PITTSBURGH -- The initial reaction to this blast from the past was that it had Paul Godfrey's fingerprints all over it, that in bringing Cito Gaston back to manage the Toronto Blue Jays, general manager J.P. Ricciardi had acquiesced to power from above and that his own tenure was now on the clock and that the Jays have gone all MLSE.
But unless Gaston was starting his second tenure with the Blue Jays by helping Ricciardi cover his butt, the seeds of his return to the job were planted, if not necessarily nurtured, by the GM himself.
Face it: this was a no-brainer for Ricciardi.
"I didn't really think I'd be back managing the Blue Jays again, but as far as managing goes, I think my last offer to come for an interview was a couple of years ago with the [Los Angeles] Dodgers," Gaston said yesterday.
"I will tell you that one of the reasons I didn't go was that I did a lot of interviews over the years and I just didn't get the job. I just felt like I was wasting my time, and their time, too," he said.
"I know talking to J.P. over the last few years, he talked to me about it a few times - 'Would you manage again?' - and I told him the same story: If someone came and asked me to manage again, I probably would. But not to interview for it."
So there we are: Ricciardi had Gaston in his back pocket all along.
Not that this doesn't mean Ricciardi has now pretty much used up most of the currency he has with the Blue Jays' owners. Far from it. He's on record as saying this is the best team he's had since replacing Gord Ash in 2001, and while the team's $100-million (U.S.) payroll is hardly exorbitant by baseball standards (13th largest in the major leagues), it isn't chump change, either.
And sources say his ill-conceived verbal blast at Cincinnati Reds outfielder Adam Dunn on his radio show Wednesday - for which Ricciardi subsequently apologized - was a topic of conversation on Thursday in the corporate offices of Jays' owner, Rogers Communications. Not good.
Ricciardi and Gaston met with the Blue Jays' players yesterday, and Ricciardi made it clear he bore responsibility for the construction of the team - that he was the person who put it together.
Indeed, Gibbons was hardly a terrible manager - his use of the pitching staff was seldom an issue among those who know the game - but the Blue Jays' offence has been brutal.
Going into last night's game, the Blue Jays' third-place and fourth-place hitters were hitting a combined .258, with 11 home runs. The rest of the American League teams averaged .271, with 21 homers.
As a team, the Blue Jays were hitting .231 with runners in scoring position and had 13 homers, and had grounded into 32 double plays. The rest of the AL was hitting .270 with runners in scoring position and averaging 20 double plays.
It's a tough team to simply blow up, since Ricciardi has nine players locked into long-term deals through 2010 and three more who are guaranteed to be Blue Jays through 2011. Two of those three - Vernon Wells and Aaron Hill - have options that could keep them with the Blue Jays through 2014. Alex Rios's contract includes a club option for 2015.
Wells has a full no-trade clause and can opt out of his contract after 2011. Rios has a full no-trade clause in 2009-10 and a limited no-trade clause (to six teams) from 2011 to the expiration of his contract.
(Approached for comment about the day's news, Rios said: "I don't want to talk about what happened today. We can talk about other stuff. How about boats?")
Hill's contract contains option years from 2012 to 2014, but the Jays must decide whether to exercise all three options before the start of the 2011 season. After 2011, the club can only exercise options for 2012 and 2013.
Ricciardi is also under contract through 2010, but he's under no illusions about his chances of finishing out the deal. He knows that if Gaston doesn't turn this team around, he could find himself out of a job as early as September, since it stands to reason Godfrey would want Ricciardi's replacement in place in time for the general managers and winter meetings.
"It's a business," Ricciardi said.
The body language around the Blue Jays' dugout before batting practice was telling.
Brian Butterfield, the bench coach, sat by himself at the end of the dugout, staring out to the field. Nick Leyva and Gene Tenace, two crusty lifers either as major-league players or coaches and managers, were noticeable front and centre.
Ricciardi shrugged when it was suggested Gaston's style might not be any more "butt-kicking" in nature than Gibbons's. "Gene and Nick can be hard asses," he said.
The culture change was already palpable, and shortly after batting practice began, there was Gaston moving next to Rios, whose lack of power resulted in a move from the middle of the order to the leadoff spot, yet who was back in the No. 3 hole last night for the first time since June 7.
"See that?" Ricciardi said, pointing to the two men and smiling, likely for the first time all day.
What's happened since Gaston's last stint:
Blue Jays record: 855-843
Blue Jays managers: Tim Johnson, Jim Fregosi, Buck Martinez, Carlos Tosca, John Gibbons
Other American League East managers: New York Yankees (2), Boston Red Sox (4), Tampa Bay Rays (4), Baltimore Orioles (5)
Blue Jays postseason appearances: 0
AL East winners: Yankees (9), Red Sox (1), Orioles (1)
World Series winners: Yankees (3), Red Sox (2), Florida Marlins (2), Arizona Diamondbacks, Anaheim
Angels, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals
Things that didn't exist in 1997
12 stadiums: (Phoenix, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis,
San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C.)
2 teams: Rays and Diamondbacks began play in 1998
mlb.com: Baseball didn't own its now-famous website address until the sport purchased it
from a Philadelphia law firm in 2000
Steroid controversy: Began slowly during Mark McGwire's home-run-record chase in 1998
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