On this date in 1978, the Pirates purchased Cito Gaston from the Braves and the outfielder went on to play his last two major league games in a Pirates uniform (believe it or not, future managers Ken Macha, Phil Garner and Jim Fregosi also played on that Pirates team). When this season ends, Gaston will step down as Blue Jays manager, but he'll do so with a pair of World Series rings and at least 885 wins to his name. Here are today's links…
- Ryne Sandberg is a candidate for the Blue Jays' managerial opening, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
- Later this week the Nationals will likely announce that they're retaining manager Jim Riggleman in 2011, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.
- The Padres will at least look outside of the organization for infielders, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock (on Twitter). The Padres lost some depth when Jerry Hairston hit the disabled list again.
- The Mets won't discuss deals with prospective free agents like Jose Reyes and Pedro Feliciano until after their front office is more settled, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.
- ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick looks back at this year's moves from the ones that have worked out (the Roy Oswalt deal) to the ones that haven't (the Manny Ramirez claim).
- The Pirates lost Jose Bautista because they "reacted rashly to a rather innocuous situation," according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
- The Red Sox claimed Bautista when the Blue Jays put him on waivers last summer, according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com.
- One MLB executive tells Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that Red Sox bench coach DeMarlo Hale is on at least two short lists of managerial candidates.
- Dave Bush is open to returning to the Brewers and curious about the offers he'll see as a free agent, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
I highly doubt bautista’s stellar season would have happened on the pirates regardless.
that’s not really the point of the article-he may or may not have done this for the pirates. the point is no one knows, and no one could’ve predicted he would have had such success.
however, the point being is this is just another mistake by the pirates, who only shot themselves in the foot because of their own egos. it’s an interesting point on the matter actually, especially given the fact that organization has been so stellar lately. he’s just pointing out the fact that maybe they need to re-evaluate how they think as well. his comments seemed pretty harmless, and to trade a guy for comments like that seems to be quite an over-reaction.
They didn’t trade him for comments, they traded him for lack of ability
and it only becomes ‘just another mistake’ as you put it, if he goes somewhere else and excels, if he stays on the pirates and retires with a season high 16 hrs, and a lifetime .240 avg, then its not a mistake.
the point of that article was suggesting that he wasn’t just traded for his lack of talent. that’s what i’m commenting on. you’re right, it’s not just “another mistake” if he goes else where and succeeds, but the point is that if the story is true, it’s an absolutely ridiculous reason to have traded him and would only demonstrate further poor management by this club.
Or it could be philosophy. Not many teams preach no patience and pull every ball you see. They changed his mechanics for this approach and he is showing it works for him. But this wouldn’t have happened with some other teams. Not saying that the Bluejays approach is better (in fact it would hurt some players) but to say it was poor management of the Pirates is wrong.
they don’t preach no patience especially in the case of Bautista. Bautista has almost 100 walks this year.
Please explain why the Pirates have been a “stellar” organization recently. Last time I checked, they are still one of the worst MLB clubs. If you’re being sarcastic, please use the “/sarcasm” thing until Disqus gets some kind of sarcasm emoticons.
For some good fun, google “the onion pittsburgh pirates” for some nice parody articles.
Either way, considering Bautista’s phenomenal season, you have to feel for the Pirates. It’s like they’re snakebit. They held onto him for a while, like many guys they’ve held onto who carry the “potential” moniker, only to see him explode as soon as he leaves.
i probably would agree with you if it were any other team. but the pirates don’t strike me as an organization dedicated to winning. you can just look at their recent history to see that. and if the story is true, there’s no reason to feel sorry for them since it was their own doing. a reasonable person should have thicker skin than that.
i feel sorry for are the guys who put their hearts and souls into the game and get treated like this by them. not to mention the fans, who are the ones that have had nothing to look forward to for 18 years now.
I get a feeling a HGH suspension is in his future.
Haha.
I would bet you are either a Pirates, Red Sox, or Yankees fan. Pathetic. Epic fail. LOL.
cool story bro.
So, does this mean Cito should manage the Pirates for two games before packing it in?
Sandberg anywhere but the north side of Chicago would be a huge disappointment.
Was going to post pretty much those same exact words.
I don’t know much about him, mind sharing some info?
He is the Pacific Coast league manager of the year, he is arguably the best second baseman to play the game, he is one of the most beloved Cubs, he was arguably the best player in the NL if not MLB while he was playing. He should be the top choice to succeed interim manager Mike Quade (who should be named bench coach as Alan Trammell just takes up space).
