Gibby is back.
On Wednesday evening, it was reported by Will Sammon that the New York Mets would be hiring former Blue Jays manager John Gibbons as the bench coach on new manager Carlos Mendoza’s staff.
The 61-year-old has had two stints with the Blue Jays. He managed the team from 2004 to 2008, collecting a 307-305 record in 612 games. He was fired during the 2008 season when the Blue Jays got off to a 35-39 start and was replaced by Cito Gaston.
Gibbons returned to the Blue Jays in 2013 after John Farrell left the team to manage the Red Sox. He amassed a 486-484 record this time around, which doesn’t appear much better at a glance, but Gibbons’ second stint as manager of the Blue Jays was much more memorable.
The 2013 and 2014 seasons were frustrating, but the Gibbons led the Blue Jays to deep runs into the playoffs in both 2015 and 2016. He became a beloved manager in Toronto for his laid-back and casual demeanour and his propensity to get thrown out of games for arguing with umpires.
Gibbons stuck around for three seasons after Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins took over but was let go following the 2018 season after the Blue Jays went 73-89. The team wanted a new voice when heading into its rebuild and Gibbons was given a nice send-off for his final game.
Joining the Mets is a homecoming for Gibbons. They selected him in the first round of the 1980 MLB draft and he played in 18 games with the big league club in 1984 and 1986. He began his coaching career with the Mets as a roving catching instructor in 1990 and then started managing in their minor-league system.
Gibbons hasn’t worked for a Major League team since he was with the Blue Jays, but has remained in the community with his own podcast. We here at Blue Jays Nation wish nothing but the best for Giccy. Hopefully, this will lead to him getting another opportunity to manage a big-league team, because he definitely deserves it.
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