Gaston Disparaged Anonymously

A Fox Sports report by Ken Rosenthal this morning claims that virtually the entire Jays' clubhouse is in agreement that manager Cito Gaston needs to go. He has lost everyone, says the source. Since Rosenthal is not around the Jays' clubhouse and has very rarely quoted any Jays' players directly in recent years, this "clubhouse insider" information has to come from someone in the Jays' front office.

Here's a clue. Needing confirmation for the column, Rosenthal claims he was unable to reach GM J.P. Ricciardi for comment. If it's true that he was unable to contact the GM that would be a first. This has the feel of a Ricciardi scud missile on his way out the door.    

A Canadian Press piece by Shi Davidi followed up on the same theme, quoting unnamed players interviewed on the final weekend as being upset with Gaston and his "lack of communication, old-school approach and negativism."

That sounds bad. Let's see, if an entire team wants a manager out of the way, the usual strategy is that a team quits playing for him and virtually mails in the results. Unfortunately for the conspirators, the Jays have won six in a row and nine of 10 and have returned to the offensive juggernaut numbers of April and May - and even beyond that production. Way to deliver a message to management boys.

No, some significant discontent is definitely there towards Gaston, but it is far from as rampant as Rosenthal insists it is. When the New York Yankees visited Toronto September 3-6, they already knew about the clubhouse anger. The links are former Jays Josh Towers, A.J. Burnett and Eric Hinske, who heard about it from friends with the Jays. The knowledge of the discontent has certainly permeated the Jays' clubhouse. They have all heard it, but for young players trying to establish themselves and fit in, stating that position and adopting it as their own would be professional suicide.

So if guys like Adam Lind, Travis Snider, Aaron Hill, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Jason Frasor, Jesse Carlson and every one of the young starting pitchers has likely listened to the leaders of this revolt without offering comment that does not mean they are among those ready to burn Cito at the stake. For the most part, they are earning close to the major-league minimum salary and have long careers to look forward to.

The leadership of the revolt likely comes from the bullpen and likely started with the treatment of B.J. Ryan as he struggled to regain his form at spring training and was subsequently released.

At spring training Gaston threw Ryan under the bus during a trip to Orlando to play the Braves. He discussed the diminishing returns issue and scratched his head over Ryan's loss of velocity, even though he was healthy. The baton of explanation was immediately passed to a distressed pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, who while trying to defend his friend B.J., inadvertently backed the bus up over Ryan and moved forward, crushing him again. That was the beginning of the end.

The soap opera moved to Minnesota in April. After a failed Ryan appearance, Arnsberg snapped on the media, saying that he was never asked positive questions about his pitchers. It was always negative. That he had to deal with his pitchers every day and didn't want to comment on failure. He was still shaken by the spring training "loss of velocity" discussion.

The major-league bullpen is a virtual social club during every one of 162 games. They have six innings to sit and chat before two of them have to get up and start getting loose. The pitching coach is the father figure. Arnsberg treats all his pitchers like sons. When one of their bullpen family is mistreated by the manager, or anyone else, they all feel the pain.

Fast forward to Yankee Stadium in July. By that time B.J. Ryan had become an afterthought in the manager's mind. Despite what Cito had protested to me earlier in the year, that he "likes his own pitchers" but doesn't like other teams' hurlers, it doesn't fly. Gaston, a hitter, loves his hitters and is loyal to them. He allowed Alex Rios and Vernon Wells to bat third and fourth in the order this year until it was impossible to leave the underproducing pair there. He does it out of loyalty. That's old school. Pitchers see that loyalty. In the Yankee clubhouse, Ryan challenged his manager. He said he needed to pitch more to be effective but he understood that to pitch more he needed to be effective. He expressed frustration. When asked about it, Gaston scoffed and the next day the Jays released Ryan and ate his remaining $15 million.

Gaston is not patient with pitchers. Scott Downs, a good friend of Ryan's and another of Arnsberg's disciples, has been the latest whipping boy for Gaston. He took over from Ryan as closer, then got hurt and was replaced by Jason Frasor, came back and got hurt again. The last time he was hurt it was in leaving the mound to cover first, and he strained a hamstring. The manager and trainer George Poulis went to the mound to check on Downs. When Cito found out his pitcher was hurt again, Gaston strode back to the dugout, leaving the trainer and injured reliever to hobble off the field. It seemed strange at the time, but seems to be part of the mutual discontent that has clearly developed.

