TORONTO — Blue Jays President Paul Beeston couldn’t believe it when he learned the Blue Jays had the chance to land three star players from the Miami Marlins last week. He was equally surprised when his general manager told him he wanted to hire John Gibbons to manage the Blue Jays again.
Blue Jays hire John
Gibbons as manager again
TORONTO — Blue Jays President Paul Beeston couldn’t believe it when he learned the Blue Jays had the chance to land three star players from the Miami Marlins last week. He was equally surprised when his general manager told him he wanted to hire John Gibbons to manage the Blue Jays again.
General manager Alex Anthopoulos unexpectedly hired Gibbons as his new manager on Tuesday, a day after a megadeal with the Miami Marlins reinvigorated the roster and raised expectations the Blue Jays will make the playoffs for the first time since winning their second consecutive World Series in 1993. Only Kansas City and Pittsburgh have longer playoff droughts.
Gibbons managed Toronto 2004-08 and had a 305-305 record, making him the third-winningest manager in franchise history.
He succeeds John Farrell, who spurned Toronto for his dream managing job in Boston. Gibbons takes over a very different team from the one Farrell managed.
Cabrera, Blue Jays
finalize $16 million deal
TORONTO — New Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is happy to have Melky Cabrera after the All-Star game MVP finalized a $16 million, two-year contract with Toronto.
Cabrera, who completed a 50-game suspension for a positive test for testosterone, was not wanted back by the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.
Cabrera gets $8 million in each of the next two seasons, up from a $6 million base salary this year.
Union to monitor Miami Marlins after payroll purge
NEW YORK — The players’ association will monitor the Miami Marlins following their payroll purge, saying it is too early to determine whether the salary cuts will cause any issues under baseball’s labor contract.
After complaints by the union that the Marlins weren’t using revenue-sharing money to improve, the players’ association, Major League Baseball and the Marlins reached a three-year agreement in January 2010 that the team would increase payroll annually as it prepared to move into its new ballpark in 2012.
After opening last season with a $112 million payroll, the Marlins cut it to $90 million by the end of the season. With the trade of All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes and four others to Toronto on Tuesday, Miami’s payroll next season projects to be around $36 million.
News Corp. to acquire
stake in Yanks’ YES Network
NEW YORK — News Corp. is acquiring a 49 percent stake in the YES Network, a deal that gives the New York Yankees’ owners hundreds of millions of dollars and values the channel at $3 billion.
Yankee Global Enterprises, Goldman Sachs and other investors will reduce their ownership as part of the transaction, and the team will receive $500 million.
The agreement raises the value of the YES Network to $3.8 billion in three years, when News Corp. must decide whether to take control. The Yankees also committed to stay on YES Network through 2042, subject to approval of the rights deal from Major League Baseball. The Yankees’ existing agreement with YES runs through 2021 and the network has three five-year options.
Beckham mum on plans
after leaving MLS, Galaxy
CARSON, Calif. — David Beckham will announce the next stop in his football career near the end of the year. Until then, he’s focusing on winning one more trophy with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Beckham said on Tuesday he has “exciting opportunities on the table” to continue playing after he leaves the Galaxy next month, capping a six-season U.S. career with Los Angeles’ second straight appearance in the MLS Cup final on Dec. 1.
The English midfielder wasn’t specific about where he might end up next, deflecting questions about every destination from Australia and China to France and Britain. While discussing his future in the most oblique terms, Beckham only confirmed he won’t move to New York or any other MLS team.
Mavs’ Nowitzki still
unsure when he will play
DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki was hoping to be back on the court sooner, even when the Dallas Mavericks were saying after his surgery that it could be at least six weeks before any basketball activity.
The perennial All-Star forward instead is finding out just how difficult and frustrating it can be recovering from surgery. Nowitzki said Tuesday that he’s still about two weeks away from getting back on the court to start running and shooting. That would put him at just more than six weeks since arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Oct. 19 — and he still isn’t sure when he will start playing again after that.
By wire sources