Jays announce Charlie Montoyo as manager

[DigitalRock]

Developing....Saw it on sportsnet.

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-set-hire-charlie-montoyo-manager/

 

Discuss.

[THANOS]

Interesting. Was hoping for Espada personally, but I'm interested to read up on Montoya.

[Sammy225]

How many people are going to call him Montoya till they get it right lol... MONTOYO

[Spanky99]

Sounds like a good hire...

 

Blue Jays set to hire Charlie Montoyo as manager

 

TORONTO – Impressed by the way the Tampa Bay Rays use data in their decision-making on and off the field, the Toronto Blue Jays are set to hire Charlie Montoyo away from their American League East rivals to be their new manager according to an industry source.

 

The decision, perhaps the most important made in Ross Atkins’ three years as GM thus far, comes on the same day Rocco Baldelli, another finalist from the analytically advanced club, was hired by the Minnesota Twins to replace the fired Paul Molitor.

 

David Bell, hired Sunday by the Cincinnati Reds Chicago Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde, and Houston Astros bench coach Joe Espada were the other known finalists for the Blue Jays’ vacancy.

 

Montoyo, a 53-year-old from Florida, Puerto Rico who was in Toronto on Tuesday for an in-person interview, takes over from the departed John Gibbons and will give a rebuilding Blue Jays team a new and much different leader.

 

He also gives them a bilingual voice at the helm at a time when young Latino players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., are on the verge of becoming key parts of the franchise.

 

An infielder, Montoyo appeared in four games for the Montreal Expos during the 1993 season, part of a 10-year pro career that started as a sixth-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987 and included time at triple-A Ottawa during his final season as a player.

 

He joined the Rays immediately after and proceeded to manage at every level of the organization, including eight seasons at triple-A Durham, winning seven South Division titles in the International League.

 

The Rays added him to their big-league staff as third base coach in 2015 and he served three years in that role until his promotion to bench coach this season.

 

At season’s end, Atkins said “tough, smart and passionate,” would be three of the traits he’ll be looking for in the next Blue Jays manager. “Those are the overarching themes as I think about what it means to lead an environment in here to sustain championship-level expectations, understanding what it takes for communication to keep not just 25-man roster, but also the 40-man roster, the 200 minor-league players, the 100-plus scouts, the 100-plus coaches and medical staff people pulling in one direction and feeling connected. That person has to be an organizational leader and spokesperson, not just a leader of the 25-man clubhouse.”

 

Similarly, being able to better use all the different pieces of information the front office can offer a coaching staff would be pivotal, and where the person worked would be more important than any pre-existing relationship.

 

The hiring process gave the Blue Jays a chance to peek behind the curtain of a number of different organizations. Atkins has described the Astros and the Rays as two teams “a little bit ahead of the curve” in integrating information for use on the field into their in-game decision making, so it’s no surprise three of the finalists came from those organizations.

 

Baldelli, the immensely talented centre-fielder whose career was cut short by injuries, has an intriguing blend of front office and coaching experience, having spent four years as a special assistant in baseball operations focused on scouting and player development before returning to uniform.

 

He took over as Rays first base coach in 2015 before moving into the major-league field co-ordinator role this season.

 

Espada joined the Astros as bench coach this year after Alex Cora was hired to manage the Boston Red Sox. He spent the previous three seasons as the New York Yankees’ third base coach after serving as a pro scout for them in 2014.

 

A second-round pick of the Oakland Athletics in 1996 who topped out at triple-A, Espada cut his coaching teeth with the Marlins, starting out as a hitting coach at single-A Jupiter in 2006 before being promoted to minor-league infield co-ordinator in 2008.

 

He was the Marlins’ third-base coach from 2010-13.

 

Hyde, meanwhile, got into coaching after a four-year minor-league career, working five seasons in the Marlins system before being promoted to bench coach of the big-league club. He joined the Cubs in 2012 as minor-league field co-ordinator and was named manager Rick Renteria’s bench coach in 2014.

 

When Joe Maddon took over as Cubs manager in 2015, Hyde stayed on as first base coach, before being moved back to bench coach this year.

 

The Blue Jays parted ways with the beloved Gibbons – who joined Bobby Cox and Cito Gaston as the only managers in franchise history to lead the club into the post-season – after a miserable 2018 season.

[DigitalRock]

How many people are going to call him Montoya till they get it right lol... MONTOYO

 

Guilty as charged.

[Carlos Danger]

Glad he speaks Spanish.

[Sammy225]

Not going to lie i am a little excited to see the comments in the Sportsnet articles to see what "fans" think of this lol

[BTS]

A bit surprised that they went with a 53-year old.

