I think John Gibbons is the perfect manager for Brett Lawrie. Those guys go together almost to good. For all the hate Lawrie gets, he's never argued with his manager or with teamates or spouted off about playing time, our anything else with the media. His base running mistakes had a lot to do with a manager that was one of the worst tactical ones in MLB. Once Bautista talked to Lawrie about calming himself a little, he really put his head down and just played the game. That was his first full season in the majors. He's still incredibly young and he's going to be an All Star for years to come. Especially when we consider all the scouting reports for him had his defense as his Achilles heel.
For someone who thought Manny Acta was the best fit, John Gibbons is right there as #2. He gets out of the way and just let's players play. There won't be a lot of bunting or running into outs.
There was nobody out there who will be that sought after for any other managerial searches. It was incredibly thin, and besides Acta being out there, there's nobody I thought would be a steal or was a can't miss manager.
This is still Jose Batuista's locker room let's not forget, I think he'll be given even more power under Gibbons. Gibbons to me is at the core, a players manager. I don't see him as this Pat Burns like, total hard ass.
Jays still have a lot of work to do this offseason but it seems like they're far from done. Be interesting to see what else happens in the AL East now.
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