Montoyo pitches in to sell young Jays to top free agents
When the Toronto Blue Jays hired Charlie Montoyo in October of 2018 to be the team's manager, they did so with an emphasis on his accomplished past in player development.
Those skills figured to fit in well with the young prospects about to emerge on the team, and so far, so good in that regard. But now you can add the role of highend recruiter to his job description, a role that Montoyo clearly relishes.
Speaking via Zoom from his off-season home in Arizona on Friday, the soon to be third-year manager certainly sounded like an all-star pitchman when describing his involvement in the front office's attempt to woo high-impact free agents this winter.
“I love talking about my team and how exciting this team is,” Montoyo said when describing his role on the elaborate Zoom calls the Jays have been having with potential acquisitions.
“I feel like, when those calls are over, I've got to go run five miles because I'm so excited about our team and the people I work for.
“And the beautiful thing is, they know about that already. They've seen our team play last year. They know how exciting our team is.”
Fair to say that Montoyo's enthusiasm is appreciated as the Jays' front office works to build a compelling case for free agents to come here for 2021 and beyond. That upbeat sell from the manager complements the opinions players around the league have formed on their own after watching a high-profile core of young players that has already elevated the Jays' profile.
For all the good the Jays can put forth in their pitch, Montoyo says there is one universal amber light for each free agent the team approaches.
“The No. 1 question is if we're going to play in Toronto, and that's rightly so,” Montoyo said. “Our answer is: `We're hoping so.'”
To help offset that vague response — and let's face it, any agent doing his job will get up to speed quickly on the COVID-19 challenges faced by the Canadian team — the Jays' approach has to be creative and forceful.
The exile to Buffalo was one of the big stories of the scattered 2020 season. Baseball players are also sports fans, and they're also well aware the Raptors are based in Tampa for the foreseeable future. So while they can't guarantee they'll be in Toronto for their April 8 scheduled home opener, the team is being as honest as possible about the situation.
Both team president Mark Shapiro and general manager
Ross Atkins remain optimistic that a good portion of the season will be played in Toronto. As much as they can, the Jays make assurances that players and their families will be well taken care of.
“Then (free agents) ask about the border and they ask about their families,” Montoyo said. “That's one of the things Ross and Mark believe in, that families are well taken care of so that players that do come here only have to worry about playing the game, and not the off-the-field stuff.”
Moving to the business at hand, though, the market has been achingly slow moving, leading many in the industry to surmise that the big developments will be pushed into January. The Jays remain linked to most of the top available names.
The rumours that go along with that aggression have created another potential challenge. So just as he is involved in the pursuit of new talent, Montoyo has been active in foisting the love on the current group. When the Jays are linked to trade talks with Cleveland regarding Francisco Lindor, for example, the manager makes sure he's in regular contact with incumbent shortstop, Bo Bichette.
“What I love, and I'm lucky to have the team that I have, is that they just want to win,” Montoyo said. “And that's why they don't have any problem moving around to help the team win.
“When you hear rumours, sometimes I just call guys and tell them they're just rumours.”
As much as the Jays' profile in the off-season has risen by the link to their interest in prominent players such as the Houston Astros' George Springer and DJ Lemahieu of the New York Yankees, among others, the success the young Jays had in 2020 has brought with it elevated expectations. Montoyo said that has had a dual positive effect of firing up the young roster players and helping with the recruiting pitch.
“You know whose fault that is? It's ours, because of how we played,” Montoyo said. “And that's great. Our guys are ready for those expectations.”
As you would expect, Montoyo isn't about to give away any of the front office intel in this most unusual of off-seasons. Given the slow pace of the off-season thus far, it may be a while before we see tangible results to the work that's been done so far.
But the manager relishes his own role, as well as the aggression of the team's overall efforts to make a notable addition this winter.
“It's been exciting. I've been on every call,” Montoyo said. “We're involved with everybody, so we'll see where that goes.”