023 — and if not is there any known reason why?

Following a series of renovations that affected Roger Centre's dimensions and wall height, the ballpark played as far more a pitcher's park than it had in the past.

Only six MLB parks were more unfavourable for offence in 2023, according to Statcast, and the Blue Jays struggled to make much at home offensively.

Toronto scored just 4.22 runs per game at home during the regular season with an OPS of .723. Both of those marks were in the bottom third of the majors. Meanwhile, on the road the team scored 4.99 runs per game with an OPS of .765. Those numbers ranked seventh and fifth in MLB, respectively.

When looking at park factors even a full season represents a relatively small sample, but the Blue Jays had profound struggles scoring at home in 2023, and the organization should have a handle on why that is.

Is payroll likely to increase after the highest attendance since 2017?

While baseball executives tend to be intentionally vague on matters of payroll, it is worth wondering if increased attendance led to enough of a revenue spike to impact on-field spending.

The Blue Jays payroll has consistently jumped in recent years, and it's unclear where the ceiling is for this franchise. Shapiro won't want to explicitly say he expects a higher payroll in 2024 because he doesn't want to affect the team's bargaining position with players in the offseason — but suggesting it might shrink would not go over well.

Expect a wishy-washy statement about spending enough to be competitive and staying in the range of 2023. If Shapiro explicitly says the team will allocate more money to its roster in 2024, it's a sign he's hoping for a PR win.