Report: John Gibbons and Blue Jays to part ways after this season

Less than a month after John Gibbons said he wasn’t overly interested in going through a rebuild in Toronto, a new report suggests he won’t have to.

The Blue Jays and their manager are set to part ways at the end of the season, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. And while this development won’t shock anyone who has been following the team, it does mean that Gibbon’s second stint in Toronto is all but officially coming to a close.

According to Heyman, one person familiar with the team said it’s “99.9 percent done” that Toronto will seek a new manager in the winter. Gibbons has reportedly been engaged in talks about the team’s future with GM Ross Atkins for quite some time.

“We’ll sit down after the year and see what direction we’re going to go, myself included,” Gibbons shared on a phone call with Heyman.

Back in August, the veteran manager addressed a report from The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that claimed the Jays “seem destined to move on” from Gibbons at the end of the season. At that time, the Jays, who had just completed several deals at the non-waiver trade deadline, appeared to be heavily focused on a complete rebuild, something that Gibbons was less than thrilled with.

“I’m not so sure I want to go through one of those things — a total rebuild,” Gibbons shared on MLB Network Radio. “We’ll probably sit down … before it’s all said and done and talk that out.”

Gibbons, who has long been a fan favourite north of the border, is in his second stint with the Blue Jays, and his 11th season overall. His services were retained when team president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins joined the club after the 2015 season. The 56-year-old had just led the club to a division title, and secured back-to-back postseason berths with another appearance in 2016.

But those glorious days seem like a distant memory after the team and its fans suffered through two poor seasons in 2017 and 2018.

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