John Gibbons Next Manager

[mtf]

Yeah, it's pretty stupid.


Just for the record our 3 most successful managers are:

1) Cito Gaston, a Texan as well, from San Antone just like Gibby.
2) Bobby Cox, from Oklahoma which is just a few miles north of Texas
3) John Gibbons, Texan

It's actually 0 miles from Texas.

[LuckyLuke2]

I don't know how I feel about it.
He's had success here. He had three good years managing the club. The last time they had a good roster he led them to an 87 win year.

It's hard to say... I definitely didn't see it coming. It isn't horrible though. He's had success, he's been here before and he has experience.

[mike_noodles]

I hated Gibby as our manager. Very disappointed.

[LuckyLuke2]

Ignore the fact he had bumps with players... and this is a good move. He has a good attitude to manage a club I just hope the players we got like Buerhle, Reyes, Cabrera don't have ego's and get into arguments with him.

Hillenbrand was a douche so that was expected, but Lilly and Frank Thomas both had issues with Gibbons...

[GrumpyOldMan]

I don't know how I feel about it.
He's had success here. He had three good years managing the club. The last time they had a good roster he led them to an 87 win year.

It's hard to say... I definitely didn't see it coming. It isn't horrible though. He's had success, he's been here before and he has experience.

I'm kind of torn a bit here too. I like Gibby, but I have found that revisiting the past can bite you in the butt.

[ILDD]

Superb!

Liked him as a person, liked him as a manager and he deserves another chance.

The manager has limited input into a veteran line-up like this, the only person that Gibby has to keep in check is Lawrie and I think Gibby might just be perfect for this.

Edit: As Twitchy says, he managed a platoon properly last time - AA may be going for a right-handed bat to play alongside Lind as the DH.

[fmradioguy]

From this year...

San Diego Padres Vice President of Player Development and International Operations Randy Smith believes hiring Gibbons as the San Antonio Missions Manager was “a no-brainer.” Smith said, “Everyone we talked to gave nothing put positive reviews,”–including positive feedback from one of the players Gibbons scuffled with while in Toronto. Smith declined to provide a name, but said the player “was very complimentary” of Gibbons. Smith commented, “A little fire and passion is not a bad thing.

source

Any guesses which one?

[jaysforever]

I don't know what to think. I remember when Riccardi got rid of Gibbons and brought in Cito and the team came to life. JP was saying how lucky we were to still have Cito around as he had turned the fortunes of the team around. If you're going with Gibbons, why not convince Cito to come back?

Is Gibby going to get the most out of this talent? I hope AA didn't hire him just because he knows him. Could be a 'comfort' hiring. Maybe after Farrel AA doesn't want to risk an 'unknown' he hasn't worked with before.

[town123]

Is this for real? I thought we would go the Latin route, so this is disappointing.

[Big Hurt]

A sure fire hall of fame manager is not available out there.
What was AA looking for?

Loyal...dude is as loyal as a dog. I can remember saying how proud he made his father being the manager of The Jays 1st go around.
Experienced...fits the bill
Tough...hell ya. He has already gone to battle. You have to know the players know his reputation and won't mess with him.
AA knows him and knows there is NO dream job out there other than the one he was hired for.

Solid hire, now to build the staff.

[bartron_44]

He was fired only a few years ago in 2008 (right before AA took over as GM), but the only 3 players left from his last tenure are Lind, Janssen and Bautista (assuming we don't resign Frasor).

Therefore, even though he doesn't have a clean slate with us fans, he should have a clean slate with this team even though he worked there fairly recently. There are plenty of non Spanish speaking coaches out there who are very capable of managing a major league baseball team.

What I like is that he is a former catcher, and most years under his tenure our bullpen was very effective...especially the late inning guys. He should be good for JPA, and despite what some may think I believe he will be good for Lawrie and Rasmus too.

What has Acta or Riggleman done to want them over Gibbons? Riggleman has 1 winning season in 12 years of coaching in the big leagues, and that was back in 1998 with the Cubs when Sammy Sosa was juicing and blasted out 66 HR's. His team made the playoffs, but then they got swept 3-0 by the Braves in the divisional series. Acta has never even coached a team to a winning record in his 6 years of coaching.

I don't care he well they get along with players, I want someone who knows how to help a team win games. Gibbons wouldn't have been my first choice if you had your pick of anyone on this planet, but I can't say I wasn't happy when I heard it was Gibbons and not Acta or Riggleman.

[pebloemer]

Manager with experience: Check
Manager with "an edge:" Check
Manager AA can work with: (I'm assuming there is familiarity here). Check

Seems to fit with the criteria made public.

To be honest I never followed the Jays much when Gibbons was the manager. Seems like mixed reactions among the forum. I'm really not sure what to think at this point.

Initially it strikes me as a bold move in a bold summer for Anthopolous. He is going to "sink or swim" with the moves he's made this summer.

[mtf]

Is this for real? I thought we would go the Latin route, so this is disappointing.

Why is that disappointing? Who the hell cares where they're from or what color their skin is?

[JetLi]

Gibbons was a bad@$$ 3rd base coach, in fact, while he was at 3rd Base, I had hoped he would one day be promoted to manager. He was the next year. The man is a man among boys in Toronto. I was at the Jays shop once, hours before the game, and I was just looking around. Gibbons walks in and just says "Everyone in line, purchases on me". Ran up a $15,000 tab. I know, I know, what's $15K to a guy making manager money. He made $500K that year, so I think it was pretty substantial nice guy. This guy manages the bullpen well, he will confront players, and more importantly, he sticks his neck out when the players don't perform, he's a player's manager. We need a guy like this who will deflect media from the team and still be the bad guy in the clubhouse, let the team bond by all hating on Gibbons. He's a good man for the team, he's a good man for the city. I love this hiring.

[Twitchy]

Superb!

Liked him as a person, liked him as a manager and he deserves another chance.

The manager has limited input into a veteran line-up like this, the only person that Gibby has to keep in check is Lawrie and I think Gibby might just be perfect for this.

Edit: As Twitchy says, he managed a platoon properly last time - AA may be going for a right-handed bat to play alongside Lind as the DH.

I think the easy solution to that is just to DH Bautista, put EE at first and have Davis play in the OF against lefties. Keeps Lind on the bench, Bautista gets extra time to rest as the DH, and the OF defence improves a bit. But if they want to find another RH bat then that would work too.