Source: Jays give Gibbons extension
DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Blue Jays have reached a preliminary agreement on a one-year contract extension with manager John Gibbons, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations. An official announcement could come as early as Monday.
“We’ve talked, but nothing’s done,” Gibbons said early Monday morning.
Gibbons’ new deal would pay him $650,000 in 2008 — a $150,000 raise over his salary for the upcoming ’07 season. Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi was not immediately available for comment.
Last week, Gibbons said that he wasn’t too concerned about his contract situation, describing the issue as a “low priority.”
“To be honest with you, I haven’t given it a whole lot of thought,” Gibbons said on Thursday about being in the last year of his current deal. “I’m not paralyzed by that. It’s a game of results. If we play good, good things happen. If we don’t? Bad things happen.”
Gibbons was named Toronto’s interim manager on Aug. 8, 2004, after the Blue Jays let manager Carlos Tosca go. Since then, Gibbons has led the Jays to a 187-187 record — highlighted by an 87-75 mark last season. In 2006, Toronto finished second in the American League East for the first time since winning the World Series in 1993.
Gibbons might have received an extension at the end of last season had it not been for well-publicized confrontations with former Toronto designated hitter Shea Hillenbrand and former Jays pitcher Ted Lilly. Ricciardi has insisted, though, that those unrelated — and overblown — incidents had no bearing on Gibbons’ contract status.
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