Blue Jays reportedly name Charlie Montoyo as the new manager

In a somewhat surprising development, the Blue Jays have reportedly named Charlie Montoyo as the next manager, ending the search for a new skipper.

According to a breaking news article from Sportnet’s Shi Davidhi, the Blue Jays are set to announce that they’ve hired Charlie Montoyo as the new manager.

The front office has been making a well documented search for the next bench boss over the last couple of weeks, with many notable candidates being linked to the interview process including but not limited to: Stubby Clapp, David Bell, Joe Espada, Rocco Baldelli, Brandon Hyde, and many others.

Montoyo was a name that entered the rumour mill relatively late in the process, and it’s not yet known whether he was the unknown fifth finalist for the in-person interviews to begin with, or if he entered the sweepstakes later on. Regardless, it sounds like he’s going to be the one with the gig, and it’s a somewhat surprising decision.

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By no means am I saying it’s a bad one though, and I’m excited to see what Montoyo brings to the table in the next era of Blue Jays baseball. He worked for the Tampa Bay Rays as their bench coach this past season, and spent three years as the third base coach before that. He was also a classic example of working his way up the Rays’ system, and he’ll now be rewarded with a skipper’s job with a division rival.

Davidhi noted in his article that the Blue Jays were said to be “Impressed by the way the Tampa Bay Rays use data in their decision-making on and off the field”, which makes a lot of sense. Davidhi also rightly pointed out that this is the biggest decision that Ross Atkins has had to make so far as the General Manager in Toronto, and it’ll be one that will be linked to his job security going forward.

It’s also notable that Montoyo is bilingual, something that will serve him well with the young and talented minor league system the Blue Jays have in place. Young stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and several others will be able to benefit from communicating directly with their skipper in their native language, something that likely worked in Montoyo’s favour in the decision to hire him. He’s also a highly respected coach in the Rays system, and again, someone who worked his way up to their bench coach last year. As an added final bonus, he played four games for the Expos in his pro career, so he has a small link to Canadian baseball as well.

We’ll wait for the official announcement from the Blue Jays, but it sounds like the search for the next bench boss is over. At of this writing the club has not yet made a formal announcement, but we’ll definitely keep you posted here at Jays Journal if something drastic changes.