Blue Jays present Charlie Montoyo as leader rather than tactician

TORONTO – Anyone who thinks they know exactly what kind of manager Charlie Montoyo will be at the highest level is kidding themselves.

Even Ross Atkins and the Toronto Blue Jays front office is making an educated guess – although it certainly looks like a good bet given his stellar minor-league track record and the baseball world’s seemingly-unanimous approval after his hiring was announced.

“I probably had well over 100 people who don’t know me or do know me that were complimenting him and complimenting the hire,” Atkins said of the response within the industry. “It was the consistency of the message that really resonated.”

After Montoyo’s introductory press conference, it’s still hard to say what to expect from his managing style – because from the outset that’s not what the Blue Jays chose to emphasize. Instead, from the beginning of the event to the end, Atkins hammered home the message that Montoyo was an exceedingly special person and leader.

Atkins began by telling the story of asking minor-league managers and coaches in the Indians organization about him when he was a farm director in 2007, only to be wowed by the response.

“They would always talk about the person, and the character, and how good a person he was. This is a very, very competitive world we live in and that is very unusual.”

He also paraphrased what an active player told him about the 53-year-old.

“‘First and foremost he’s a remarkable human being, he’s a great father, he’s a great husband, and he gives me a great deal of confidence the guidance he’s providing is very good guidance. He does that consistently and I want to get to the field every day to see him.’ That is leadership in baseball. We could not be more proud or more honoured to add that leadership to our culture.”

Though the way Atkins chose to frame Montoyo’s hiring may seem bland, it’s interesting from a PR perspective. Because the Blue Jays had just moved on from a folksy, likeable, older manager with a strong minor-league resume, you’d think the club would position Montoyo as a progressive tactician from the Tampa Bays Rays’ school of out-of-the-box thinkers as a contrast. Instead, they went with the “Montoyo is a good guy” angle.

“This hire is less so about Tampa and more about the man, the character, the toughness, and the passion,” Atkins offered when asked what he could bring from the Rays. “I could speak for a long time about those things.”

To Montoyo’s credit, he certainly appeared to be the man Atkins billed him as. He was good-natured and charming, and cracked choice jokes throughout the process. He thanked everyone under the sun when he got the chance to speak, and looked the part of a humble, hard-working, baseball man.

“There have been plenty of good phone calls, and being that kind of guy I replied to all of them,” he said early on with a smile. “I don’t want anybody to say I’ve changed already.”

Montoyo discussed at length about how grateful he was for the opportunity, and how happy he was to see fellow Rays alum Rocco Baldelli get hired. He talked about always focusing on being the best at the job at hand and not getting ahead of yourself. He told a story about how he put media guides from teams with managing vacancies in the lockers of his fellow Rays coaches as a joke encouraging them to shoot for the stars. It would have been difficult to come away from the event thinking less of Charlie Montoyo.

Interestingly, though, answers to questions about tactics by either Montoyo or Atkins tended to be vague or evasive. When Montoyo was asked what he saw in today’s game that he might do differently, he didn’t offer any clues.

“I’m one of those guys that never likes second-guessing the other guys because I know what it’s like. I’m sure whatever decision they make they thought about it pretty strongly,” he said. “The shifting and that stuff is part of the game now, and people do it because there’s numbers and that’s one thing I can tell you that I learned being with the Rays – those things work. But there’s other stuff that doesn’t work.”

When Atkins was asked what might make him special as a decision maker, the answer had no specifics to speak of.

“I think open-mindedness and a lack of ego,” he said. “It’s not about being right it’s about getting it right, and it’s become abundantly clear that’s who he is.”

Montoyo was given the opportunity to state what kind of manager he expected to be and he focused on the interpersonal.

“[I’m] somebody who communicates a lot. That’s one of my strengths. Respect for the players, because I know it’s not an easy game to play. So whatever I do as a manager I’ll help the players feel the buck stops with me.”

None of this suggests Montoyo will be tactically-deficient in the slightest. There’s a good chance he’ll be strong in that area considering the success he had in Triple-A – a notoriously tricky level with massive roster turnover and rocky clubhouses full of often-bitter veterans – and the time he spent on the Rays coaching staff.

What it does mean is that element of his skill set is not what the Blue Jays are looking to highlight. On Monday, their goal was to sell Montoyo, and they went in a different direction.

That different direction ended up feeling mighty familiar. Watching Atkins touting a manager as a communicator, and just a great person, it was hard not to think of Montoyo’s predecessor. Even Montoyo’s descriptions of himself felt rather Gibbons-esque at times.

“I’m a blend of old school and analytics,” he said. “I think using both makes you a better manager. I wouldn’t say I’m one way or the other.”

He also touched on the common Gibbons mantra of never assuming you know more than anyone else.

“As a manager I know that I don’t always have the answer. I’m always looking for useful information. It can come from different places. Whether it’s from the coaches, or from the front office.”

The sense of deja vu got to the point that Atkins was asked straight up whether Montoyo was the Hispanic John Gibbons.

“That’s certainly not the way I think of it,” he replied. “I’m excited about Charlie. I’m excited about where he’s been and what he’s done.”

Montoyo and Gibbons may not end up having much in common. The former seems likely to be more collaborative than the latter, and perhaps Montoyo will dip into the Rays’ in-game bag of tricks and make less conventional moves.

Based on the way he was presented Monday, you could forgive the comparison, though.

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