John Gibbons: 'I never said McGowan would be a reliever or Goins would be the second baseman'

John Lott has this story this morning.

It starts like this:

This is what John Gibbons says he never said: that Dustin McGowan will be a reliever and that Ryan Goins will be his starting second baseman.

I really hate when folks try to blame the press for reporting what they say. Anyway, now Gibby is saying that Dustin McGowan has a shot at the rotation and that they haven't decided if Ryan Goins will be the second baseman. Man, you have to love people that can't makeup they friggin' minds.

The story goes on to say how tough it would be on Dustin's arm to have to quickly ramp up from the 40 some pitches he threw against the Phillies on Thursday to the 65 they'd want him to throw Tuesday and then 85 in his next go before the season starts. The Jays, through their indecision, have really made a mess of this. They really should have made the decision to stretch Dustin out at the beginning of spring. But, back then, they had plenty of choices for that 5th starter spot.

Since none of those 'plenty of choices' did anything this spring (and because they are silly enough to make choices off a handful of spring innings).....now they have to rush McGowan, which isn't the best thing to do to a guy that has the injury history that Dustin does, but that's what the team has done to itself.

Personally, I'd let him build up his pitch count slower....if he can't go more than 4 innings in his first couple of regular season starts be ok with it, and let the numbers grow slowly. Take the long view. We are going to have 8 guys in the pen anyway, let them have some work.

Dustin isn't sure about it either:

Even McGowan admits it is questionable whether he can push himself to 85 pitches in such a short time. The last time he hit that mark was in June of 2008, just before his first in a series of shoulder surgeries.

"It's going to be tough, I think," McGowan said. "Every time you increase by 15, 20 pitches, it's more stress. Since I hadn't done it in so long, I'm kind of eager to see how I feel after too."

Oh well, he is playing the price for organizational indecision.

About Goins:

On Thursday, a reporter asked Gibbons whether there were any doubts that Goins would be his starter. The reply: "I saw what he did in September. He made a huge difference on our team. So I don't have any doubts."

On Saturday, Gibbons said: "I don't think I said Goins was the starting second baseman." Reminded what he had said, he replied: "Did I say he's officially the second baseman?"

Ummmm Gibby....you've set things up so that the Jays have no other option. Chris Getz has looked pretty good, but in limited at bats. If you make Maicer Izturis the full time 2B, I'm going to go on strike. Munenori Kawasaki? We all love the guy, but he's likely better in short stints.

I guess the team could still make a trade, but we'd forgive him for saying Goins is the man if Alex suddenly announces a trade for Dustin Pedroia

I don't understand Gibby's point. he's been clear that Goins is the second baseman, we know he's the second baseman, why try to make it seem like it isn't decided. Is he trying to light a fire under Goins?

I also don't understand why he's making such a big deal about the work 'officially'. We get it, there could be trades, injuries, or a sudden change of heart, but let's not hide behind a word.