TORONTO -- The Blue Jays' search for a new manager is underway, with Ross Atkins already having talked to a couple of potential candidates, and more names are expected to be added to the list in the coming days.
Atkins said on Tuesday afternoon that he expected to interview 10-plus candidates over the phone within the next seven days. After that, five or more applicants will be invited to Toronto for a series of in-person interviews to determine the next steps.
That should put the Blue Jays in a position to hire John Gibbons' replacement before the General Managers' Meetings from Nov. 5-8, though Atkins didn't commit to a firm timeline.
"I think realistically, it's like seven to 10 days of phone interviews and seven to 10 days of in-person interviews, with some follow up," Atkins said. "So anywhere in the neighborhood of 20-25 days if we were going to knock it out of the park and everything go as planned. It also could be sped up if someone is moving up our list. If we need to expedite our process, that could happen."
Atkins said the hiring process will be a collaborative process with the rest of his front-office team, but he stated that he will have the final say on who gets the job. Atkins sidestepped questions about what type of changes he would like to see from the new manager, reiterating that Gibbons wasn't fired and that it was a mutual decision to part ways.
The Blue Jays are expected to cast a wide net in their search. John McDonald, Mark DeRosa, Eric Wedge, John Schneider and Stubby Clapp are among the names that have been mentioned through various reports over the last week. In the coming days, Toronto's preliminary list should become clearer.
Asked whether adding a Spanish-speaking manager was a top priority because of Toronto's diverse clubhouse, Atkins said it would be a major asset but not a requirement. Toronto will have someone on the staff -- whether the manager or in another position -- who is bilingual to work with players from Latin America.
"It comes down to being tough, smart and passionate," Atkins said. "Those are the overarching themes as I think about what it takes to lead an environment in here -- to sustain a championship-level expectation, understanding what it takes in terms of communication, to keep not just the 25-man roster, but the 40-man roster, the 200 Minor League players, the 100-plus scouts, the 100-plus coaches and medical staff people pulling in one direction and feeling connected."
A long track record of experience as manager also won't necessarily be a requirement. New York's Aaron Boone and Boston's Alex Cora made the postseason during their first year on the job, and in recent years, younger coaching staffs have been embraced.
Atkins' stated goal is to turn the organization around in the shortest amount of time possible. He admitted that it's unlikely that the Blue Jays will be celebrating on the field at the end of 2019. But the hope is that by '20, the organization will be ready to take the next step. The new manager will lead that new direction, with the hope that he develops alongside the young core -- just like AJ Hinch did with Houston.
"In today's game, it's very different than it was 10 years ago," Atkins said. "The amount of information that is at your fingertips is vast, there is so much more information that was available to people. Just five years ago, a lot of managers were still using matchup information based on stuff they had kept on notecards.
"Now when a lot of managers think about matchup situations, they're thinking about types of pitches and types of hitters and massive sample sizes, because of the amount of information that is at your fingertips and then most offices have another team that's working on making that information more specific to their needs and being able to synthesize that and maximize."