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News and Notes: Cito Gaston joins IBL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, John Gibbons reaches the NLCS, and more

Originally posted on Bluejaysnation | By Ryley Delaney | Last updated Oct 11, 2024 8:20 PM ET

The 2024 postseason is chugging along, but there is some news regarding current and past Blue Jays.

A few days ago, the annual Arizona Fall League started with several current Blue Jays prospects playing, while there was an update on the team’s player development complex. Moreover, two former Blue Jay managers are in the news.

Let’s dig into all of that in the latest News and Notes!

Arizona Fall League update

The 32nd annual Arizona Fall League began Monday with eight Blue Jays prospects playing in the league: Lazaro Estrada, Kendry Rojas, T.J. Brock, Ryan Jennings, Johnathan Lavallee, Adrian Pinto, Eddinson Paulino, and Peyton Williams.

Rojas, the Jays’ top prospect in the league, had a rough first outing, giving up two earned runs in an inning pitched, finishing with two strikeouts and a walk while being tagged with the loss. Brock also pitched in that game, allowing a hit, a free pass, and striking out two in his inning of work. Williams hit a rare triple that drove in a run, while Pinto walked and struck out once.

The day before, the Scottsdale Scorpions lost 19-3 with Lazaro Estrada being the only Blue Jays pitcher in the game. He pitched three innings, giving up a run but striking out two. Pinto had two singles, while Paulino and Williams each hit a single.

Aside from Rojas and the two pitchers who’ve yet to have game action, there has been early success for the Jays prospects so far, albeit the team is 0-2.

Hurricane Milton’s impact

Hurricane Milton touched down in the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday evening, causing more than $30 billion in damages. Thankfully, it appears that the Blue Jays player development complex avoiding any major damage, according to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith.

Blue Jays’ player development complex is not far away but as of now Jays don’t believe there’s major damage to the PDC. Per team, focus is on making sure Jays people are safe & supported as Hurricane Milton develops. https://t.co/5u8nxqHbrK

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) October 10, 2024

The team’s player development complex is located in Dunedin, Florida, located less than four kilometres off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Opened in early 2021, the complex cost the organization just under $100 million, so this is the best news the team could’ve asked for.

Unfortunately for the Tampa Bay Rays, the same cannot be said about their stadium, Tropicana Field, as the fibreglass roof was nearly completely ripped open. Although it was planned for the stadium to be a base camp for first responders, no one was on the field at the time.

Now that the sun is up, here’s a 360-degree view of the damage Hurricane Milton caused to Tropicana Field’s roof and the inside of the ballpark. Absolutely heartbreaking pic.twitter.com/ZCtPHv6rE9

— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) October 10, 2024

It’s unclear what will happen next for the Rays, who have a new stadium in the works that is set to open before the beginning of the 2028 season.

Former manager John Gibbons is in the NLCS

On Wednesday, the New York Mets punched their ticket to the National League Championship Series thanks to a Francisco Lindor grand slam in the bottom of the sixth. Two-time manager of the Blue Jays, John Gibbons, serves as the team’s bench coach after they hired him in November 2023.

Gibbons first joined the Blue Jays organization in 2002 as a bullpen catcher, before a promotion to first base coach. During the 2004 season, Gibbons was promoted to manager of the team, a role he had for just under four years before he was fired midway through the 2008 season. We’ll discuss the manager who replaced him in a bit.

After the 2012 season, the Blue Jays once again hired Gibbons, who had much better success with the team, appearing in two American League Championship Series in 2015 and 2016. Entering a full rebuild during the 2018 season, Gibbons and the team agreed to part ways, with the manager finishing with a 793-789 behind the bench.

Cito Gaston join IBL’s Toronto Maple Leafs

Gibbons is arguably the Toronto Blue Jays’ second-best manager in team history. Without question, Cito Gaston is the franchise’s best manager since they came into the league in 1977. It was reported by Mark Colley of The Star that Gaston would serve as the special advisor of the IBL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.

Taking the helm of the 1989 Jays, Gaston finished first in the American League East four times, making the American League Championship Series in 1989 and 1991 before winning back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993.

He was later fired during the 1997 season but returned as the team’s manager after Gibbons’ departure in 2008. He spent an additional two and a half seasons with the Jays from 2008 to 2010, finishing with a 211-201 record in his second stint. Overall, Gaston finished with an 894-837 record as the team’s manager.

This article first appeared on Bluejaysnation and was syndicated with permission.

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