Ricciardi is sometimes too frank with the media, but I can live with that if it means he says stuff like this (re: Gibbons' communication skills):

Gibby is a player's manager. I mean, he's not exactly FDR. He's not going to stand up in front of a group of people and explain the New Deal, you know what I mean?

Why would Gibbons have to explain the new deal with Pete Walker? Isn't that JP's job?

;)

 

Gibby is a player's manager. I mean, he's not exactly FDR. He's not going to stand up in front of a group of people and explain the New Deal, you know what I mean?

Of course.  Gibby is too busy explaining to his players that when he says WPA, he means Win Probability Added, not some strange old government program to help out those afflicted by the Depression. 

Buck Rodgers, a former Montreal Expos manager, likened managing on a one-year deal to running a game with a hand tied behind his back and an eye closed.

Bob, it wasn't the one-year contract that was making you dumb.  You were just dumb all natural-like.

Seriously, though, what a self-serving thing to say.  (No wonder the "Harvey's Wallbangers" Brewers couldn't stand playing for Rodgers - see Dan Okrent's Nine Innings - and needed to get him out of there before they hit their stride).  Good managers derive their authority not from their entrenched position in the organization, but from their qualities of leadership and ability.

And might I remind everyone, Walter Alston won seven pennants, four World Series and had a winning record twenty of the twenty-three seasons he managed in the majors.  And he did it all on one-year contracts.

Besides, a multi-year deal isn't necessarily a sign of job security for a major league manager.  If a GM wants to make a change, he usually will regardless of the manager's contract status.

It's not like managers on multi-year deals don't get fired. If J.P. gave Gibbons a five-year extension today and the team finished in last place, Gibbons wouldn't make it to Spring Training '08. Or, for that matter, that Gibbons is automatically going to get more respect if he's extended; no matter how long he's signed for, it's not like he's going to carry more weight in the organization than Vernon Wells and Roy Halladay in any but the most exceptional circumstances.

It seems at though Keith Foulke has retired.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6478376

It's not job security that a big league manager requires - it's income security.

 I think anyone looking for "security", in any form, should probably stay away from professional sports in general, and managing/coaching positions in particular.

An interesting thing about Foulke retiring is compensation.  The Red Sox were set to get a sandwich pick for that.  I'm not sure if that's still the case any more.

New Globe baseball guy Robert MacLeod (or, if you believe an unnamed Blue Jay, "Drew Carey") adds another data point to the "you can't find your way anywhere in Dunedin" argument. He wasn't trying to find Knology Park like others, but rather the Bobby Mattick Training Center:

Pulling into a gas station, I ask the proprietor if he could kindly direct me to the Jays baseball facility.

Without missing a beat, the gentleman points me in the right direction and I was heartened to find out I was only about five minutes away.

Or so he thought.

It could be that Gibbons may not be renewed. There are a lot of manager contracts expiring this year including Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Tony LaRussa.

Here is the question. This year a lot no a big wave of very good managers will be free agents on the open market.Cox and LaRussa may be looking to move.

LaRussa has spent a decade in St. Louis. Usually he moves once every ten years. Atlanta seems to be falling apart. Could the Jays lure Cox, the greatest manager in the modern era, back to Toronto?

Now here's the choice confronting Ricciardi. Gibbons is a great guy they say. But ask two questions. Is Gibbons the guy to win the World Series? Is Gibbons a better manager than any of these guys on the open market?

In any other year. Yes I would like Gibbons to continue but this year will see a lot of movement of some very good managers. Ask these questions.

Would you want Gibbons or Torre?

Would you want Gibbons or LaRussa?

Would you want Gibbons or Cox?

Would you want Gibbons or Cito Gaston?
Yes Gaston is now available. He seems to have overcome his back problems.

And if Gibbons did move (likely to the Rangers) no big deal.  Isn't Ernie Whitt an equally able field manager if all the other deals fall through? Whitt did an outstanding job in the World Classic. Whitt got beat out by a hair last time because the Jays stuck with Gibbons. Well maybe its Whitt's turn.

The only thing that will save Gibbons his job may be nothing less than a World Series Trophy.

source: Cots Contracts... at  http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com

I thought since it is a quiet baseball day I could throw an idea out for analysis.  We've read all offseason here and elsewhere about the Jays funny roster construction.  For example, the lack of a fourth outfielder if Lind goes to AAA, and even if he sticks how will he fare defensively?   Carrying both MacDonald and Clayton with no backup for Glaus or Overbay that you would want to see play for more than a few games. 

 A player who could possibly alleviate some concern is Esteban German in Kansas City.  Last season he put up an 881 OPS over 279 ab's and played all over the field.  http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/G/Esteban-German.shtml  Just wondering what people think of German as a possible utility guy for the Jays and what it might take to acquire him?

