Old-Timers Lining Up For Toronto Managerial Gig

August 18, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Former Athletics manager Art Howe (18) is honored before the game at O.co Coliseum for the anniversary of the twenty game win streak in 2002. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-US PRESSWIREWhether it be the early-bird special at the local buffet or the half-time show at the Super Bowl, the old-time managers have been coming out of the woodwork after it became known that general manager Alex Anthopoulos preferred a seasoned manager for the next leader of the Blue Jays.

First it was Art Howe, the former Mets, Oakland Athletics, and Houston Astros manager who, despite not having been in a dugout at all in the last four seasons, has let it be known earlier this week that he was interested in the Toronto job. Then there is Ken Macha, who succeeded Howe in Oakland and has also managed in Milwaukee, who came out on Friday and declared that he was all in to manage the Blue Jays, having sent his resume, PowerPoint, etc to Anthopoulos.

All we need now is Don Zimmer to dust off his parchment resume and come begging for the job, and we’ll know that the Blue Jays gig is the Wal-Mart greeter position of managerial jobs.

Stop me now if I am out of line here, but it seems to me that there are a plethora of highly touted, yet managerial inexperieced candidates that have been lined up for the job that would be a better fit for the young team in Toronto. I’m talking about Sandy Alomar, Joey Cora, Tim Wallach, Dave Martinez, Brad Ausmus, et al. These guys have new views and styles that would identify with younger players and bring excitement to a team.

By limiting the Blue Jays to the like of Macha, Howe, Don Wakamatsu, or Mike Hargrove, Anthopoulos is setting himself with a retread working off a model that failed to work. Toronto needs to refrain from moving backwards and back into the mold of Cito Gaston.

This team needs fresh blood and there is plenty of it out there.