After the Toronto Blue Jays came within one victory of winning the World Series, the club extended the contract of president and CEO Mark Shapiro for another five seasons, it was announced Friday.
The Blue Jays went 94-68 last season while winning the American League East in a tiebreaker over the New York Yankees. It was Toronto’s first AL East title since 2015.
The Blue Jays then eliminated the Yankees in the American League Division Series before getting past the Seattle Mariners in a seven-game AL Championship Series.
Toronto had a 3-2 World Series lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers before dropping the final two games at home, with Game 7 going to the Dodgers in 11 innings after the Blue Jays were two outs away from their first championship since 1993.
“It wasn’t just that the players on the field accomplished championships and great things, it was what they stood for as they did it,” Shapiro said in November, according to MLB.com. “Ultimately, you could watch them play the game and know what their identity was as a team and our identity as an organization. I think that each of us, across (Canada), saw us in them. We saw things that inspired us, things that lifted us, the reasons to believe, the reasons to feel belonging and a part of something.”
Already this offseason, Toronto has added right-hander Dylan Cease on a seven-year, $210-million contract. Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is set to begin a 14-year, $500-million contract extension in 2026.
Shapiro, 58, not only oversaw the Blue Jays’ rise from a 74-88 record in 2024 to a near title a year later, he also presided over recent renovations to the team’s home ballpark as well as the spring-training facility in Dunedin, Fla.
Shapiro was with the Cleveland Indians from 1991-2015, working his way up to general manager in 2001 and team president after the 2010 season. He has been the Blue Jays’ president and CEO since 2015.
–Field Level Media