 

I don't there's a chance in hell that Gibbons goes and a guy like Cox is hired, simply because JP wants a drone in the dugout. Gibbons is a puppet.

Jason Smith was the story on Rule 5 Draft Day, and is the 25th man on the roster. If Troy falls, Smith's left hand bat would be a bonus in what appears to be a toolsy infielder. Yet another sleeper is the stunning recovery of Carlos Zambrano, now pitching ahead of schedule, according to mlb.com.

The first Blue Jays photos on the AP newswire are available on Yahoo!

For those who love all the little nuances of baseball rules, MLB has handed down the first rule changes in 11 years.  The MLB link contains pdf files with the official changes.

This ESPN link summarizes the major changes.

I'm sure Magpie is already all over the the scoring rule changes.

I'm sure Magpie is already all over the the scoring rule changes.

Actually, I'm all over the ones intended to speed up the games (I have been in the pressbox too long, haven't I?). Rule 6.02 has been amended - the batter is now supposed to keep one foot in the batter's box at all times (unless he swings at a pitch, the pitcher walks off the mound, the defense tries to make a play on a runner, etc etc.) - in which cases he may step out of the box, so long as he remains in the dirt area. The penalty is a strike called on the batter. I already think of it as the Menechino rule.

And rule 8.04 has been amended. With no runners on base, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds (rather than 20) - we can call this one the Trachsel rule. The penalty is a ball charged to the pitcher.

These are intended to improve the pace of the games. I estimate they'll shave at least 10 seconds off the length of the games. (Who are they kidding? The real culprits are a) the two minute gaps between half innings, and b) mid-inning pitching changes.)

The real culprits are a) the two minute gaps between half innings, and b) mid-inning pitching changes.

While I will concede that these two factors bear the greatest responsibility for the length of games, they are far more tolerable to me than the death by a thousand cuts that are the overly long at-bats.

Batters stepping entirely out of the batter's box after every pitch. Pitchers taking forever to throw the ball. These things diminish the joy in watching a game, even if they only add to its length in little micro passages of time.

If I know I have two minutes to kill between innings, I can grab a bite, take a leak, flip to another channel, whatever. At least those passages of time are continuous and can be filled productively. It's the dilly dallying after every bloody pitch that's the stress on the ol' ticker and that makes a game drag.

I, for one, welcome our new goatee overlords, although I think Sal requires a little more handle in that 'stache.

Batters stepping entirely out of the batter's box after every pitch. Pitchers taking forever to throw the ball. These things diminish the joy in watching a game, even if they only add to its length in little micro passages of time.

I agree.  I like these rules, although I'm skeptical of it being enforced.

My favorite games are the quick moving crisp games where there's not a lot of down time.  Halladay is great for this - you know if he's on the game isn't going more than 2:40.

b) mid-inning pitching changes.

Speaking of which, one rule that I'd like to see implemented is this:

A pitcher who goes out to the mound to warm up at the start of an inning must face at least one batter.  A pinch hitter for the first batter must be announced before the opposing pitcher goes to the mound.

Buck Martinez would periodically give his relief pitchers more time to get ready in the bullpen by sending the pitcher from the previous inning out to the mound to warm up.  Martinez would then make a pitching change before the first batter of the inning, resulting in two pitchers having warmed up on the mound before anyone came to the plate.  This drove me nuts because it was so unnecessary and such a blatant stall tactic.  I can't believe it's actually allowed.

the two minute gaps between half innings

I suppose I should confess that this often comes in extremely handy for me as well - the press box washroom can  accomodate three individuals at a given moment. After a thirty-minute inning, there's a lineup. I'm not supposed to miss a pitch, and actually running would be unseemly.

I'd like to scrap the 8 warmup pitches a reliever gets when he comes into the game. You got warmed up in the bullpen, now get to work. I might allow him two at most.

Any rule is only as good as its enforcement.  Do we have any reason to believe the umpires will call said balls and strikes?

Here's my pet peeve concerning tactics that delay the progress of a game: Why should the catcher be permitted to go to the mound to talk to the pitcher, sometimes several times in an inning? If there is confusion over the signs- well, tough. Finish the half-inning and then discuss your problem on the bench.

Ronnie Belliard signed a minor leauge deal with the Nationals for $750,000 if he makes the team. I can't believe this.

Ronnie Belliard signed a minor leauge deal with the Nationals for $750,000 if he makes the team. I can't believe this.

That is cheap.  Anyone heard what he was demanding earlier in the off-season?  I'm guessing he might've priced himself out of the market earlier and then had to take whatever offer he could get.  Otherwise he'd have been a real nice fit up here.

So Belliard costs half of Royce Clayton? Wow. Would it not have been a good move still to sign Belliard to play 2B and have Hill at SS? I realize Hill is better suited at 2B, but I believe the Jays' offense would have been significantly better off with Hill/Belliard over Clayton/Hill, without much change in defence.