TORONTO, ON - MARCH 30: General manager Ross Atkins of the Toronto Blue Jays looks up during batting practice before the start of MLB game action against the Detroit Tigers at Rogers Centre on March 30, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
When Ross Atkins first joined the Toronto Blue Jays as general manager back in late 2015, he inherited a more veteran ball club that had been built by the previous front office to go all-in for the postseason.
While the Blue Jays would end up falling short of a World Series berth, the team began to change course just one year into his managerial tenure, with the organization’s managerial team focusing on securing younger players and letting the veteran players walk either by free agency or trade, officially entering a rebuild in the process.