Blair and others have reported that Snider and Gaston do not see eye to eye and it’s been reported in every TO newspaper that Cito does not like the independance that Arnsberge has, and Blair has said if Cito is back it’s likely Arnsberg walks as he’ll have many other options. So based on all this I would without a doubt fire Cito.

Unless you actually have Showalter lined up and ready to say ‘yes’ for certain, no. I really like Butterfield, and I’d get behind taking a long look at Eric Wedge as well for 2011. But I don’t know if they bring a significant immediate value versus what replacing Gaston prematurely would involve.

The questionable ingame moves and the clubhouse revolt are very worrisome. It’s clear that Gaston isn’t as comfortable with this crew of players as he had been his first time around with the Jays. That being said, he’s had some notable successes too, and I think that part of his issue has been the stitched together nature of the team. With a new GM who has the backing of the President, I think there will be development mandates involving the team, and I see more of a set crew of starters as opposed to awful platoons like Millar and Bautisa in the works, which should limit some of the worst of his gaffes.

Unless you lose Butterfield and Arnsberg by keeping Gaston, or you’re gambling on making a run in 2010 with some serious signings, you let Cito finish out his contract, give his blessings to the new manager, and boot him upstairs as the Special Assistant to the President or something.

I think Gaston needs to go not because he’s a poor manager but because he’s the wrong type of manager for this team. I think Cito’s method is too governed by his experience as a player where in the second half of his career, he was a part time player who thought he should have played more than he did. I think he puts himself in his veteran player’s shoes and goes overboard to let them have a chance. It’s commendable empathy and it’s served him well at times. The downside is that if you are a young player and there’s a veteran player who plays the same position as you, you’re not going to get much playing time from Cito.

Basically, the only way that the Jays have a chance of competing with the Yankees and Red Sox without resorting their budgets is for them to develop and play their young players as quickly as possible and hope that they get lucky. Cito’s not the developing-type manager, he’s a managing-type manager, and that’s not what this team needs now.

not the tiniest hesitation in my mind.

And as for Shwoalter, if the idea is that Buck comes in and pumps up the volume a bit and then hands off to Butterfield as a sort of hair apparent then I like it a lot, although I wouldn’t be at all unhappy with Butterfield getting the job right now.

Then absolutely, fire Cito. If it’s a sure thing that Arnsberg leaves if Cito is back next year, I think it would be a huge mistake to let that happen. Not only did he keep the starting staff from getting buried this year, but how about the previous 2 years when he turned Marcum, McGowan & Litsch into legit 2-3-4 starters? Sure, all of our young pitchers need to prove their break-out years weren’t flukes, but I think they trust Arnsberg, and Arnsberg knows all of them now, probably more-so because he had to work so closely with so many of them this year. A lot of the guys we saw this year will be in our starting rotation for the next few years at least, so why let the coach who really put them in this position walk away? Of course that is all just a rumour at this point, but one that I wouldn’t want to test if I was the GM.

Cito should be thanked for the confidence he gave to Lind, and asked to go peacefully to a new post in the organization.

(However, if they decide to keep Cito, then maybe the Jays can sign Millar as their new team mascot and cheerleader, and assign a security guard to follow his every move to ensure he’s never allowed in the dugout for fear Cito will mistakingly let him on the field with a bat or a glove.)

I suspect the Cito, Nick, Gene bloc didn’t help the clubhouse environment, especially if they were all as stand-offish as some reports indicate. I’m not a fan of bringing in big-name rejects from other organization; I’d probably lean more toward somebody like Brian Butterfield. On the other hand, maybe some of the guys need a manager more in their face. Certainly Alex Rios needed something for motiviation he wasn’t getting in Toronto.

Think about it. I’m sure that even a fan of Cito’s will agree that his in-game managing is awful. Think Millar. Think no pinch hitting late in games.

Now. The Jays players are obviously not happy with the way he manages in between games. Lack of communication, etc?

So why keep him?

If a manager’s job is to best use a club’s resources to maximize the chances of winning, Cito fails. Let’s look at the tangibles:
Bullpen management: fail.
Batting order that reflects hitters strengths: fail.
In-game substitutions and strategy: fail.

I’m not saying we would be in the playoffs now if it weren’t of him, but he certainly didn’t help matters.

What was Romero’s peripheral ERA??? I look at this guys numbers and wonder how he had a sub 5.00 ERA… He smells of Gustavo Chacin to me. (which is actually quite a pleasant fragrance i am told)

can we keep Arnsber and Tenace?

and have Cito play more of a intermediary role between GM and Bench Manager?

Cito and Tenace are supposed to be great hitting coaches.

This year’s offense, save Lind and Hill, was nothing short of abysmal.

I wouldn’t lay all this at Cito’s feet, of course, as even in the best possible circumstance we didn’t have enough talent to mount a really good offense. And Cito didn’t sign these guys (though he sure seemed to enjoy playing the suckiest ones). But you have somebody like Wells steadily regressing—if Cito and Tenace are so good, why can’t they figure out what’s wrong with him? This is just one example; realistically almost nobody on this year’s team played up to his potential offensively.

The rap on Cito was that he was a poor strategist and not great with roster management but was good for the clubhouse and good for hitters. Neither of the latter two appears to be true at least this time around. Since we’re rebuilding anyway and it’s long been acknowledged that Cito’s not a fan of young players, let’s go in a different direction sooner rather than later.

Here’s the problem with managers/coaches like Cito Gaston, Phil Jackson or Joe Torre. They manage people well, but they need leaders on the field/court. Joe Carter, Paul Molitor, Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter and Paul O’Neill were leaders. The only leader on the current Blue Jay roster is Roy Halladay and he is only on the field every fifth day. We need a manager that is going to lead from the dugout if no one is going to lead on the field.

Let say Cito

- Did not play Millar that much
- Gave Ruiz more playing time
- Used the bullpen better.
- Managed late game situations differently by pinch hitting more.

I think we would be in similar place. The injuries to the pitching staff did not make it easy and most of the Jays players did not have good years, outside Lind and Hill.

Now I can not defend the Millar situation. But the bullpen was overused and we lost three left handed pitchers one to the starting rotation, one to injury and one could not pitch anymore. So why blame City for using CY everyday…:)

Now if Cito’s hands off approach in late game situations would’ve worked, we would have said the guy builds confidence in his hitters and in turn they deliver. Plus look at the bench, who are going to call?

The problem is not Cito, the problem is players who are not playing well and when they are called on it, they complain about playing time and point fingers. I think the focus should be on improving the talent in the key spots.
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I think most free agents think money first and possibility of winning second. If the Jays make the right moves they can overcome that negative publicity that came out at the end of the year. Handling the Cito issue correctly will involve some skill and I don’t think it would be as complicated once a plan is in place.

I think the most serious issue is dealing with couching division. If Ansberg and Butterfield play their cards right, their turn will come. You can not have a team within a team and expect the ship to sail smoothly. Even if you had turn Romaro to a potential superstar.