Blue Jays' Gaston will manage till 2011
Brad Arnsberg out as pitching coach
Last Updated: Saturday, October 31, 2009 | 12:22 AM ET
The Canadian Press
In 2011, Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston will move on to advise and consult in all areas of the team's baseball operations, spring training, minor league operations and scouting.
(Gail Burton/Associated Press)Manager Cito Gaston will be hanging around the Toronto Blue Jays a little longer, regardless of how the team performs on the field next season.
The two-time World Series champion will remain in the dugout for the 2010 campaign before moving to a consulting role through 2014.
The decision comes three days after Paul Beeston accepted a three-year term as president and CEO of the Blue Jays.
In 2011, Gaston, 65, will advise and consult in all areas of baseball operations, spring training, minor league operations and scouting.
On the field, Gaston made headlines late this season when reports surfaced of major problems in his relationship with the players.
"With the cards he was dealt and the people on the roster, Cito did the best job he could," said Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "The win total is a reflection of the talent level on the roster.
"No doubt in my mind that this is the right staff going forward."
Clubhouse problems
Centre-fielder Vernon Wells has said he's never seen clubhouse problems so bad in his career while several of the team's other influential players confirmed there were serious troubles, without going into specifics.
Anthopoulos, diplomatically navigating through his first minefield as GM, feels the new combination of new and old will placate players who complained privately at the end of the season about Gaston's "constant negativity," poor communication, old-school approach and hands-off decisions.
Gone from 2009's dysfunctional group are pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, who leaves for the same role in Houston after he and Gaston butted heads for much of the year, and hitting coach Gene Tenace, a friend of Gaston who retires after failing to form a productive working relationship with most of the team's batters.
Gaston's staff in 2010 will consist of third-base coach Brian Butterfield, bench coach Nick Leyva, hitting coach Dwayne Murphy, pitching coach Bruce Walton, bullpen coach Rick Langford and first-base coach Omar Malave.
"In speaking with all of the players, it was clear to me what the problems were, what the concerns were," Anthopoulos said on a conference call, without going into details.
"And sitting down with Paul, getting feedback on what his experience was with the meeting that he had, there's no question there were things to work out, things to deal with.
"I think they were overblown slightly, because truly a lot of these types of things happen with almost all clubs every single year. … I was made aware of a lot of things, but overall it was very clear that these changes — this setup and this staff going forward — is absolutely the right staff for the 2010 season for us."
Player favourite Butterfield will enter his ninth season with Toronto in 2010 after spending the last two years as bench coach.
Murphy effective
Leyva will take Tenace's place and work alongside Gaston after spending the past season as third-base coach.
The quiet but effective Murphy was a six-time Gold Glove Award winner and the Blue Jays organization's roving minor league instructor prior to coaching at first base.
Walton earned his promotion to pitching coach after working in the team's bullpen. The former major league relief pitcher has spent his entire 14-year coaching career in the Toronto organization.
Langford, who served as Blue Jays pitching coach in 2002, returns to Toronto and will work out of the bullpen. He has served as a pitching coach within the organization since 1996.
Malave first joined the Blue Jays as a player in 1981 and remained for eight seasons. Since 1990, the Cumana, Venezuela, native has served in a coaching capacity, having managed more than 2,000 minor league games. He was the skipper for single-A Dunedin the past six years.
Butterfield, Arnsberg and Walton were left over from the fired John Gibbons's staff. Gaston's crew included Tenace, Leyva and Murphy.
General manager J.P Ricciardi was fired the final week of the season, with Anthopoulos taking over.
With files from CBC Sports
