Erie Express is back as Jays, v-p part ways

Business boss Brooks gets push as Jays president Shapiro looks to Cleveland again

A Sportsnet news bulletin from Shi Davidi on Tuesday afternoon originally suggested Blue Jays vicepresident Stephen Brooks had been “dismissed” earlier by Canada’s only major-league ball club. But moments later, the story was changed to read that the senior vice-president of business operations had “resigned.” It’s all semantics. The fact is he’s gone, and not of his own volition.

Even while the team’s website, bluejays.com, was ridiculously resorting to citing “sources” to report the departure of Brooks — and shouldn’t the team know who’s gone on its own site — Sportsnet was updating its report to suggest that the recent Lake Erie Express that has been rumbling northward since the arrival of president Mark Shapiro last November was importing yet another Cleveland Indians executive to replace a homegrown Canadian front-office type.

The newest Jays hire from south of the border is reported to be Andrew Miller (not the pitcher). Miller, 41, has been with the Cleveland organization since 2006 and was most recently promoted by Shapiro in 2013 to the position of senior vice-president of strategy and business analytics. That new title came following two years as assistant to the president.

Earlier on Monday afternoon, prior to the opener of the Yankees series, while walking towards the ballpark, I encountered the popular Brooks as he was about to step into a limousine in front of the Jays’ offices on Bremner Blvd. His own car was in the shop. Clearly he was having a rough day. Brooks did not have much comment about the Sportsnet report, but seemed resigned to his fate (still not confirmed by the club).

He suggested merely that the president had every right to head in another direction.

Brooks, 45, originally joined the Blue Jays as vicepresident of finance in 2009, following five years with Rogers’ other operations.

He was sponsored by the club to Harvard Business School, graduating from the advanced management program in 2013.

Brooks returned to the Jays and ran the business side, complementing Paul Beeston’s strengths, which did not include Brooks’s traits. When it was revealed late in 2014 that Beeston was on his way out as team president, one option would have been to promote Brooks to president on the business side, with GM Alex Anthopoulos running baseball operations. Brooks became much more of a public persona last season, one of the faces of the Blue Jays — at least on the Internet as the team raced down the stretch and into the playoffs.

He was a constant presence on Twitter, patiently explaining team policy with regards to ticketing and other aspects of a special October for the Jays.

He was involved in all aspects of the Jays’ business operation, including the baseball academy, ticket sales, team marketing and spring training in Florida.

He oversaw the installation of the all-dirt infield this season, along with the research on the possibility of real grass being conducted by the University of Guelph. Brooks is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and, like Anthopoulos, is also a Canadian.

Which brings us to the new exec, Miller, and why Shapiro may have felt the need for his special baseball qualifications, instead of those of Brooks, a more traditional side executive.

In his role as Shapiro’s right-hand man with the Indians from 2009 to 2015, Miller was a major contributor in the area of strategic planning and research and analysis in all areas related to business operations. In addition, Miller advised baseball operations on negotiations and strategic issues.

And here is what may be a key: Miller played a key role in the move of the Indians’ spring training operations from Florida to Goodyear, Ariz.

Following the installation of the dirt infield at Rogers Centre and the celebration of the Blue Jays’ 40th anniversary season, the next major project, one near and dear to Shapiro’s red, white and blue heart is dealing with the Blue Jays’ spring training situation and their complex in Dunedin, Fla.

Shapiro met several times with the local politicians this spring and will now have his man to follow up and decide whether it’s feasible to build an all-inclusive major- and minorleague complex up at the Mattick Training Centre, while using the main stadium only for home exhibition games.

Brooks was allowed to carry the organization through their first post-season since 1993. He was the man to mount the season-ticket campaign with raised prices, the one to monitor the infield transformation and oversee the hectic opening weekend versus the Red Sox.

Then, it was thanks for your help and see ya.

Two winters ago, Anthopoulos thought he might sign left-handed free-agent pitcher Andrew Miller. Shapiro apparently has succeeded at doing so.

This soon-to-be-joining-the-Blue-Jays Miller was a college left-hander at Cal-Berkeley for four years.

Is there no room for Canadians in sports?

The outgoing Brooks suggested merely that Jays president Mark Shapiro had every right to head in another direction