Blue Jays bungle search for president, Paul Beeston stays on
So Paul Beeston will remain the president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays after all. The team announced on Monday that Beeston had signed a one-year contract extension, ending months of speculation about his future.
Beeston had been without a contract since October and it sure seems like Toronto’s ownership, Rogers Communications, was happy to keep it that way. As Beeston stood out in the cold, report after report emerged linking the Blue Jays with a number of highly-regarded front office executives they hoped would take his job.
Toronto wanted Orioles general manager Dan Duquette but the Jays backed away because Baltimore’s asking price of multiple top prospects as compensation to let Duquette out of his contract was too rich for their taste. They also wanted White Sox vice president of baseball operations Kenny Williams, but according to the Toronto Sun their request to interview Williams was rejected by chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. Twins GM Terry Ryan was mentioned as a possible candidate as well.
Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, Beeston and Reinsdorf are best friends. After taking the call from Toronto, Reinsdorf placed his own call to Beeston. According to Reinsdorf, Beeston was shocked to hear that Rogers was seeking to replace him. Talk about total mismanagement.
Now the Orioles are reportedly thinking of filing tampering charges against the Blue Jays. Reinsdorf also accused the Jays of tampering but has said he won’t pursue the matter with MLB.
All this drama and Beeston ends up back as the boss for one more year. The plan is for him to retire following the 2015 season. Talk about awkward.
“There were many rumors flying about, but it would have been inappropriate to comment on such matters publicly,” Blue Jays chairman Ed Rogers said in a statement. ”Make no mistake – we are elated to have Paul continue to lead the team for this season.”
Their actions over the last three months suggest they’re not quite as elated as they’d like us to believe.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
