It takes no more than 140 characters to create a stir these days, and Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun has done that via Twitter this evening.
His Tweet says the Mariners have received permission from the Kansas City Royals to talk with John Gibbons, the Royals’ current bench coach and former manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, about their managerial opening.
Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said Sunday that he has spoken with GMs of other teams but didn’t plan to have formal talks with anyone about the Mariners’ opening until next week.
Gibbons definitely fits the “big league managing experience” label that Zduriencik defined weeks ago as one of the parameters of his search. He has backed off that a bit, which opens the field to guys like White Sox bench coach Joey Cora or Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell, two names we’re likely to hear.
Gibbons, meanwhile, is an interesting name when you think about a job in Seattle that will require the next manager to be patient with young players yet demand accountability from everyone, including a stubborn veteran or two.
Gibbons, 48, managed the Blue Jays from midway through the 2004 season to early in the 2008 season and, early in his tenure, worked with a team filled with youth. The Jays went 80-82 in his first full season in 2005 and 87-75 in 2006 when the team added some quality talent like Troy Glaus and Lyle Overbay.
He also dealt head-on with instances of player bitterness by, well, meeting those players head-on. Gibbons had run-ins with Dave Bush, Ted Lily and Frank Thomas, including a shoving incident in the dugout tunnel with Lily (Chone Figgins, beware).
Gibbons was 305-305 as the Jays’ manager when they fired him June 20, 2008. He has been the Royals’ bench coach the past two seasons.
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