Blue Jays Eliminate Front Office Positions As Part Of Rogers Cuts

The Blue Jays yesterday cut jobs for about 10% of the front-office staff not involved in baseball operations as "part of a wider cull by team owner Rogers Media," according to Cathal Kelly of the TORONTO STAR. Neither Blue Jays interim CEO Paul Beeston nor "anyone else at Rogers would comment on the specific number of cuts," but "changes to the front-office directory on the Jays' website early yesterday evening showed that 24 names had been deleted." The news "came only hours after" the death of Rogers Communications President & CEO and Blue Jays Owner Ted Rogers. Blue Jays VP/Corporate Partnerships & Business Development Mark Lemmon was the "highest-ranking erasure," while Dir of Guest Services Will Hill also lost his job. Twenty of the cuts "hit full-time contract workers in the ticketing department." Beeston: "It's regrettable. Every sports team is challenged (by the sinking economy) and the Toronto Blue Jays are as well. ... I don't think you can say anything other than we're in for a rough ride and who knows how long that's going to last." More Beeston: "We certainly aren't the first (team to cut) and I suspect we won't be the last. It's an uncertain future." Rogers Media President & CEO Tony Viner in an e-mail to employees "blamed cuts that also affected Rogers' publishing, television and digital operations on a pullback by advertisers" (TORONTO STAR, 12/3). The CP reported layoffs at Rogers "could reach 130 people as the company copes with a decline in advertising revenue" (CP, 12/2). A Blue Jays employee familiar with the cuts said the number of jobs to be eliminated from the team is "probably in the 30s" (AP, 12/2).