Arizona Diamondbacks rumors: Kirk Gibson to return as manager in 2015?

The Arizona Diamondbacks have slowly devolved into one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball over the last three seasons.

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After an outstanding opening season under the leadership of manager Kirk Gibson back in 2011, they went a disappointing 81-81 over the next two seasons and are now one of the worst teams in baseball with a 53-72 record.

Not only are the Diamondbacks toiling away at the bottom of their division, but they have also come under fire for the way they have gone about their business. Having placed a value on grit and toughness, they have all but called their shots as they have fired bean balls, among other things, and celebrated their decisions to do so.

According to Bob Nightengale, even with all of that being the case, new team Vice President Tony La Russa intends to bring Gibson back as manager for the 2015 season.

As far as overall numbers are concerned, Gibson has a 343-351 record at this point. It is telling that he has dropped below .500 considering the fact that he was out to nice head start with a 94-68 mark in 2011.

If La Russa does keep Gibson on as manager, he might want to take a moment to urge him to keep the focus on what happens on the field. Quite frankly, it is unclear to most people how well Gibson actually manages the games themselves because he has taken so much attention away from that with these “grit” shenanigans. It is those same shenanigans that make it impossible to imagine he will be back in the first place.