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Saturday, October 31, 2009

Gaston gets one more year

Any doubts about the immediate future of Cito Gaston with the Toronto Blue Jays were erased last night when the American League club announced the 65-year-old manager will be back next season to honour the final year of his contract.

After that, Gaston will have a soft landing, retiring to become a consultant with the Blue Jays for the start of the 2011 Major League Baseball season.

As part of the four-year consulting agreement he has agreed to, Gaston will advise and consult in all areas of the team’s baseball operations, including the major-league club, spring training, minor-league operations and scouting.

Other notes:
- Gene Tenace retires, with Dwayne Murphy taking over as hitting coach
- Brad Arnsberg leaves to sign with the Astros as pitching coach
- Brian Butterfield moves from bench coach to 3B coach
- Nick Leyva moves from 3B to bench coach

It’ll be very interesting to see how the Toronto and Houston staffs change with the movement of Arnsberg.

Ryan Jones Posted: October 31, 2009 at 11:53 AM | 14 comment(s)
Related News: General, Houston, Toronto

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1. Good cripple hitter Posted: October 31, 2009 at 01:57 PM (#3372446)

- Brad Arnsberg leaves to sign with the Astros as pitching coach

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I don't get these moves. They should just fire Gaston if he's only managing for one year, and moving the staff around doesn't really matter because the next manager (assuming he comes from outside the organization) might fire them anyways.

AA's quote:

“You never know what lies ahead, what can happen, what can occur,” Anthopoulos said. “There’s no question we have faith in Cito Gaston going forward as the manager for 2010 as we have faith in everybody in this staff.”

doesn't inspire much faith, either. "We have faith in the staff", but not in their previous roles. "We have faith in Cito", but he's not managing past this season. #### it, just fire him already.

2. Snowboy Posted: October 31, 2009 at 02:16 PM (#3372459)

Maybe young AlexA has enough on his plate without adding a Manager search to it?

(Which, if true, is probably also an indication that he will be a place-keeper GM, and this job is overwhelming him.)

just fire him already

Is Gaston really that objectionable as a manager for one more year?

And, yeah, losing Arnsberg is probably the biggest news here. And the baddest.

3. HOPE: Madison Obamagarner (Flynn) Posted: October 31, 2009 at 02:20 PM (#3372464)

Doesn't the team hate Gaston? If not then no big deal, but I seem to recall the team seriously not taking a liking to him. Either you back the players and get rid of the manager, or you back the manager and get rid of the players.

4. Ryan Jones Posted: October 31, 2009 at 02:23 PM (#3372467)

Doesn't the team hate Gaston?

It was apparently a small group within the team. The names which I remember seeing were Wells (who cares), Hill (uh-oh), and Overbay (who cares).

Of those guys, the only one the team should be concerned about is Hill, but he's already signed to a multi-year deal on extremely favorable terms. If Wells hates Gaston that much, he can just opt out of his contract and leave.

5. FrankM Posted: October 31, 2009 at 03:51 PM (#3372502)

If Hill doesn't like Gaston, he can live with it for one more year.

As for Overbay, he didn't like being platooned. So what. He can't hit a lefthander's breaking ball with a paddle. Too bad.

I don't know if Wells has an issue with Gaston. Maybe Cito told him to start earning his money

6. Dag Nabbit: formerly tolerant of lactose Posted: October 31, 2009 at 05:10 PM (#3372535)

Cox is gone after 2010.

Gaston is gone after 2010.

2010 is the last year on Piniella's contract and I don't see anyway he'll return to the dugout.

This is shaping up to be the greatest year for managerial retirements since at least 1976 - and that's even without considering if Joe Torre steps down, as a newspaper article indicated earlier this month.

7. Justin T Posted: October 31, 2009 at 05:18 PM (#3372538)

Dag, I asked this in the Lounge earlier to no effect. Is there a link you prefer your book to be purchased from?

8. Dag Nabbit: formerly tolerant of lactose Posted: October 31, 2009 at 05:34 PM (#3372544)

Justin,

I make the most money if you purchase it here. That said, if you'd rather go to amazon or Barnes & Noble, feel free.

Thanks for your interest!

9. Ryan Jones Posted: October 31, 2009 at 05:51 PM (#3372559)

For Canadians, you can also find the book here.

10. Justin T Posted: October 31, 2009 at 06:10 PM (#3372565)

I make the most money if you purchase it here. That said, if you'd rather go to amazon or Barnes & Noble, feel free.

Thanks for your interest!

I won't lie; if either of the other places took some money off, I'd probably have just gotten it there. Once I saw they didn't, I figured I may as well see if there was something that was better for you.

11. Snowboy Posted: October 31, 2009 at 06:16 PM (#3372569)

re the player/Gaston conflict which was reported in the last week of the season...AlexA spoke about it when announcing these moves and said the media had "slightly overblown" the rift.

(Radio guy Mike Wilner does not agree, as per his blog "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Do The Coaching Shuffle") Wilner also says he likes new pitching coach Bruce Walton a lot (previously Jays bullpen coach last seven yrs), and hopes Brian Butterfield's move from bench coach to 3B coach is a precursor to him getting the full Manager spot after Cito leaves. And Wilner predicts the Jays will "not be ratcheting up payroll" and therefore the Roy Halladay sweepstakes will restart in a few weeks.

12. Dag Nabbit: formerly tolerant of lactose Posted: October 31, 2009 at 08:24 PM (#3372637)

I won't lie; if either of the other places took some money off, I'd probably have just gotten it there. Once I saw they didn't, I figured I may as well see if there was something that was better for you.

I know how you feel. That's what I would've done, too.

13. Matthew E Posted: October 31, 2009 at 08:34 PM (#3372653)

What with everything, I think it's silly to bring Gaston back. I also think it won't make any difference; it's not like the Jays are going to win anyway.

14. Andrew Edwards Posted: November 01, 2009 at 10:03 AM (#3373333)

If Wells hates Gaston that much, he can just opt out of his contract and leave.

If there were a manager that Wells hated enough to opt out of his contract, that manager would probably be the most valuable acquisition the Jays could make right now.

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Gaston gets one more year

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