Jays “Finalizing” An Extension With John Gibbons: Report

Dear John, you’re wanted  by the new regime!

OK, so maybe ol’ Gibbers doesn’t look quite as Ray Liotta-y as he once did (maybe? a little bit??), but when you think about it, can’t we all say the same thing?

Anywho, stop me if you’ve heard this one, but the Blue Jays appear as though they’re going to commit to manager John Gibbons with a contract extension.

Oh? You’ve heard this before? Well… OK… but now Jon Heyman is saying it at Fan Rag Sports. He’s taken those musty old useless newspaper pages from three weeks ago at the start of Spring Training, which said that an extension was coming, and those impenetrable quotes from John Gibbons at the time about how he was “optimistic” and how he’d told Ross Atkins to worry about the roster first before worrying about a contract for himself, and how this was totally always going to happen, and he’s moved it a notch forward.

The deal is being “finalized”! Sources expect to have it “in place by opening day”!

Which isn’t to say that what Heyman has here isn’t news. It’s just… who wouldn’t want Gibbons back? Of course the Jays are trying to make sure that Gibbons stays around for a long time. He may not get how splits work, or always run his bullpen optimally, or understand making Devon Travis the lead-off hitter doesn’t mean that any other second baseman who spells him for a game has to hit lead-off as well, or a whole bunch of other mostly trivial things in the grand scheme of how he does his job. But he’s Gibbons! Gobbins! GOBBOBS!!! Gibbers. Johnny fuckin’ Appleseed.

Could you say no to this face, you monster?

Plus, y’know, he’s still technically the previous regime’s guy.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, this definitely makes him more the new regime’s guy, and by all accounts — including Heyman’s — they really do like the way he handles his players and communicates with the folks upstairs. This isn’t just the front office keeping themselves insulated from the heat of a season potentially going off the rails, or for fucking once figuring out how to stay out of their own way.  But it’s not not that either, I don’t think.

A disaster season with “Wedgie” at the helm or letting Gibbons languish as a lame duck would do the front office no PR favours, so this should have been a pretty damned easy decision to make. Which… y’know… is why we’ve known it was coming for quite a long time.

Good on ya, though, Gibbers!