Shapiro ready for challenge as Jays president

TORONTO — In 1992, Mark Shapiro and younger brother David packed a U-Haul and drove by the future site of Jacobs Field. During Shapiro’s first week with the Cleveland Indians, the final building was demolished to make room for the new stadium as the team began a new era.

Soon, Shapiro will arrive in Toronto to start a new era at the helm of the Blue Jays. As the team’s next president and CEO, Shapiro has plenty of challenges ahead of him, on the field and in the front office, the board room and Rogers Centre itself.

“This opportunity for me is the right challenge at the right time,” Shapiro said at a news conference in Cleveland. “This is one that fits my skillset. It fits what provides fulfillment for me on a daily basis.”

Shapiro will take over for the retiring Paul Beeston at the end of this season after working the past 24 years in various frontoffice capacities with the Indians, the past five as club president. The 48-year-old said the “compelling and unique” nature of the Blue Jays’ position made it too attractive to pass up.

Shapiro will soon take over a franchise that’s on the way to its first playoff appearance since 1993 and one that has plans to renovate Rogers Centre in the coming years. The stadium, which opened in 1989, is expected to have an all-grass field by 2018, and could get a facelift elsewhere.