Toronto Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro held his first press conference today and answered some burning questions regarding the state of the franchise. Here are the major takeaways.
John Gibbons will be back
Shapiro says John Gibbons will be back as #BlueJays manager.
— Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) November 2, 2015
Gibbons was brought back to Toronto by Alex Anthopoulos in late 2012, after flaming out during his previous stint with the club. The move was met by some head scratching at the time, but ultimately Gibbons did a great job as manager and decision maker, bringing the Blue Jays to the playoffs for the first time in 22 years, and within two wins of playing in the World Series in 2015. Since Gibbons was aligned with Anthopoulos, it was rumored he’d be axed following his departure, but Gibbons will be back behind the bench in 2016.
LaCava assumes GM duties for now
Tony LaCava crucial for #BlueJays now more than ever, and he gets GM gig on at least an interim basis to start: https://t.co/WCrNRUSR8F
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) November 2, 2015
Tony LaCava will handle the role of GM in the interim basis. Shapiro might be the man making the final decisions, but LaCava, the former VP of baseball operations and assistant GM, will have an increased role. This is good news for the Blue Jays, at least in the present, as it was feared LaCava, who’s highly respected within the organization, would join the exodus and not return to the club. He’s often listed as a potential GM candidate, so now’s the time to show what he can do.
GM Tony LaCava unconcerned about role or status, says "I'm a Blue Jay."
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) November 2, 2015
LaCava also mentioned the Blue Jays aren’t going to gut their roster, as the club’s current window to win is now. That’s a huge sigh of relief for Blue Jays fans.
The end of the 5-year free agent policy?
Shapiro says he won't continue policy against 5-year free agent deals. Should be cautious with long-term deals, but not against 7-year deals
— Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) November 2, 2015
The Blue Jays were instantly out on signing any of the top free agents due to the club’s previous existing 5-year free agent policy. It’s why Anthopoulos was creative in pursuing top talent via trade. Shapiro mentioned the policy isn’t set in stone and that he’s open to changing it should the right move arise, which is good and bad news. It opens the team up to make competitive offers on big name talent, but also opens up the possibility of signing a horrific long-term deal. The prospects of the former outweigh the latter. Re-signing David Price just became slightly more likely with the announcement, as it was surely impossible the team had a shot at his services on a five-year deal.
Clearing the air on AA
Reports suggested Shapiro scolded Anthopoulos for his trade deadline decisions, which he flatly denied. He said he talked about the risk and reward with him, but didn’t offer criticism. Shapiro preached autonomy among the front office, and it seems that’s what drove Anthopoulos away from the club – for whatever reason.
To add to this, AA's reputation as a micro-manager maybe doesn't "fit" well, philosophically. https://t.co/fhdiRVVVC8
— Andrew Stoeten (@AndrewStoeten) November 2, 2015
LaCava mentioned how he tried to convince AA not to leave the Blue Jays, but it didn’t work. Clearly he and Shapiro didn’t see eye-to-eye. Shapiro, however genuine, expressed disappointment over his departure.
