Blue Jays acknowledge need for fresh voice by letting John Gibbons go

He was probably not going to be back anyway, but John Gibbons is all but offically gone in his last weeks as Toronto Blue Jays manager.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. In early August, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported John Gibbons was “destined” not to be back as Toronto Blue Jays manager in 2019. Now Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports has reported the Blue Jays are planning to part ways with Gibbons after the season, and it appears to be a mutual decision.

Gibbons is winding down the sixth season of his second stint as Blue Jays manager, highlighted by back-to-back postseason appearances in 2015 and 2016 and a division title in 2015. But a disappointing 76-86 mark in 2017, and a 63-76 record this year heading into Thursday’s action (with 90 losses legitimately possible), made Gibbons’ future in Toronto at best iffy.

Citing “people close to the situation”, Heyman suggested the Blue Jays’ plan is to hire a young manager with a likely target date to compete again in 2020 or 2021. Fans surely don’t want to see or read indications that a rebuild is coming. But the Red Sox and Yankees have lapped the rest of the American League East this year and they aren’t going away anytime soon, so Toronto general manager Ross Atkins and the organization have to frankly assess their situation as an uphill climb for the near-term.

Gibbons openly acknowledged he would not want to go through a “total rebuild”, while also saying the Blue Jays’ young players may benefit from a fresh face and voice to grow with. That sounds like an acceptance of a fate he knew was coming, but also points to an amenable split between the two sides.

With managerial hires moving toward those with little or no previous managerial experience in recent years, the Blue Jays are set to get on board.