‘Patience is the best strategy’
Blue Jays GM says team will make more moves before season begins
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.
Or, in Ross Atkins’ case, you make a deal to bring versatile infielder Yangervis Solarte to the Blue Jays.
Atkins laughs thinking back on how he wrapped up the recent trade, which saw the Jays give up two minor-league prospects, outfielder Edward Olivares and right-handed pitcher Jared Carkuff in exchange for Solarte, whom the Jays hope will solidify the infield this season.
Atkins said the Solarte deal gained momentum just before Christmas and really started coming together when the Toronto general manager and his family were travelling back from Vancouver this past Friday night after visiting his wife’s family in Washington state. They landed at Pearson airport shortly after a Sunwing aircraft collided on the ground with a West-Jet plane, causing chaos and panic and sending a firefighter to hospital.
“We sat on the tarmac for three hours and that’s where I did the deal,” Atkins said.
“And we were not in first class,” he added.
The Solarte swap was finished via text and old-fashioned phone conversation. Anybody sitting near Atkins would have gotten the scoop.
“And then my phone died,” Atkins said with a laugh. “The plane didn’t have internet, so I switched over to my wife’s phone and that was a bit confusing, and I’m also communicating with guys in my office at the time.”
Because of the collision, everyone’s luggage was late getting off the aircraft. Atkins finalized the deal — medicals were processed, the players involved were informed, etc. — Saturday on zero sleep. The Jays then held a conference call with local media Saturday night and Atkins sounded completely wiped.
“I was,” he said. “But it’s all good.”
There has been a lot of talk in the baseball world that Solarte is a much-underrated player and the Jays might have got a gem in the deal. The problem, however, could be that Jays manager John Gibbons might find himself performing a juggling act to keep all the infielders happy if shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and second baseman Devon Travis come out of spring training healthy.
Atkins reiterated Monday that both are doing very well in their recovery from 2017 injuries. Tulowitzki played in only 66 games because of hamstring and ankle injuries, while Travis underwent surgery on his right knee. The Jays also acquired major league infielders Gift Ngoepe and Aledmys Diaz in November and December, respectively.
“We’ll see,” Atkins said when asked about a possible logjam in the infield. “Let’s see what our roster looks like when we start the season. That will be a better time to work through that because right now there’s still work to be done on what the final 25man and 40-man (rosters) look like to start the year. Health will be a factor, the rest of our acquisitions will be a factor. And then we’ll see. But having depth and having those challenges is where we want to be.”
Atkins reiterated that the Jays are looking to add more this offseason and it seems likely the club will acquire a major league outfielder before the start of the 2018 campaign.
“I’m confident that we will add significant pieces,” he said. “There’s a lot of different ways to make our team better.”
Atkins said he understands the angst Jays fans are feeling. Though the addition of Solarte is significant, the Jays haven’t made that huge splash yet, while AL East rival New York Yankees added NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton and the Boston Red Sox are poised to make a big move or two. Both clubs finished ahead of Toronto in the 2017 standings.
Atkins, who was hired by the Blue Jays in December 2015, is urging patience.
“Let’s see how our off-season is when it’s over,” he said. “And over is kind of halfway through spring training. Let’s see where we are halfway through spring training or at the start of spring training before we really assess our off-season.
“Every off-season, every market, every player, every team is different. Given our situation, we feel as though patience is the best strategy for us to maximize our opportunities. But let’s have that discussion. Being critical of (what we’ve done up to this point), that’s absolutely fine. But I think it’s a better discussion and argument to have when we’re closer to the start of the season.”