Gibbons Out, Gaston Back In

Today, to the surprise of absolutely no one, the Toronto Blue Jays fired their manager John Gibbons. Three other coaches, including the ever-popular Ernie Whitt, were also let go.

Gibbons's replacement, at least for the time being, is none other than Cito Gaston, the man who led Toronto to back-to-back World Series championships in the early 90s. We’re still absorbing this announcement—and while we'll have plenty more to say about it in the coming weeks, lately it was growing increasingly obvious that something was rotten in the state of Toronto baseball. The Blue Jays were—are—in a tailspin. The recent sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers was not, in and of itself, a big deal; sweeps happen, especially when you're a middle-of-the-pack team like Toronto. What was troubling from a fan's perspective was how utterly disinterested the Blue Jays appeared to be. Losing we can handle; it's when a team stops caring that we start getting concerned. To the untrained eye, it seemed like they'd given up on their manager.

General manager J.P. Ricciardi compounded the situation with his bizzare rant against Cincinnati Reds slugger Adam Dunn. Yet even while he was shooting his mouth off (and then being called "a clown" by Dunn in return), it was pretty clear the sharks were beginning to circle. In 2006, notorious malcontent Shea Hillenbrand wrote his infamous "THE SHIP IS SINKING" warning on a clubhouse whiteboard. Today's announcement merely confirms that Hillenbrand was remarkably prescient. Something needed to be done, and quickly, to prevent the Blue Jays from becoming a laughingstock. In that sense, getting rid of Gibbons was an obvious move.

Again, we'll see how this pans out. Gaston might've won two World Series, but he was also working with (gulp) the highest payroll in Major League Baseball. Today's team bears scant resemblance to its predecessors; it'll be up to Cito to mould them into something which vaguely approximates a competitive ballclub. The Blue Jays are out of town this weekend; they'll be back at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday to face (you guessed it) Adam Dunn and the Cincinnati Reds. Needless to say, it's going to be a very interesting week for our local sports team.

Photo by not persephone.