Blue Jays front office thinking outside of the box with managerial search

It sounds like the Blue Jays are getting closer to making a decision about who their next manager may be, and the rumoured candidates were not who I expected.

While we wait for the postseason to conclude and the offseason to officially begin, the Blue Jays have the vast majority of their focus on the search for their next manager.

John Gibbons will not be returning in 2019, and the Blue Jays office office has already been very active in their search for his replacement. There has been plenty of speculation and rumours about what’s been going on, starting with reports that as many as 10 candidates were being given phone interviews, and indications that they planned to interview five candidates in their final part of their process.

According to a report from Sportnet’s Shi Davidhi, the Blue Jays are already at the stage where they have narrowed it down to the final five. According to his article, some of the final candidates are believed to be David Bell (San Francisco Giants), Rocco Baldelli (Tampa Bay Rays), Brandon Hyde (Chicago Cubs), and Joe Espada (Houston Astros), although Davidhi admitted those names were not confirmed. The fifth interviewee is not known either, although Bob Elliot of CBC Sports and the Canadian Baseball Network, tweeted yesterday that former Blue Jay Ed Sprague was interviewed for the post as well, although it’s not known whether he was part of the final five or someone who received a phone interview early in the process.

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Now that the Astros have been eliminated from the playoffs, it’s possible that we’ll see the Blue Jays move forward on their decision, especially as Astros bench coach Joe Espada assumed to be in the running. Now that his team has been eliminated from the playoffs he’ll be able to turn his attention to away from the task at hand, and my assumption is the Blue Jays were hoping to wait until after the Astros had been eliminated before making a decision, especially if they like Espada as a candidate.

If in fact this is the majority of the list, I feel I can speak for many Blue Jays fans when I say that I’m a little surprised. I’m not at all saying that the front office is making a mistake, as it’s far, far too early for a statement like that. They haven’t even made a hire yet, and regardless of who it is I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and the “new guy” a chance before I cast too much judgement.

However, I have to admit that I’m surprised there aren’t a few other names in serious consideration for the job. I legitimately expected the Cleveland connection to be a factor for Mark Shapiro in this decision, but it doesn’t really sound like candidates like Sandy Alomar Jr. or John McDonald are a part of the final process. I also expected Stubby Clapp to get a serious look, especially as a Canadian skipper who has proven himself in the Cardinals’ minor league system.

I also expected the Blue Jays to give legitimate consideration to some of their in-house options. DeMarlo Hale has been patiently waiting for an opportunity after serving as the bench coach under Gibbons, and minor league coaches like Brian Schneider and Bobby Meacham have done a great job in their positions, and also have the benefit of successfully working with some of the talent that’s on the way to the big league club.

Again, I’m not saying that any of the reported final candidates are bad choices. I don’t really know enough about any of their backgrounds as coaches if I’m being perfectly honest, and in some cases the information is pretty limited anyway. In this case, I have to trust that the Blue Jays know what they’re looking for, and they’ve narrowed their search to best reflect those qualities. It’s also possible that one of the omissions I’ve mentioned was the fifth member of the final list, assuming the other four names are accurate as well.

Regardless, I’m a little surprised, and very intrigued by what’s being reported so far, and it’ll be an interesting situation to monitor until it’s resolved.