Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
Not sure there is a case to be made to not bring him back.
This team almost made the payoffs in a year where they were never expected to be this close.
The club already picked up his option for next year i believe i read a couple months back.
This team, as has been mentioned many times, had to move and play their home games in 3 different ball parks in the middle of a pandemic. I cant imagine the stress on the guys with families though all that stuuf, but Montoya kept them in line and focused.
I think the job he did was commendable considering the circumstances.
Shapiro/Athkins are fans from what I can tell and likely are ging to ride with him and give him a chance to see what he can do with a very young group through a "normal" year.
I think you add all that up and there is virtually no scenario where he is fired.
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There’s no question that he hasn’t done a decent job, especially as mentioned given some tough circumstances this year, but is he the guy that ultimately is going to get them to the next step which isn’t just a playoff game, but playoff series wins? Anthopolus brought back Gibby 2.0 to win because he trusted him completely to get extra out of the roster.
As I said, if the Jays stumble, for whatever reason, through April and early May 2022, with a overall pretty solid young roster that should be a year better, higher expectations based on this season, plus whatever off season moves are made, he’s firmly, as things go in sports, the one to take the blame and thus on a hot seat from the fans and non-Rogers media. If they let him go next season then it has set the season back and will be tough to recover no matter who comes in and you’ve wasted a year of development.
A nice guy, good manager, but is he the guy that Atkins and Shapiro truly think will be the guy to continue to push and mold this up and coming roster to contend like Anthopolus thought of Gibbons? If yes, then ok, that’s their call and they roll with him for years. If they aren’t sure, then this off-season is the time to bring a new voice in to get the roster immediately focused in a different mindset and higher aspirations from Game 1 in April, to help avoid any sort of player “hangover” after getting so close/ a taste this year and keep this roster’s development moving forward, not risking it stalling.
It’s not firing him for bad moves or overall performance in his time here it’s just taking the necessary step for getting this team to reach to a higher level if there is an alternative out there that they think will elevate this team higher then Montoyo can next year and for the next 2 to 3 years (I think of Joel Queneville getting hired in Chicago years back, as a total surprise replacement of Savard).
And yes, though with Rogers being cheapish, that’s certainly at play here too.