Blue Jays manager sheds some light on outfield pecking order

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons spoke to Jeff Blair and Mike Wilner of Sportsnet 590 yesterday and the skipper shed some light on the pecking order as it stands now for the vacant outfield spot.

Gibby began the interview by identifying the offence as a primary offseason concern signaling that they need to beef it up and that they are currently looking at different ways to approach that and score more runs like they were accustomed to in previous years.

Wilner posed a question to John Gibbons if he preferred giving a kid a shot as opposed to an established big leaguer. The skipper spoke about how at this stage of the game Teoscar Hernandez has a leg up on Anthony Alford who requires more seasoning in the minors. Gibby also commented on shortstop Richard Urena who much like Alford seems destined for Triple-A.

You can listen to the 2-minute clip of the interview HERE however here is what the skipper had to say about the kids.

"Well, I would think Teoscar will factor in at the start of the season, I think he has earned that right, he’s kind of at that stage of his career. Alford needs more time in the minor leagues, I am saying that now but everything could change but he missed a lot of time and is still green to baseball really. I think Urena needs more time, more polishing down in the minor leagues but they showed us a lot of things but I think you don’t want to rush those guys, there is still big parts of the game they need to learn and just repeat over, over and over. Teoscar is at that point in his career now where he needs the opportunity to see what he can do."

The manager also made no mention of Dalton Pompey when speaking about the potential internal suitors for the vacant outfield spot left by the departure of Jose Bautista.

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Hernandez displayed legitimate big league power during his September audition with his new ballclub, however, he also displayed a propensity to strikeout at an alarming rate as well. In 26 games after being acquired from the Houston Astros along with Nori Aoki for Francisco Liriano the 25-year old Hernandez hit .261/.305/.602 with 8 home runs and 36 whiffs in 95 plate appearances with the Blue Jays.

Alford made his major league debut last season seeing action in 4 games before breaking his hamate bone in his left wrist that required surgery. The injury now seems to have delayed his arrival to the majors as Alford was not a September call-up for the Jays.

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It would still appear from the names being linked to the Blue Jays at the winter meetings that they are interested in acquiring an established outfielder but time will tell. For now, the manager appears content anointing Hernandez over Alford on the internal depth chart entering spring training.