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But it’s also an astonishingly tin-eared way to describe the benefit of a bunch of trades that moved players that Blue Jays fans knew and liked in exchange for a pile of unknown prospects. I mean, read the room, man. Since team president Mark Shapiro and Atkins arrived after the 2015 season, they have overseen a thorough and now almost totally complete dismantling of the first Jays team that had won anything of significance in more than two decades. Did they inherit an old and creaky team? Absolutely. But they spent three seasons in which the approach to roster construction could best be described as cautious before pivoting to the full-on rebuild last summer. I can’t blame them for hanging on a little too long with that veteran team — it’s tough to poke fingers in the eyes of the fan base right after those playoff seasons — but it was also only ever hanging on. If they made a truly aggressive move to improve the major-league club over their tenure, I cannot think of it.

And now, as player after player of those playoff teams is traded, discarded, or sent elsewhere along with several duffel bags of cash, fans can be forgiven for wondering what happened to the whole idea of winning. Marcus Stroman was a good major-league pitcher for Toronto. Josh Donaldson was a good major-league hitter. All of the many other ex-Jays had varying levels of quality, but on the whole Atkins and Shapiro have been relentless in cutting loose known players for guys who may never take the field in Toronto. It’s their hallmark. And then, when the last two stars of the playoff teams are shipped out, two pitchers who were regular starters in a season in which the Blue Jays literally admitted they started Edwin Jackson and his ERA of a bazillion once because they didn’t have anyone else, the response is to tout some pretty sweet years of control?

Atkins and Shapiro have been relentless in cutting loose known players for guys who may never take the field in Toronto

Woof. It was not long ago that the organization was taking big swings — sometimes foolish swings! — and generally acting like a team that wanted to win. Now, in a sport in which there is a clear divide between the teams that are willing to exercise financial muscle and those that are not, Atkins speaks absolutely like someone running a team in the latter group.

If the front office is surveying the public-relations wreckage of the past week and wondering why so many fans doubt them, I would suggest they start there.

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