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Cito Gaston is not a soothsayer, but three weeks into the job as the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays has him already thinking ahead to next season.
Not that he's writing off this year, at least not yet.
But with the Toronto Blue Jays seated firmly in last place in the American League East standing, 13.5 games out of first, and 9.5 games out of the wild-card spot, heading into tonight's play, the writing on the wall is becoming increasingly clearer to the new manager.
"We're still going to play hard and see what happens," Gaston said earlier Tuesday before the Jays took to the field for the first of a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre.
Cito Gaston observes his team during the three-game sweep in Seattle. (Robert Sorbo/Reuters)
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"There's a lot of teams to get over the top here," Gaston continued. "We're certainly not going to quit. But if you look at our scheduling the rest of the way, it's a pretty tough schedule."
Gaston believes his team, with a record of 42-47, still has a shot at the playoffs with the season heading into the all-star break next week. "But we certainly have to play well to do that," he conceded.
In the 15 games since Gaston took over from John Gibbons, who was fired on June 20, the Jays have played marginally better, showing signs of life offensively but still failing miserably when it comes to clutch hitting. Under Gaston, the Jays are 7-8.
A 2-4 journey on the West Coast pretty well killed Gaston's hopes that the Jays could pull to the .500 level heading into the all-star break.
And now the two-time World Series-winning manager is speaking in excited terms about the prospects for next season and how he hopes to remain in charge for what he is certain will be a big turnaround.
"I think this is going to be a good contending ballclub next year," said Gaston, whose $500,000 deal to manage the Jays runs out at the end of this season. "I really do."
Gaston said the players are slowing coming to terms with the new hitting philosophy he is attempting to instil but allows that it could take a month or more before the turnaround is really evident.
"It's just that you've got to have a plan when you go up there," he said. "You just can't go up there looking for the ball, not on this level. It's a little tough to hit that way.
"So I think if we have time to convince these guys that's the right way to go about it, I think the hittings going to turn around."
General manager J.P. Ricciardi was almost as blunt in his hopes for the remainder of the season but insists he still has high expectations for the 2008 Blue Jays.
"My job is to have expectations," he said. "And our expectations are that this team is not as bad as it's played and hopefully will play a little better.
"Now, does that mean we're going to be a playoff team? No, chances are probably not good that way. But that doesn't mean we can't hold out hope that we can play better."
The problem, Ricciardi said, is easy to pinpoint — .238 — Toronto's pitiful average when hitting with runners in scoring position.
"That's it in a nutshell," he said. "That's why they put scoreboards up. You got to score more runs than the other guy and we're not.
"It doesn't mean the guys aren't trying. It just means they're not doing it."
