In the midst of rumours and speculation about an ouster of manager John Gibbons, Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins joined TSN’s OverDrive on Wednesday to discuss a number of Jays hot topics. Of course, Gibbons came up.
Despite being pressed multiple times on the topic, Atkins didn’t allow much to slip. Maybe that’s a statement in and of itself, but as for what he did say, it appears his focus is strictly on day-to-day improvement for the 51-61 Jays.
OverDrive: How would you define the status of John Gibbons for the rest of the season?
Atkins: [Gibbons] and I every day talk about ways we can get better and I really have established a great deal of respect for him ... all of our discussions are about our daily improvement and how to put the best foot forward for each game. As you know, we also now talk a lot more about our future and he is very much a part of those discussions as we think about how we can improve the organization.
So, he’s 100 percent the manager of the rest of the season.
[laughs] Listen, I don’t know the best way to categorize these discussions, but the best thing I can tell you is he is a pleasure to work with and he is absolutely a part of all of our discussions that involve the future.
Well, but Ross, you can understand why we’re trying to get a clarification here, because there are reports that he could be out by the end of the week and it doesn’t sound like you’re definitively saying that he’ll be here even next week, let alone by the end of the season. So is that all you can tell us?
Our commitment is to improvement and getting better every day and that goes for every employee here. I absolutely respect and understand your interest and your inquiry, but our focus is on how we get better every day.
Mysterious! If nothing else, that’s some quality interview repartee. While certainly non-committal, it mostly sounds like an endorsement of Gibbons’ values, but it’s glaring that there wasn’t even a firm stance on his short-term security. So, who knows?
In the rest of the interview, Atkins also discusses the Roberto Osuna trade (he’s happy with the value from a baseball perspective), as well as a prospective Vlad Jr. call-up and Josh Donaldson’s injury status.