It comes down to this. There are many villains and few heroes in this Jays' piece. In hindsight, that's exactly the way their disappointing season has gone. Many changes will be made.  

  

Comments

[Jorge]

It has to be J.P. Proof is in as his cheerleader Mike Wilner has made the rounds to spew his venon

[Rich Wayne]

Cito has a bunch of Prima - Donnas to manage. BJ was a disaster. Downs was given the job and could not run with it, and a bullpen that's mediocre to average at best. Jason Frasor being the exception.
Changes need to be made, Cito is not the problem.

[Manny]

Richard, iam a big Cito fan and for the only manager to have ever brought not one, but two world series titles to the club/city, Iam confident that he is the right person for the job. However, would you say his managerial style is outdated for this new generation of players or are the players ones to blame? Since Cito took over the team, i've seen improvements with the team, better team play and actually was a powerhouse to start the season but more importantly, player growth (Lind, Hill...) No doubt Cito has his faults, always has, but is any of this warranted or is this just another example of overpaid babies crying? thank you

[JLats]

Richard...bang on as always. As soon as I heard and read this "Cito-gate" story I thought it had the sour, desperate smell of JP all over it. JP always likes to break a story to his friends in the US media. Please tell us this is finally the last straw for the suits at Rogers--why wait until Monday--let's sack JP now and start to clean up this mess.

[doug]

your exactly right this has J.P's fingerprints all over it...he knows he is gone so he is trying to undErmine the manager he never wanted....Beeston has to take some of the blame as he knows J.P's personality and lack of character if he is gone he should have been dismissed awhile ago....J.P. is just sleazy

[Eric]

A captainless ship is rarely in order. Its not the first mates fault. After the Halladay debacle, JP essentially became a lame duck. How could the ship stay together? The villians in this to me are ownership for not solving the problem at the time, and the supposed "leaders" of the Jays in the lockerroom. I know Vernon isn't a vocal guy, but SOMEONE who is a vet should have really taken charge of things. Stuff like this just can't happen in the major leagues.

[Rob]

Mr. Griffin: I just checked out the blog of someone in the Canadian media who's also close to the team, and he's saying Rosenthal's article is "all true".

Any thoughts on this?

[chris]

Why am I not suprised J.P. Ricciardi is somewheres in this mess?

[SillyEric]

I know you can blame J.P. Ricciardi for many things, but seriously?

[Tony Randazz]

lol- Blue Jays Mutiny? Guys liek Wells, Overbay, Millar can complain all they want..they are barely avgerage ball players these days. Cito may not be the right man for this young squad BUT first things first, FIRE Jp, hire a GM then let the chips fall where they may.

Ive never seen so much turmoil under a GM that headed a .450-505 franchise in my life. At least the 1970 A's and Yankees had turmoil but they won. Lets not lose focus Jays, forget all the smoke screens etc and realize its JP realizing he will never get another GM gig and is trying desperately to deflect blame. Fire Jp and then worry about Cito..keep your eyes on the task at hand.

[SMT]

This comes out AFTER all the home games are played, so fans can't tell the players what they think of them.

Gutless, makes me want to vomit.

Steve

[Brian]

Richard,

You state that the Yankees were aware of problems in the Jays clubhouse back in early September, which suggests that you were aware back then too. Why didn't you mention something then?

Your last sentence – many villains, few heroes – also seems to imply you know more than you're reporting. Why is this?

Mostly, Richard, I enjoy (and agree with) your column but this one seems to be more filler than actual reporting.

[Terry O'Shaunghnessy]

Mr. Griffin: I just was speaking with a guy at the bus station who said he know someone who knew Cito Gaston. Said the whole thing is "a great stinkin' lie". He also asked me if I had "any booze".

Any thoughts on this?

[Vince]

What a classless act. They way that Delgado was ran out of town, the way Roy was left out to dry at the all-star game. People make mistakes and sometimes huge ones, but there is something to be said about being a class act and JP is definitely not. On the other hand, Cito is a class act all the way. And whoever anonymously tipped off the team is classless.

