Blue Jays: Russell Martin to manage final game of season

According to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons will hand over the managing reins to Russell Martin for the final game of the season on Sunday versus the Tampa Bay Rays.

In what will be his final game as Blue Jays manager, John Gibbons has decided to throw one last curveball allowing Russell Martin to oversee the entire managerial duties for the contest. The veteran backstop will craft the lineup while also handling all the in-game moves and media responsibilities for the day.

Martin who has one-year remaining on his contract has not seen the field since September 03rd as Gibby has opted to play the likes of Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire down the stretch. The 35-year old will finish the season under the Mendoza Line for this first time in his 13-year career. Martin is currently slashing .194/.338/.325 with 10 home runs in 90 games this season.

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It is uncertain if this is just Gibby having a little fun before he turns off the lights on his Blue Jays tenure or if Martin will seriously be in the conversation to fill the vacant manager’s spot. Martin is owed $20 million next season so perhaps the Jays will make him the highest paid manager of all-time in 2019.

There is no question that Martin will one-day make a great major league manager with his never say die attitude and knowledge for the game.  However, I am not entirely sold the timing is right now but stranger things have happened.

The currently rumoured front-runners for the job appear to be Eric Wedge, Stubby Clapp and most recently John McDonald. Who knows, maybe we will add Russell Martin to that list after Sunday.

Regardless it should be interesting to see how Martin handles calling the shots and what he pulls out of his hat to secure the Jays a victory in the final game of the season.