The Blue Jays are searching for the successor to Cito Gaston, and they're not rushing the process. An unnamed source points out to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that the Blue Jays "want to get it right" (Twitter link). Here are the details on the team's search for a new manager, plus other notes:
- Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun has a summary of the Jaysā search: the team has already interviewed Rockies hitting coach Don Baylor, Red Sox third base coach Tim Bogar, Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell, Red Sox bench coach DeMarlo Hale, former manager Bob Melvin, Padres coach Rick Renteria, Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke, Yankees third base coach Rob Thomson, former manager Bobby Valentine and former Indians manager Eric Wedge plus internal candidates Brian Butterfield, Sal Fasano, Nick Leyva and Luis Rivera. The club has yet to interview White Sox bench coach Joey Cora, Rangers hitting coach Clint Hurdle, Nationals third base coach Pat Listach, Rays bench coach Dave Martinez, Juan Samuel, Ryne Sandberg, and former Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu. That's a whole lot of candidates to consider.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels told MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan that he's expecting clubs to ask about Hurdle, though no team has formally requested permission to interview the former Rockies manager just yet.
- The Blue Jays will consider bringing John Buck back next year and the catcher says he would love to return, but as MLB.com's Jordan Bastian shows, J.P. Arencibia's presence may mean that Buck's best offers come from other teams.
I love Bastian and all but there is no way the Jays bring back Buck next year unless they are trading Arencibia for a good OF, signing a big-time 1B and going for it.
At this point i wouldnt mind trading Arencibia.. and no this is not based on the 4 starts he made last year..
He’s not projected to be the best catcher in the system, so if you can flip him for a good outfielder, resign buck to a modest 2-3 year deal until perez, d’arnaud, jimenez, one of them establishes themselves as ready. Then I’m all for it. . I think at this point it all comes down to the offers buck gets, if someone starts offering him 4 years or 7+ a year then I’m sure the jays will walk.
Especially after trading Wallace for Gose and picking a lot of HS’s in the draft, AA is showing that he really is being patient and building for the future whether that is far or near. So yeah, I wouldn’t be against an Arencibia trade…Will they trade him? Porbably not, but it would make sense to me if they either got a ML piece or some Anthony Gose type players (meaning, players who are farther away from the Majors but have tons of upside). Darnaud is probably more like Lou Marson, and Perez is more like Carlos Santana just as comparison’s, but Jimenez, who is a very good prospect, is probably not a catcher in the long term.
Also keep in mind that Buck had a good season, but it was a breakout season and his OBP didn’t help his cause. Hopefully he remains “good”, but his value is obviously high.
We shouldn’t be apposed to trading Arencibia. However, I think it would be a bit quick to trade him now, before we see what we’ve got. I also think that his numbers jumped substantially from the year before, and it’s possible that he might be significantly undervalued. I think his chances of putting together a solid season are high enough that his value will increase with playing time, so we’ll get more for him. He’ll be cheaper than Buck, who is coming off his best year, and will be worth more if we hold on to him. I don’t see any reason to force a trade. I feel like he’ll be worth more by the time Perez and co are ready.
They almost went for it this year. if there were any other division in Baseball except the NL East (they are actually central North America) they would have won 95-100 games. They played the Rays, Sox, and Yankees 48 times. Imagine if the Jays only played them 18-22 times…
but then again, we beat the O’s 12 times this season
And they were in the AL East
For me the name that jumps out is Sal Fasano. I’ve heard nothing but good things since he started managing for the jays in the minors.
Not quite enough experience yet though
Joe Torre had zero experience when he was hired. Girardi had, what, like a year as a bench coach? Tony LaRussa had only 1 1/2 years as a coach/manager too. Lou Piniella had like a year or two as a hitting coach before becoming a manager.
Experience only counts for so much…..if you have good baseball instincts and do a good job after a year in the minors, who says you can’t be a good major league manager? Maybe the young Jays need a guy like Fasano who can relate to them.
Those kinds of guys fall into a job by circumstance. With an exhaustive search like AA’s, it’s not likely that Fasano gets it and Butterfield doesn’t.
Anthopoulous could always want to shake things up though…..sure, Fasano’s a longshot, but he’s obviously not being interviewed just for the sake of being interviewed.
Yeah but think of the porno music when he comes out to change pitchers.
Its a very strong list all around really, Dave Martinez is very interesting to me.
Im still hoping for Eric Wedge. John Farrell seems like a long shot, but i’d be happy with Martinez as well. Another thing that would make me happy, if we get the draft pick instead of Buck. He would just be redundant, JP’s time is now.
There are far better choices than Eric Wedge.
“They want to get it right” says Morosi’s unnamed source.
Wow. I hope Morosi went to the trouble of meeting him in a dark underground car park for that dynamite piece of inside information.
yea I agree groundbreakin info
“An unnamed source points out to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that the Blue Jays “want to get it right” ”
the unnamed source could of been his three year old daughter because anyone who can speak could of told you that
I think I’ve heard very light rumblings of Rob Thomson, the Yankees 3B coach, as mentioned in the post. I really don’t know his qualifications one way or the other, just that he’s a native Canadian…so naturally us Americans have to assume he’d fit right in with Toronto, right?
Thomson was drafted by the Tigers and coached a little for them in their minor system. He moved on to the Yankees org. in 1990. He has a lot of field and front office experience.
I’m a big fan of Luis Rivera…But that is kind of being biased.
I was hoping that they could’ve swiped Wallach from LA. Ron Roenicke is a good choice, as is Martinez (who also has the benefit of having played in Toronto)
Internally, I’d be happy to see Butter get a shot. I would also be pretty satified with Fasano. He got a lot out of his young team this year.
What? No Ted Simmons? When, oh when, is someone going to give this man a shot. He has a brilliant baseball mind.
What? No Ted Simmons? When, oh when, is someone going to give this man a shot. He has a brilliant baseball mind.
I’m rooting for Fasano and hoping he institutes a mandatory moustache policy!
I’m rooting for Fasano and hoping he institutes a mandatory moustache policy!