Whatever problems a player had with Cito, it should be discussed with him directly or with JP, but I guess JP is in no position to do anything for anybody. I hope the Jays get an overhaul like the Leafs with Burke. Cito will likely be gone, but I still have respect for the man. The same cannot be said with the other management types.

[Anonymous]

Listen, JP is just mad because the team is among the best in September. He probably feels that he's been had by Gaston and Beeston -- let's call them the Ston-Boys or Stonistas -- and he's just exploding IEDs on his way out.

[brian festi]

This story got me thinking, and got me to notice something.
There is only one black man (Vernon Wells) on the Blue Jays 40 man roster.
The bigs have always been famous as (next to hockey) the most white of pro leagues. That's one of the reasons there have been so few black managers.
Is there fire below this smoke??

His previous teams had blacks on the mound, short and all outfield positions.

[Hack]

Say what you will about Cito (and I've often been critical of his moves), if he did say "there aren't any good players in here", he's absolutely right. Outside of the pitching staff, this has been an atrocious lineup the past two seasons. Except for Hill, Lind, Scutaro, and Rolen, there's no one in this lineup who could play for a contender, except maybe as a backup. In 8 years Ricciardi has managed to develop 2 position players (and the jury is out on Snider). You can make excuses about injuries and how hard it is to compete in the AL East, but that's a horrible record, and one that would have gotten him fired long ago from any well-run organization. If you can't develop your own talent, you won't compete in any division.

[WastedPotential]

As an earlier comment mentioned, since this stinks of a classless shot over the bough by Ricciardi using his pals in the media the Blue Jays should act promptly by firing him today so that it's clear to everyone where this cowardly end-around has originated.

P.S.

It ain't just the U.S. media. Local J.P. lapdog Mike Wilner is spreading the same garbage using 9 or 10 "unnamed players" aka cowards as the source for the "entire clubhouse" turning against Cito Gaston and his closest coaching associates. I guess Sabermetrics wasn't able to measure character because it's pretty apparent that this clubhouse is infested with entitled young men incapable of taking professional criticism.

[Bruce from Etobicoke]

Did you attend any games this year Richard? Really?

Did any other manager in baseball bat his worst hitters 3/4/5 this year as Cito Gaston did? Millar and his .220 BA and his .302 OBP hitting FOURTH in line up after line up!

And you still try to link this to JP? Wow....

[Bruce from Etobicoke]

Sorry gang, but Cito's lineups (and the predictable lack of run support that resulted) cost the best pitcher in all of baseball the Cy Young this year.

The players probably feel Doc's pain, not just their own...

[Punji]

What a joke, the jays players are chronic under-achievers and now are forced to be accountable, this is how they react.

SIMPLY COWARDLY

This years edition Blue Jays needs to be completely blown up, because its completely unprofessional.

[UltimateToronto]

Without question, this stinks of JP. He had to fire 1/4 of his front office staff AFTER spewing out his budget on big money contracts (Ryan, Rios, Wells, McDonald), all of which were epic fails. JP's on his way out, so he's not going down alone.

That said, I find it hard to believe sweethearts like Lind, Overbay and Barajas would find anything bad to say about their skipper. Cito's like a father-figure to Lindy - you really think he would revolt against the manager? I think "the entire team" accusation needs to be a small klik. Isn't that right, Vernon?

[Bob Hathway]

Exactly what has the GM Ricciardi accomplished in his tenure in Toronto? It's unfortunate that Cito still believes in his players and mistakenly thought that this loyalty would be returned. However, baseball players today have all of the character and moral fibre of earwigs in that it's all "me, me, me" and forget about the team. As far as I'm concerned, fire Ricciardi, send 90% of the roster to the minors, and bring in players who want to play and do well.

[Penguin]

I'm not a Cito fan. Never have been. I won't get into the reasons why as they are as irrelevant now as is this whole story, although as always I find your views very interesting. All that counts is that eventually there will be a new president. Then I hope there will be a new GM. They will decide if there will be a new manager and I suspect they will, in fact, choose a new one who is their person and therefore their responsibility. I will state, once more, that until JP is gone and until Rogers shows more commitment to this team (budget), I will not be attending any more Jays games or buying Rogers products. Now bring on the NBA season and GO RAPTORS.

[Rob]

Terry: That was a darling little comment, my friend!

Well done.