[Carlos Danger]

Also glad they respected the WS and announced on an off day.

 

Although, they should have also respected Spanky reaching 50,000 posts and not force him to share the limelight on the board😕

[DigitalRock]

Not going to lie i am a little excited to see the comments in the Sportsnet articles to see what "fans" think of this lol

 

They are already as bad as you can think, first one I read was "Another stellar decision by the head office, I miss when Labatt owned the team". You know most people have no clue who this guy even is.

[Jonn]

Damn he ugly as hell.

[Dick_Pole]

Sounds like a reasonable hire, given the two minutes of research I have done on him - reading that article Spanky posted.

[dineke]

I was hoping for John farrell

[DigitalRock]

Damn he ugly as hell.

 

Good point...who wants to look at an ugly 53 yr old all year.

[Jonn]

Good point...who wants to look at an ugly 53 yr old all year.

 

I want to look at Gabe Kapler all year.

[Dick_Pole]

A bit surprised that they went with a 53-year old.

 

Meh. 53 is not 70. A 53 year old with extensive experience in an organization that embraces analytics is better than a 40 year old that is not. Also Gibbons is older by three years.

[BTS]

Meh. 53 is not 70. A 53 year old with extensive experience in an organization that embraces analytics is better than a 40 year old that is not. Also Gibbons is older by three years.

 

I don't think it's a problem, I just thought I remembered someone from the FO saying they were looking for a younger bilingual guy.

[Jonn]

I was hoping for Joe Espada. He's 10 years younger really close to the players and has experience both coaching and in the front office. I don't know anything about Montoyo but stealing from the Rays never seems like a bad idea. Maybe he has a the secret formula to winning in that s*** hole Stadium.

[Carlos Danger]

I want to look at Gabe Kapler all year.

 

Hi Pat Tabler, how’s your day going?

[Spanky99]

I don't think it's a problem, I just thought I remembered someone from the FO saying they were looking for a younger bilingual guy.

 

Atkins... I was hoping for Espada as he's 43, meh... seems good.

[Effit]

I’m having a difficult time rolling Montoyo off the tongue, so I think I will just have to call him Monty.

[Dick_Pole]

I don't think it's a problem, I just thought I remembered someone from the FO saying they were looking for a younger bilingual guy.

 

I suppose the term "younger" is up for debate when discussing managers. He is younger than Gibbons so by that measure it remains true.

[BigCecil]

Continuing to trust in Atkins and Shapiro. At the end of the day I'm far more interested in their farm development and who they put on the field than choice of Mgr.

[P2F]

For absolutely no rational reasons at all, I was really hoping for Espada. Since this front office sat down with both he and Montoyo, I trust that they've made the correct decision here, and that Espada is actually an old-school guy while Montoyo is more analytically-inclined.

[Ray]

This is really cool:

 

[Orgfiller]

For absolutely no rational reasons at all, I was really hoping for Espada. Since this front office sat down with both he and Montoyo, I trust that they've made the correct decision here, and that Espada is actually an old-school guy while Montoyo is more analytically-inclined.

 

I think it's entirely possible that they're about equal in terms of analytically-driven decisions and forward thinking, but Montoyo's additional experience pushed the needle just enough for it to not be a coinflip. I'm obviously talking out of my ass of course, as none of us are privy to how the meetings went and how Shatkins ultimately made the decision.

[Sammy225]

A bit surprised that they went with a 53-year old.

 

Do you have to be young to understand the analytics of the game?

[Captain Adama]

Not going to lie i am a little excited to see the comments in the Sportsnet articles to see what "fans" think of this lol

 

Don't....it's a class A carcinogen in there.

 

I know baseball is stats heavy but I am not yet convinced that analytics heavy managing produces champions. The poster child for analytics (the Oakland As) haven't won anything yet except for some popularity due to a movie w Brad Pitt. It's been at least 18 years w analytics and they have no WS championships to show for it.

 

oh no on the advanced stats...hopefully hes not one of those coaches that changes defensive shifts literally by the pitch...lol

[glory]

Baldelli and Espada were linked to other teams. They seemed to have many options. I don't remember reading Montoyo being linked to other teams. I'm not saying the Jays settled, but t may have been an easier sell for Montoyo than the others. At the end of the day he comes from a great org and Shatkins would not have hired him if he wasn't going to implement their philosophies on the field, so I'm not worried. Seems like a good hire.

[Krylian]

Meh. 53 is not 70. A 53 year old with extensive experience in an organization that embraces analytics is better than a 40 year old that is not. Also Gibbons is older by three years.

 

Gibby is only 56? f***! Would've guess 10 years older.