Blue Jays' postseason run motivates big offseason moves for Toronto

The Blue Jays were "supposed" to finish dead-last in the AL East. Instead, they came one Miguel Rojas home run away from winning their first World Series in more than three decades.

And on top of that, they've had one of the best off-season's of all, signing Dylan Cease, Tyler Rogers and Cody Ponce after having Shane Bieber opt in on one more year.

Funny to think they opened the 2025 season facing questions of whether they should just trade away Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who at that time was an impending free agent and not the franchise cornerstone signed through 2039 that he is today.

Both Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins have now signed multiple long-term extensions to remain in place as the top decision-makers for the Blue Jays.

Shapiro is now locked in through the 2030 season. Atkins signed a five-year extension back in 2021 and is currently signed through the end of the 2026 campaign.

Given the Blue Jays' run to Game 7 of the World Series, it stands to reason that Atkins could be in line for an extension of his own at some point in the coming months.

Under Shapiro and Atkins, the Jays have won 89 or more games in four of the past five seasons.

They hadn't had any playoff success except for the 2016 season, though that was a largely inherited club from the prior regime.

However, the Blue Jays broke through in a major way in 2025 when they toppled the Yankees and Mariners in the ALDS and ALCS before coming just two outs away from the franchise's first World Series victory since the 1992-93 repeat.

Ownership's decision to commit to another extension with Shapiro is both a vote of confidence in the team's current core and vision, as well as a signal that Toronto will be continuing in win-now mode for the foreseeable future.