3:03pm: The Jays announced the hiring. Montoyo received a three-year contract with a club option for a fourth season.
1:53pm: The Blue Jays will hire Rays bench coach Charlie Montoyo as their new manager, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (via Twitter). Montoyo will become the second member of the Rays’ staff to be hired away today, as the Twins named Tampa Bay Major League field coordinator Rocco Baldelli their new manager this morning.
Montoyo, 53, is a decorated minor league skipper who has spent a hefty 18 seasons managing in the Rays’ minor league ranks. He joined the big league coaching staff in December 2014, initially serving as the organization’s third base coach before being named Tom Foley’s successor as bench coach last offseason. His experience and the generally strong reputation the Rays’ staff has within the organization helped to make Montoyo a popular managerial candidate this offseason, as he also interviewed with the Reds and was linked to other vacancies as well.
Born in Puerto Rico, Montoyo was a sixth-round pick of the Brewers back in 1987 and had a 10-year playing career in the minors. He received the briefest of calls to the Majors with the 1993 Expos, appearing in four games and tallying just five trips to the plate. His playing career wrapped up in 1996, and he joined the Rays organization almost immediately thereafter, first being hired on Oct. 31 that year.
Montoyo is only three years younger than the man he’ll replace, John Gibbons, but he comes from a different background, having spent more than two decades with an organization that has often spearheaded experimental tactics and strategies. He’ll give the Blue Jays a bilingual skipper with considerable experience running a clubhouse (albeit at the minor league level) and a deep understanding of the increasing role that data plays not only in informing roster construction but also in the day-to-day performances and training regimens of a big league roster. It’s not yet clear what his hiring will mean for the remainder of the Blue Jays’ coaches, though it’s typical for newly hired skippers to bring in some of their own hires to round out their staffs.
The Jays are at a pivotal crossroads as an organization, as while they haven’t fully declared any intention to embark on a rebuild, they’re also faced with the reality that the core which brought them to the ALCS just a few years ago has faded away. Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion have departed. Josh Donaldson was traded in August, and Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and Kevin Pillar are suddenly just two years from free agency.
Given that level of turnover and a stacked division featuring a pair of 100-win teams and the 90-win Rays team from which Toronto is hiring Montoyo, it seems likely that a youth movement is on the horizon for the league’s lone north-of-the-border club. That likely made it all the more imperative for GM Ross Atkins and president Mark Shapiro to hand-pick a leader to develop a unified vision for the organization’s culture and direction moving forward.
At lest we got a guy from the rays
You spelled your name wrong.
Lmao
Tough break for the Rays. It’ll be increasingly challenging to build off the momentum of last year when key members of the staff are jumping ship.
As selfish as it sounds, guys just shouldn’t turn down manager jobs. They aren’t easy to come by and they make much more money and it’s an all new responsibility. Can’t blame them
I don’t even think it sounds selfish, personally. Top roles in pro sports managing / coaching must be among the rarest jobs on the planet. You would be a fool not to do it.
Outside of gm I think so.
It would be selfish to expect them to stay in the organization tbh.
Players play….coaches coach. I doubt that the Rays will even notice. Guessing Jared Sandberg is on his way up.
They are not jumping ship. They are leaving for promotions with the blessing of the Rays
At least we got a guy from the rays
If this hire fails, at least weed is now legal in Canada.
Good luck, Blue Jays’ fans.
Rangers are running out of candidates
I’m hoping it’s Joey Espada. Good analytics background, Yankee players loved him when he was on the team (Fwiw)
And as I’ve said before, he’s bilingual; debatable how much that helps, but it certainly doesnt hurt.
I wouldn’t underestimate how being fluent in both English and Spanish could help a manager be effective. Managing egos, clearly communicating plans and expectations, and understanding the players as people seem to be extremely huge responsibilities of managers in our analytics-driven age. Being able to communicate with most of your players in a language you’re both fluent in is pretty big. Lots of very important nuance and subtlety gets lost when someone is working with their non-native language.
Good point.
With Mike Scosia gone, Montoyo is probably the only bilingual manager in MLB.
I’m pretty sure Alex Cora is bilingual xD
Cora is bilingual. When Cora was hired, DD:
“Alex also has a full appreciation for the use of analytical information in today’s game and his ability to communicate… Finally, the fact that he is bilingual is very significant for our club.”
Rick Renteria with the White Sox is as well. It was one of the reasons he got the Cubs job in 2014.
Two unsuccessful stints, too.
Dave Martinez is bilingual also
…and so is Joe Maddon
impapad57 – I checked on Dave Martinez as I thought that too (before I saw your post) but I remembered reading he was raised in NYC. Yes, he is bilingual, but because he was raised in Brooklyn, his first language is English. He learned Spanish later. I know this does not matter, but I thought it was interesting and because I have no life, I shared it.
Legal in Maine too so make sure to stop on your way! Just bring your own.
Was hoping for Espada but hopefully this guy works out.
Curious to know what your reasoning is for wanting Espada over Montoyo. We don’t really know much about either guy.
One would think that if you’re making a choice between Espada and Montoyo for the Jays, you’d actually pick Montoyo.
