Blue Jays: Another managerial candidate bites the dust

The Toronto Blue Jays dragged their proverbial feet on another managerial candidate as Rocc Baldelli was hired by the Minnesota Twins late last night.

This marks the second candidate the Blue Jays have interviewed that has been hired by another organization within the past week. David Bell was awarded the skipper position in Cincinnati after reportedly being interviewed by the Jays.

The rumoured short list is now comprised of the frontrunner Joe Espada, Brandon Hyde and Charlie Montoyo who surfaced out of the woodwork a couple days earlier. Ed Sprague has been given some consideration but there is no indication he received an in-person interview while nobody quite knows the situation involving Stubby Clapp.

Bob Elliott of the Canadian Baseball Network announced Clapp had received an interview but retracted the statement a few hours later after Clapp quelled any interview rumours clarifying that he has not received an interview for the Jays managerial position.

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The Texas Rangers are said to have varying degrees of interest in Clapp, Hyde, and Espada although it is being speculated they will not fill the vacant spot until after the World Series.

The Baltimore Orioles are also looking for a new manager to take over their disastrous helm but one would have to suspect they will fill the vacant GM position before moving down the line to the manager. Very few names have been speculated as the replacement for Buck Showalter to date.

The Jays undoubtedly have narrowed down their prospective candidate pool and surely must be close to nearing a decision in the coming days. If they wait much longer the talent pool may be pretty scarce for young, progressive thinking skippers.

There is due diligence and then there is dragging your feet. We may be entering the latter category if a decision isn’t made sooner than later. Just give Blue Jays fans something to “Clapp” about already and call it a day.