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Braves news: John Gibbons adds experience and familiarity to scouting staff

By Jake Mastroianni

ST PETERSBURG, FL - SEPTEMBER 28: John Gibbons #5 of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on during the second inning in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 28, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
ST PETERSBURG, FL - SEPTEMBER 28: John Gibbons #5 of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on during the second inning in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 28, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos continues to surround himself with some of the best minds in baseball by brining former manager John Gibbons on board as a scout.

The news went a bit under the radar on Monday, but while the Atlanta Braves were extending Alex Anthopoulos and the coaching staff, it was also reported that they were brining on former manager John Gibbons as a national scout.

I was always a big fan of Gibbons in Toronto, so when I saw this report I was pretty excited.

Gibby was the manager for the Blue Jays from 2004-2008 winning 80 or more games in the three full seasons he was there. He became the team’s skipper again in 2013 and was there through the 2018 season.

In 2015 he helped the Blue Jays win the AL East with 93 wins and was fourth in the AL Manager of the Year award.

Of course, during that time in Toronto, he was working very closely with Anthopoulos who was with the Blue Jays organization from 2003-2015, and AA was the GM in 2013 when he brought Gibby back to manage the Blue Jays.

Obviously, there is a very close relationship there and AA continues to surround himself with staff that he’s familiar with.

But more than that, Gibby is considered a very smart baseball man around the game.

While he doesn’t have much experience as a scout, he’s been around the game for a long time.

This could just be a stop-gap for the 57-year-old Gibbons who is likely looking to manage again.

He recently interviewed for the managerial vacancies that unexpectedly popped up in Houston and Boston but didn’t land the jobs.

In this article from The Athletic (paywall), it sounds like Gibby won’t have a huge role in the Braves’ scouting department. It sounds like he’ll be going around and just putting another set of eyes on college players that the team is interested in.

Either way, I love what AA and VP of scouting, Dana Brown, are doing in bringing in great baseball minds to help build up the scouting department even more.

Next. 10 third base trade targets. dark

Even if Gibby is just here for a year or two, I think it’s a great hire for the Braves that will pay big dividends in the end.

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