Ross Atkins

Dannon Ross Atkins

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 195 lb.
• School Wake Forest University
• High School Coral Gables High School

• Born August 7, 1973 in Greensboro, NC USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Ross Atkins was a pitcher in the minor leagues, spending five seasons in the Cleveland Indians' system from 1995 to 1999, the last two in AA with the Akron Aeros of the Eastern League. He was 11-10, 3.93 with the Columbus RedStixx of the South Atlantic League in 1996 and had 10 saves with Akron in 1998. Overall, he was 37-32, 4.13 in 141 games, with 340 strikeouts in 512 innings.

After retiring as a player, he was the Director of Player Development for the Indians' farm system for a number of years before being hired as General Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays in the fall of 2015. In Toronto, he replaced interim GM Tony LaCava and rejoined former Indians President Mark Shapiro, who had moved to the Blue Jays a few weeks earlier. The decision to hire him was quite controversial in Toronto, as he was replacing a local boy (or at least a Canadian) in Alex Anthopoulos, who had just been named Executive of the Year and built the team that had made its first postseason appearance in two decades. Atkins was clearly Shapiro's man, however, and the main question was how much of what Anthopoulos had built he would change. In his first season, he decided not to rock the boat, keeping manager John Gibbons on board, for example, and the Jays returned to the postseason, once again making it to the ALCS stage before bowing out, ironically, to the Indians

2017 was a more complicated season however, as the Jays got off to a slow start and could never right things, never making it to .500 and finishing in fourth place in the AL East. The season exposed the team's lack of depth, as injuries to the double play combination of Troy Tulowitzki and Devon Travis, to C Russell Martin and to SPs J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez proved devastating, their replacements being well below par. Facing the question of whether to try to win again in 2018 or re-build, Atkins decided to steer a uninspiring middle course, adding some players to plug the holes, but not bidding on any top-tier talent on the free agent market or trying to engineer a trade for a big name. There was some question about how much room to maneuver Atkins had, as it was rumored that the current management at Rogers Communications was content to let the profits roll in from the team's two postseason appearances in 2015 and 2016 (attendance was the highest in the American League in 2017 in spite of the team's on-field struggles) and did not wish to make any risky - and potentially costly - moves for the time being.

He was given a five-year extension in April 2021, after the Jays reached the expanded postseason in 2020. The team's roster had been completely turned over since their last postseason appearance, and the team was now very young and quite talented, led by home-grown second-generation players Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio. He was instrumental in bringing over some front-line free agents, notably OF George Springer, P Kevin Gausman and OF/DH Anthony Santander to complement the home-grown talent. The Blue Jays returned to the postseason in 2022 and 2023, but as had been the case in 2020, they made quick exits, being swept in the Wild Card Series all three years. The Blue Jays then took a tumble in 2024, falling to last place in the very competitive AL East. During that period, Atkins made two managerial changes, both times settling on first-year managers, first Charlie Montoyo, then John Schneider midway through the 2022 season.

Following the Jays' last-place finish in 2024, not much was expected of the team in 2025, but instead it turned out to be one of the greatest seasons in franchise history. After a mediocre start, and injuries that put their big off-season acquisition, Santander and 2B Andrés Giménez on the shelf, the Blue Jays caught fire, passing the first-place New York Yankees on Canada Day and then holding to first place for the remainder of the season, although they needed to win their final four games with the Yankees breathing down their necks to achieve this, and then only thanks to holding the tie-breaker against the Bronx Bombers, who finished with the same record. Among the factors that propelled the Blue Jays were bounce-back seasons from Springer, Bichette and C Alejandro Kirk, and the development of some unheralded players like IF Ernie Clement and OF-3B Addison Barger. Interestingly, Guerrero had had a good, but not great season, but Atkins ability to sign him to a long-term extension in April had universally been seen as a key turning point that year, one that sent a clear message to everyone in the organization that the Jays were serious about competing and spending the money required to do so. Giménez was back for the stretch drive and the postseason, but not Santander or Bichette, the former making only token appearances before heading back to the IL, and the latter being felled by a knee injury which made him miss the crucial final couple of weeks as well as the first two rounds of the postseasons. Rotation mainstays José Berríos and Chris Bassitt, both added to the team by Atkins, also went down late in the season, but their absence were compensated by the work of Eric Lauer and Max Scherzer, both Atkins depth signings who turned out to be invaluable additions, and rookie Trey Yesavage who vaulted from making his professional debut in Class A in April to pitching crucial game down the stretch and in the postseason. The Jays made all the way to a heart-breaking loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in extra innings in Game 7 of the World Series.

Heading into the 2026 season, Atkins was rewarded for the team's great performance the previous season with another contract extension.

Preceded by Tony LaCava

Toronto Blue Jays General Manager 2015-

Succeeded by current

Further Reading

• Max Ralph: "Manager Schneider, GM Atkins receive contact extensions with Blue Jays", mlb.com, March 23, 2026. [1]

Related Sites

• Interview
• Associated Press story on his hiring by Toronto