Ross Atkins did not dismiss rumors of the Blue Jays’ interest in him. This is why:
This is a story that the Toronto GM could have nipped in the bud, but one he instead allowed to branch out and take on more life than it already had.
Ross Atkins didn’t come out and directly say the Blue Jays are taking a run at signing star free agent Shohei Ohtani, but he didn’t dismiss the idea either. That might have provided a hint about his ambitious plans for the off-season.
General managers typically don’t comment on free agents, at least not on the record. There’s nothing to be gained by publicly speaking about ongoing negotiations or upcoming meetings. Relevant questions are always asked by reporters, they’re just typically met with non-answers.
Still, whenever a front office executive wants to get a message across, he or she can find ways to do so without specifically referencing the player. For Ohtani, that could be done either by mentioning payroll parameters or the need to use available resources to fill multiple holes instead of focusing on one.
In other words, it’s possible to issue a no comment while simultaneously shooting down a rumour. Atkins essentially did that in his handling of the Bo Bichette trade rumours during Tuesday’s media availability with the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. What’s notable is he declined to do the same for Ohtani.
“We have an incredible opportunity here,” Atkins said, referencing his pitch to free agents. “The city, the country, the support of ownership, the winning environment, the (Rogers Centre) renovations that have occurred, the buy-in on so many levels for us to continue building upon something that is very strong. That has been very attractive over the last several years and we expect it to (continue).”
Atkins’ media availability opened with a question about the Jays’ interest in Ohtani. Predictably, the eighth-year GM declined to get into specifics before talking positivity about the players already in place and opportunities to make the roster better.
What followed were a series general questions about free agency, a common tactic reporters use to coax additional information out of an interview subject. If Atkins can’t talk specifically about Ohtani, the thinking is maybe he’ll provide a clue when asked about payroll or areas of need.
From Atkins’ perspective, it’s an opportunity to manage expectations. While GMs don’t want to respond to every rumour, they’re forced to do so occasionally because of the impact it can have on a clubhouse or fan base. There’s no benefit to letting people get worked up over signing a player like Ohtani, if the possibility never existed. That just leads to false hope, which would soon be followed by anger.
