NEW YORK -- John Gibbons will finish out the season as Blue Jays manager and then his future with the organization will be revisited, according to general manger Ross Atkins.
A report from Sportsnet's Jeff Blair earlier this month referenced "chatter" about how Gibbons was possibly embarking on his final homestand as manager. The dismissal never happened, but a couple of days later, MLB Network's Ken Rosenthal reported that the Blue Jays "seemed destined" to fire Gibbons at the end of the year.
The media reports prompted Atkins to sit down with Gibbons in an attempt to clear the air. Gibbons, who is under contract through 2019, hasn't received any guarantees about returning next year, but Atkins is adamant that no decision will be made before the end of the regular season.
"We were always having those discussions. We're constantly having discussions about how we can get better, how we can improve, and he's always a part of those," Atkins said when asked whether he needed to sit down with Gibbons because of the speculation.
"Those rumors, that's what they ended up being, we did have to have discussions about them, that's just the nature of working with human beings, but ultimately our discussions were around the same things they're always about. How can we get better? How can we improve? Decided we certainly want to continue this year together and we'll revisit at the end of the year what that means for next year."
Gibbons is in the midst of his second tenure as Toronto's manager. The native of San Antonio took over as manager in 2004 when Carlos Tosca was fired, and Gibbons remained in place until 2008. He was brought back by former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos prior to the 2013 and has been in charge ever since, despite wholesale changes to the organization's front office.
The 56-year-old Gibbons entered play on Friday with a 755-766 record as Toronto's manager. Cito Gaston, who also had two stints with the Blue Jays, is the only manager with more wins in franchise history (894).
"When it becomes a distraction, it certainly is less than ideal," Atkins said when asked whether he was bothered by the constant speculation surrounding Gibbons' job status. "This game is about players. It's about fans. It's not about Gibby. It's not about me. Never will be, it's always going to be about the players, and so as soon as we can get the focus back on the field and on Ryan Borucki, Dan Jansen, Kevin Pillar and Justin Smoak the better."