Disclaimer: Notice I said arguably and left room for discussion. To leave his name out of the discussion would just not be fair to the talent pool itself.
Thanks, appreciate it.
Man AA is going to have a tough job to do to pick a manager. Some many candidates…
When did Gaston announce he was stepping down?
He signed a contract for a front office job that starts after the season over earlier this year.
Ok, that makes sense because I could have sworn everyone was overjoyed with his work in Toronto.
Lol fans hate Cito. At some level, me too just because how poorly he’s used Arencibia and Snider (well actually he hasn’t used them as much) and his line-ups are horrible. I mean for god sake, Snider is leading off. Should a slugger who project to be middle of the power hitter ever lead off? I realize we have no legit leadoff but Escobar could fill in nicely. He hits for a good average and gets on base which are the qualities you are looking for (and speed). And some of the lineups where McCoy is used over Snider because there is a lefty on the mound and obviously McCoy and his minor league career will hit better vs lefties.
His use, well over use of Tallet is absolute non-sense.
Eh, ok, then I haven’t been paying attention… I do remember he was warmly received last season.
Blue Jays fans, could you please answer my question? The Blue Jays have this hit the ball as hard as you can type mentality. I know they didn’t have it under their old manager (who preached patience) so was the change Cito Gaston’s philosophy? Because if so and the team goes for another patience guy that can have big affects on Jays hitters like Bautista.
Cito is a pretty decent batting coach. Has helped a lot of players like Alomar, Olerud etc. But he is a terrible manager. Better than Gibbons, don’t get me wrong, but not a great manager. I know he won in 92-93 but if you look at the talent he had on those teams and the money spent you know why they won. Caston cannot manage a bull pen and as mentioned by Sniderlover, it boggles the mind sometimes when you see his line-ups.
As to the above question, I think as good a hitting instructer Cito is, the offence of the Blue Jays was pretty awful. When you have a team OBP of .312 that is not good enough. They could have been better than 9th in runs if they had more than Bautista that could get on base better than a .330 clip. Just think, if Lind or Hill or Lewis got on even 35% of the time how much more RBI oppertunities Bautista could have had!
Shouldn’t change Bautista approach at all actually. Bautista is a very patient hitter and is 2nd among the league in walks. He is a good hitting coach but I think the hitting coach deserves more credit but Cito does as well. They both helped him change his swing and Bautista has never looked back.
EDIT: I like the fact this team bashes homeruns but to compete with the best, you need to have balance. Look at Yankees, Red Sox and Rays for example, they can hit homeruns and they get on base, they steal, they play small ball in the right situations which is what you need. Not too much small but not too much just bashing homeruns. Other than Bautista and perhaps Escobar, this team cannot get on base to save their life.
I remember one game this year where they hit 6 solo homeruns and lost, lol.
Shouldn’t change Bautista approach at all actually. Bautista is a very patient hitter and is 2nd among the league in walks. He is a good hitting coach but I think the hitting coach deserves more credit but Cito does as well. They both helped him change his swing and Bautista has never looked back.
EDIT: I like the fact this team bashes homeruns but to compete with the best, you need to have balance. Look at Yankees, Red Sox and Rays for example, they can hit homeruns and they get on base, they steal, they play small ball in the right situations which is what you need. Not too much small but not too much just bashing homeruns. Other than Bautista and perhaps Escobar, this team cannot get on base to save their life.
I remember one game this year where they hit 6 solo homeruns and lost, lol.
I would hate to see Sandberg manage else where. Though I would like to see how he would do with a young team that looks like it’s going to be good for the future. What I’ve heard from life after Lou is Hendry haspn his list.Don Wakamatsu- Fired from Seattle after a year in a half. 127-147. NO!Ryne Sandberg- Cubs legend would be loved more than Lou. Mike Quade – 18-8 since Lou retired. Looks to be better then a 3rd base coachJoe Girardi- Former Cub. Has a W.S. w/NYY. People said he would like to manage the Cubs.Bob Brenly- I love him in the booth. Has a W.S. w/ARI. Has seen the Cubs the last 6 years knows what he’s talking about. I would like to see what he can do as a manager, but Len Kasper is annoying and Bob needs to be up there with him. I’m 50/50 on this.Freddy Gonzalez- Already dismissed the idea. I just have him cause Hendry talked to him.