Blue Jays have ‘potential’
Manager believes ‘good veteran team’ can vie for playoff spot in 2018
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — John Gibbons’ official MLB Winter Meetings press conference didn’t start off well for the Blue Jays manager.
The conference opened with Gibbons being asked about finishing 30th (dead last) in an annual Most Handsome Manager ranking put out by NBC Sports.
“That’s shocking, especially since Gardy’s (Ron Gardenhire) back,” said Gibbons, with a laugh. “But that kind of brought me down to my knees a little bit. But, you know, hey, beauty’s only skin deep but ugly’s to the bone.”
Gibbons’ (fake) anguish evaporated quickly when he was asked about the Jays reportedly going after free agent starter CC Sabathia. As of Wednesday morning, Jays’ GM Ross Atkins had yet to confirm or deny a Tuesday meeting with Sabathia but Gibbons seemed very pleased about the possibility of the big left-hander coming to Toronto. Despite dealing with a knee injury during the 2017 season, the 37-year-old Sabathia finished the season 14-5 with a 3.69 ERA, 120 strikeouts and a 1.27 WHIP in 148.2 innings over 27 starts.
“Oh, yeah, I love him. I’ve always liked him. He’s coming off a big year, yeah. And he’s available,” said Gibbons. “(And) he’s a workhorse, man. He’s always pitched well against us. One of the great competitors in the game for a number of years. I thought he looked strong last year. He had that knee issue and some things that kind of hampered him, the hammy I think it was.
“But, yeah, I thought he looked really, really good last year. He’s got that good breaking ball and he’s a big, strong guy,” the manager added.
The Yanks made a huge off-season splash by trading for MLB home run and RBI leader Giancarlo Stanton and are now widely favoured to win the 2018 World Series, with the Boston Red Sox not too far behind. The Jays have still yet to make any major offseason moves, other than trading for shortstop Aledmys Diaz. Given that, it might be a tall order for Atkins to convince top-of-theline free agents to sign in Toronto if they want to go for a championship in 2018. Gibbons, however, is confident the Jays can compete for a playoff spot.
“We’re coming off a tough year, no doubt, but you got guys like Russell Martin, (Josh) Donaldson coming behind you, got a lot of good things,” he said. “It’s a good veteran team, it’s got the potential and chance to win some. It’s a pretty good group and really it’s one team, one country; that’s a selling point. Great fan support, all that stuff.”
Signing Sabathia would not only be a plus for the Jays’ rotation, it would knock the Yanks down a notch, if ever so slightly. New York has also talked to Sabathia about coming back. Gibbons fully expects the other AL East juggernaut, the Red Sox, to make a splash this offseason — all of which makes it that much more difficult for the Jays to compete for a post-season spot. But that’s always been the case with playing in the AL East and Gibbons isn’t going to sweat it.
“One thing in my big league (managing) career, I’ve always been in this division. And that’s kind of the way it works,” he said. “They make big moves, they try to make big moves. You got to try to keep pace with it. Especially with the Yankees coming off a big year and now they’ve just added to it. But I think there are limitations sometimes to what you can do. But I don’t think you can be distracted by that. It’s a reality. If you want to beat these guys, you’ve got to try to keep pace. But you still have your plan and target your guys and hopefully you land them. Because it’s not just a grab bag you can have anybody you want. It doesn’t work that way.”
Gibbons expects big year from Donaldson
Gibbons said he is not worried that Donaldson’s contract status next season will become a distraction. The 2015 AL MVP becomes a free agent at the end of the 2018 campaign if the Jays don’t sign him to a contract extension.
“Well, he’s pretty good at blowing you off, too, if he don’t want to talk to you,” said Gibbons, when it was suggested that Donaldson will be asked about his contract status frequently next season. “But I don’t think it will distract him. You’re not going to find a more motivated individual. You guys probably figured that out. He knows he’ll be a free agent unless, of course, we sign him, so that will motivate him more and he might have a monster year. I expect him to have a monster year, because that’s what he thrives on.
“They’re all different,” Gibbons said about players heading into their final year before free agency. “It affects them all differently. Some of them press a little bit more because, hey, it’s here, this is what I’ve been looking for and that affects their play. That can really hurt you in baseball. Guys like Josh, it motivates them. It will motivate him to have the biggest year he’s ever had and he might do it.”
‘I love our outfield’
Gibbons waved aside suggestions that the Jays’ outfield — barring a significant trade or free agent signing — will be subpar next season.
“I love our outfield,” he said. “We can get better. There were some plays that needed to be made (in 2017) and no doubt that affects your team. But there’s guys also playing some positions that’s not necessarily their strength. That’s an area we’re trying to target, no doubt, because Jose (Bautista) won’t be around either.
“We don’t know what (Anthony) Alford’s going to do. He may come on fast. You got Teoscar Hernandez, who’s got a ton of talent. I don’t think necessarily bank on them that those are your guys, but they could come out of nowhere and shock us and turn into some of the better players in the game,” Gibbons added.