Former Expo
Multi-time IL manager of the year
Multi-time IL champion
More familiar with the AL East
Many more years of managing overall
I don’t really know. I like how the Astros previous bench coach turned out underneath Hinch. I also didn’t realize Montoyo was bilingual. With all the international talent the Jays have and have coming, that seems to be a big deal to me. But I guess they got that covered anyways.
Mets will now hire Rays’ bat boy as General Manager…..
bob, lmao!
Maybe “mr. met” as their GM
They won’t pay him enough
Dang!!! I just knew someone around baseball would be beating down the door to get John Mozeliak from the Cardinals. What’s the deal???
This isn’t Stubby Clapp
It’s more like penicillin…..
Pleased the Jays avoided the trendy no-experience types. Good choice.
How are no experience manager hire types “trendy”?
They always get criticized for no experience types. Not like Boone lit the world on fire after it was announced he was hired, even 1 year after he was hired.
Would argue young managers are more “trendy” Twins Baldelli (also from Rays) 3rd MLB manager born 80’s
You used the word “young,” I used “no experience” – six roses or half-a-dozen roses? There’s been a clear trend in hiring unproven managers in MLB since roughly 2011 – Ausmus, Renteria, Williams, Porter, Farrell, Matheny, Mattingly, Roenicke, Quade, Weiss, Sandberg, Sveum, Redmond, Price, Kapler, Cora, Roberts, Boone, Counsell … the fact all four ALCS/NLCS managers were once hired, despite limited experience in the dugout, might indicate the presence of such a trend. The trend is only furthered when adding the influence of analytics and a purging of “old school” approaches.
that last pick wasn’t too trendy.
Montoyo must’ve impressed the front office. Schneider would have been a good candidate promoted from within after managing some of the future players. Ed Sprague had sentimental value, a former catcher and lifelong baseball man.
Jays will be bad for at least two seasons. This gives the players and coaching staff time to build and improve together. Fans will have to be patient which is easier said than done.
It’s nice to read about a candidate that has actual management experience, rather than a willingness to be a parrot to the front office’s desires and strategies, but hopefully this isn’t the “token diversity hire” mandated by MLB.
“…rather than a willingness to be a parrot to the front office’s desires and strategies…”
lol
You don’t know much about Mark Shapiro, do you?
I can see the rangers possibly looking at John gibbons as their next skipper. He’s from Texas and lots of managing experience
him and odor in the same club house. good luck with that mess.
Congratulations to Mr Montoyo – The Jays are lucky to get him. Awesome guy and a good head on his shoulders!
What a class act! We loved him when he managed the Durham Bulls and were sad to lose him, but awesome that he has a big league job now, not just as a coach, but as a manager!
I seem to remember his young daughter having some serious health issues (life threatening) while he was doing a great job in Durham…..am I remembering that?
Who would downvote that? Sickos everywhere today.
You are correct. He loves the city and still has a home here, and has his number retired by the Bulls.
This seems like a good hire. Well-experienced, progressive, bilingual, and experienced in the ALE. I didn’t consider him prior but hindsight being what it is….yeah, pretty happy with this on the face of it.
Interesting tidbit from Jeff Blair on Prime Time Sports Fan590. In his last year as a player, Montoyo played in double A in the Expos system. But his real job there was to mentor, help, and translate for their star prospect and the top prospect in baseball at the time, who had just arrived from the Dominican. That guy was Vladimir Guerrero Sr. (And no, they apparently haven’t kept in touch so Montoyo doesn’t realy know VG jr personally; but still a cool story).
Another piece of the puzzle for the Blue Jay’s Future. now they gotta focus on pitching prospects
Seems like a good hire. Shapiro hit it out of the park in Cleveland with Tito hiring. First time managers are always a crap shoot though.
Whoever the manager is isn’t going to matter next year for the Jays. they’ll suck: no pitching and little in the way of elite [and ready] position players except for maybe Gurriel Jr
With Shapiro and Atkins at the helm, the hard truth is that Montoyo’s contract might be finished before the Jays are championship caliber again. 2019 Jays finish with 76 wins.
76 is rather generous considering the massive question mark at pitching. I also expect Stroman and DIaz, maybe an OF to be dealt before the deadline(s).
Tito wasn’t a first time Major League manager
Wow, who are the Rays losing next to a manager job? Their ballboys?
Happy for Montoyo. He was the coach of the riverdogs in their nascent seasons and helped oversee some great seasons in the SAL in the late 90s/early 00’s. Hope it works out for him
Always loved this guy back in the early ’90s as a minor leaguer – had no power at all but once drew 156 walks in a minor-league season – scored 103 runs that year in 132 games despite slugging .311 and batting just .256 – but with a 450 OBP. Obviously playing skills don’t always translate into teaching skills, but he at least understands that runs win games, and getting on base is paramount to scoring runs.
Am I the only one who thought of this movie quote? – “My name is Charlie Montoyo. You killed my father. Prepare to die. “
I am happy for Charlie Montoya. I am a Mets fan but also a baseball fan. Recently I read “Where Nobody Knows Your Name” about life in the minor leagues. I recommend it. Mr Montoya features prominently in it, I am happy that some times the good guys win and perserverence does or can pay off.
Cito Gaston