Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.The Globe says the Paul Beeston has decided to remain where he is and remove the "interim" tag from his title. Presumably, so that he can enjoy many years of Alex Anthopoulos' pastel dress shirts.
Not sure what to think of this. Sure, it is nice to know that there's some sense of stability at 1 Blue Jays Way, and that one aspect of the off season equation is taken care of. But on the other side, we've lost an awful lot of faith in Beeston over the past year. (To the point where we've echoed Ghostrunner Drew's assessment of him as a "bumblefuck".)
If the Beest wants to quickly regain the confidence of the fans (and maybe more importantly, the players), he should immediately look to find a harmless consultant position into which he can move his good pal Cito.
It's time to stop living off past glories, and to start creating some new ones.
Long Distance Dedication to Beeston
Because the lyrics seem so appropriate: "The search is over / You were with me all the while." (Also, because this song is now stuck in my head, and I want to share that misery with y'all.)
24 comments:
I can re-embrace the Beest if:
1. He leaves AA to choose his own manager instead of placing a shield of all that's good and holy around his boy Cito.
2. He stays the fuck outta' future negotiations with draft picks.
3. He mandates a re-incorporation of "Blue" into the Blue Jays uni scheme.
Bingo bango bongo. Done.
You see, this is why it should have been me and you, Ack as the President and CEO.
We woulda had that shit done already.
JET!!
Sorry to tell you, but now it looks like Cito will be staying put. I can't see Beeston letting Cito go under his watch.
I bet Halladay leaves though...so there's a change!
Doesn't this move just delay Cito's departure [min. 1 yr, when his contract expires; max. 3 yrs when Beeston's contract expires]?
This pretty much means that they'll be conducting yet another exhaustive president search three years from now. By the way, Pat Gillick will be 75 by then so I think you can cross him off the list.
Agreed. The past year of Beeston has been a mess. There have been other contributing factors of course but if this, uhh...hiring means Cito is safe for another year - that's almost reason enough to hate the move.
As The Ack suggests, get rid of the old man, get the 92' era uniforms back & for god sakes...sign the draft picks!
Let's do this mthrfkrs!
Didn't see this coming, that is the 'flashback to halcion days' President electing to stay on.
I actually don't think the Beest's non-meteroric rise to permanence from 'pro-tem door stop' status isn't such a terrible thing. I think the visible tangibles is that he has whomever at Rogers' ear to make the skydome rain bills like some NBA player/rapper at some Atlanta strip club. So that's a plus. Also, I think the fact that he wants to stay shows that he is willing to put in the work to turn this franchise around, so you have to admire his dedication.
As for the Cito question, well, it may be entirely irrelevant if the club doesn't try to compete next season and goes for a rebuild. Really, you could have a bench boss of Abe Vigoda and Don Knotts as your pitching coach if your roster is composed of young players, crappy players, old players that are now crap, and crappy young players that will always be crap and have no business validating their crappiness by being on the 40 man roster.
Well, aside from that, I agree with The Ack.
I like my old school cap -- even if it makes me look even more like a "special person" than I usually do.
Jyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanet!!!
I wonder if at the end of the three year contract, Beeston will hire himself to conduct the next president search. Nah, even Beeston wouldn't hire that guy after the awful job he just did.
So, if the Jays do little or nothing in the off-season and end up in fourth next year...how hard will it be to keep writing this blog?
The only "If" involved will be whether they finish 4th or 5th. There is no way this team will be better than the Red Sox, Rays or Yanks next year.
The Jays have some potential to surprise - If Lind and Snider continue to improve, if the alien repossesses Vernon Wells' body, and if they somehow manage to keep their pitchers healthy this year. I realize the AL East is a brutal Darwinian experiment, but I'd still take their roster over, say, the Reds or the Padres.
Anon 547 destroyed it with his comment. Well done.
Priesty...weekends won't be easy brother. My new nickname might be Bernie.
And Steve G wins the award for "Most Underwhelming Compliment of All Time".
Thanks! Does it come with an autographed picture of Jose Cruz Jr.?
Don't give up, Ack. I read this blog every day and I enjoy it ever so much. I'm just struggling with my fandom at the moment. We're a long way from "touch 'em all Joe."
Anyways, I was reading Moneyball the other day and the book has a new afterword in which Michael Lewis lambastes a lot of people -- but takes several nasty shots at Dick Griff and Geoff Baker. If you haven't read that afterword, I highly recommend it.
How black and grey became part of the BLUE JAYS color scheme still confuses me. It doesn't mesh with Rogers, Sportsnet, or the bird itself. I do like the new logo itself with the meaner bird. It's a whole fuckload better than the hideous "Buff Blue Jay wrapped around a T" and the equally ugly 97-02 logo. But please, get some classic Jays blue in there and either keep the logo or go back to the classic bird.
Oh yea, Beeston bumblefucked 2009.
/rant
This site is awesome: http://www.sportslogos.net/team.php?id=78
Feel free to waste a good half hour going through it.
According to Griff Beeston staying put actually paves the way for the ouster of Cito.
"So what does this mean for Cito Gaston?
The appointment of Beeston is the only way that replacing Gaston as manager of the Jays – which is now likely – can go smoothly, without rancour and repercussion.
The Jays need a new manager moving forward."
Well, when you fire a manager, you do want to make sure it is without rancour, so that you can still be friends. Hate to lose someone to go out to the movies with, or a bowling partner.
Not that I've ever dissagreed with Griffen before but what he said is ridiculous "The only way that replacing Gaston as manager of the Jays can go smoothly"
Ummm...I can think of two other options:
A) Beeston could have just as easily replaced Gaston as manager before handing over the reigns to someone else. Why that he has now accepted the position full time makes it any better is beyond me?
B) A new president (other than Beeston) could have talked with Cito and let him know that he would like to bring in his own guys, and since Cito has no intention of managing beyond 2010, he does not want to delay putting a plan together until that point. However he recognized Cito's importance to the organization and wants to promote him to an ambassador's role with the club.
So please Griffin, why in your infinite wisdom do you think that Beeston taking the job is a sure fire sign that Cito is gone. Because your initial thoughts are obviously wrong.
I think we can all agree that the Beest's handling of the Gaston situation will be a key marker for the direction the organization will take. All of AA's enthusiasm and fresh ideas will be for naught if he isn't allowed to install his own guy as field manager.
rancour eh? Does Griff expect Cito to react like Captain Kirk in the Wrath of Khan screaming 'Paul! Paul! Paul! at the end of the 'you've been canned' conversation?
It's just a guess, but I don't think Cito will put up too much of a fight if pushed aside in the right way. Cito already was channelling Roger Murtaugh with his "I'm too old for this shit" words when he said that he wants to drift into the golden years with golf club in hand rather than looking at an empty line-up card thinking 'where the hell does Paul Molitor play again?' and 'who the fuck is Brandon League?'
This past season's bitter end hasn't tarnished my opinion of Cito - I'm forever grateful that on record he called Roger Clemens an asshole - but I think if the Beest frames Cito's stepping aside as a necessary condition for the club to construct a solid foundation for the next season and a half to two, then I don't think Cito would have cause to complain as those goals would outstrip his.
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