Cito would be a good fit for any team that has just fired an intense manager. His laid-back style would be like a breath of fresh air. I can see him going to Philadelphia if/when Bowa gets fired.

Would the Houston Astros consider hiring Cito if they fire Jimy Williams? :-)

If he did end up in Philly (would be a pretty good fit), the players would love it after a couple of years of Larry Bowa.

Philly would be THE perfect situation for Cito.

I'd really like to see Cito get a shot at managing in Philadelphia or Chicago. One of the problems with judging Cito is that he only has had one managing experience. He has a reputation (i.e. poor in game manager, excellent clubhouse skills, good with veterans and not so good with youngsters) that could be explained in large part by the natural life cycle of the Jays team that he managed. In the beginning, he managed largely veteran teams with set line-ups and had success with them. Later, he managed the new generation of Jays and had less sucess with them. But then so did everyone else after Cito. I'm not saying that his reputed skill set is not an accurate reflection of his managing skills, I just think it would be interesting to see him manage somewhere else to get some perspective on him. I've always thought that his success as a manager has been undervalued. I look at him in much the same way that I look at Joe Torre. Everyone undersells his skills because, frankly, he has the best lineup to throw out there everyday (as did Cito for a stretch). Those types of teams tend not to emphasize "littleball", which is what "great" managers seem to get lauded for today. I say success as a manager is getting the most out of your team and its hard to argue with Cito and Torre as great managers in that respect. People point to Cito's later years as evidence of him not getting the most out of his teams, but a succession of subsequent managers got similar results from that generation of Jays.

Philly does seem awful nice for him but they've made it very clear that they want a winner and they want it *now*...I'm not convinced the old guy wants that pressure right off the bat. The expectation would be to win in 2004, where as in Chicago he'll probably be given a 'find your barrings' year with the expectation to go deep in the playoffs for 2005. Though the team management in Phillie has purchased draws some nice comparisons to the Jays of yesteryear.

Cito's better at being a manager than a hitting coach, and deserves a job somewhere. He seems to know he isn't suited for a rebuilding team, but if he lands a gig with a contender, I wish him all the best.

next Monday, the 2004 Minor-League Review finally arrives

I can't wait. There's no better source of information about Blue Jays prospects than Jordan, but it's always interesting to see how "outsiders" view the farm system. Bryan Smith, in his blog Wait 'Til Next Year -- "Analyzing the Future of Baseball, Today" -- has begun a look at the 30 organizations, with the Milwaukee Brewers on top. Your Toronto Blue Jays are ranked second, with a list of the top 12 prospects and this projection:

It’s unlikely this team will compete next year, probably falling behind the high-spending Orioles. But once their host of young pitching hits the Majors, watch out.

If you're reading this, Bryan, a couple of things. One, it's Ricciardi, not Riccardi. Two, the rumour that the Orioles plan to be active in the free agent market hardly guarantees them 90 wins next year. They will have to outbid a lot of perennial contenders for the available "difference makers," and the last time they signed a big FA cheque, it was made out to Omar Daal.

Part of the reason the Orioles became less active in the free agent market was because top-level free agents didn't want to play for Baltimore (and, perhaps, for Peter Angelos). As far as I know, his checkbook has always been open.

The new Beattie/Flanagan regime may have changed things; we'll see.

One more thing: in Joe Morgan's recent book, he is surprised that no one has hired Cito, pointing out that the man has won two World Championships.

I don't know whether he's an astute in-game strategist, but he's got to be better than some of the doofuses currently on major-league benches...

Cito is a good fit for both Philly (the Shotton syndrome, methinks) and the White Sox. Observers of the White Sox have gone berserk over what they regard as Jerry Manuel's incessant tinkering. Cito was successful here following an obsessive tinkerer. Jimy Williams, you may recall, changed his starting second basemen roughly every 30 days in each of his last two seasons, and was constantly sending pitchers back and forth between the bullpen and the rotation. Gaston put an end to that - he sorted out the roles for the lineup and the pitching staff.

What's with Bryan saying Bush was playing way over his potential? What's up with that?

I suggest you hold any concerns until Jordan comes out with his well researched and credible analysis. I haven't read Bryan's site before today but I'm not confident that I'd return unless spcifically referred to an article.

The O's have a bunch of OK young hitting talent, though - and a bunch of young fifth starters. Any success they are going to have is dependent on their ability to hook and land starting pitching from the relatively thin free-agent pool available.