Toronto Blue Jays hire John Gibbons as new Manager – MLB News
According to a leading sports website, the Toronto Blue Jays’ General Manager Alex Anthopoulos have hired John Gibbons as the club’s new Manager. As soon as previous skipper John Farrell moved to the Boston Red Sox, there were rumours that the Blue Jays
might officially contract Gibbons for the available managing position.
A Major League Baseball source claimed that the GM Anthopoulos was having discussions with Gibbons for the last few days and the club finally made an official announcement on Tuesday evening. In a press conference, Gibbons stated that he never would have
guessed he was in the running to come to Toronto. The hiring took place very quickly, Anthopoulos said in an interview.
Gibbons managed the San Diego Padres’ Double A affiliate last season. Anthopoulos called him on a dinner part on Sunday last week, where Gibbons was told that he was Blue Jays’ choice to manage the club.
“But the more you thought about it, it made some sense,” Blue Jays’ President Paul Beeston said, after Gibbons was officially introduced as the Jays’ new skipper.
Blue Jays’ fans will also be very happy with some of the moves the GM has made this off season. On Tuesday, the Blue Jays also agreed to a three year $25 million contract with the starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. The former Colorado Rockies’ pitcher produced
magical performances last season, going 4-0 in his final 10-starts.
“From my standpoint, I don’t have any stronger belief that this is the right guy to lead this team,” Anthopoulos said.
“Players love playing for him. They’d go through a wall for him. They respect him. At the same time if he needed to put his foot down to let someone know where they stood he wasn’t afraid to do that either. You combine all those things and the added layer
is that he connected very well with the front office,” he added.
MLB commissioner Bud Selig officially approved Blue Jays-Marlins 12 player blockbuster trade on Tuesday. With the likes of Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Ervin Santa on the big league roster, the Blue Jays are certainly one of the favourites to win next year’s
American League East Division title.
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