BALTIMORE - Blue Jays players confirmed Friday that the team is at odds with iconic manager Cito Gaston.
"Obviously there are issues," outfielder Vernon Wells said prior to Toronto's game against Baltimore.
"It's something that we go through and we've got to figure it out because we're not going to be a very good team if this is going to go on," added Lyle Overbay. "We've got to get it straightened out, either way."
The players spoke publicly when questioned about reports of the brewing locker-room controversy that surfaced Friday.
Sources from all areas of the organization had told The Canadian Press the dysfunction currently crippling the Jays' front office extends all the way down into the clubhouse, where there are major problems in the relationship between the players and Gaston.
Gaston, speaking Friday, expressed surprise at the discontent.
"You're not going to have everybody like you on the team that's just the way it is. There's not a guy on this team I don't like. I treat all the guys fairly. I wouldn't know that (they had issues with him)."
Pitching ace Roy Halladay declined comment, saying "Any concerns I have will be expressed to the right people."
But Aaron Hill, Rod Barajas and Scott Downs also confirmed the team had issues with the manager.
Player frustration has boiled over to the point that a group is expected to meet Saturday with Blue Jays interim CEO Paul Beeston to talk about their concerns.
Prior to news breaking, those who agreed to talk to The Canadian Press about the friction between the manager and his players would do so only if their names weren't used.
Some players wanted to speak to senior team officials first -- and to avoid the news leaking at home in front of a large media contingent -- before putting their names to the complaints. But a series of interviews with front office and players done over the last few weeks indicate the problems are widespread and beyond the normal tensions that often build up between players and a manager over a long, losing season.
One player said there was simply "constant negativity" coming from the manager's office, while another noted that Gaston once said "there aren't any good players in here." Also at issue is Gaston's hands-off, in-game decision making -- a criticism that dates back to his first tenure as manager from 1989 to 1997.
The problems are so deep that when one player was asked how many others felt the same way, he replied: "Just about everyone."
On Sunday, Gaston said he had no regrets about how he's treated his players this season when he was asked in a general sense if he has any fence-mending to do.
"If guys aren't happy with whatever happened here, then they're looking at the wrong person," Gaston said after the team's final home game last Sunday.
"If they're unhappy, they have to look at themselves, because I certainly treated everybody in a way that I'd like to be treated as a player and how I'd like my manager to treat me. If they're grumbling, they're grumbling because they didn't do their jobs. They had opportunities."
News of the locker-room unrest comes ironically during a torrid run on the field. The Jays (75-84) had won six straight heading into Friday night's game.
The emergence of the clubhouse problems comes as the Blue Jays grapple with a series of other fundamental issues, including the search for a permanent president and CEO to replace the interim Beeston, the future of Ricciardi and the charting of a direction for a franchise unsure if it's rebuilding, retooling or bumping up payroll to load up for a run at the post-season in 2010.
None may be as touchy as dealing with the 65-year-old Gaston, an icon from the World Series years who may be the most popular person on the team right now, and has largely escaped criticism while critics focused on the GM and players.
Few people have served the Blue Jays for as long and with as much passion as Gaston, although many around the team believe it is time for him to step into the advisory ambassador role envisioned for him once his contract expires after the 2010 season.
Gaston returned to manage the Blue Jays following the firing of John Gibbons in June 2008, inheriting a 35-39 team struggling to hit and leading them to a 51-37 mark. He also inherited bench coach Brian Butterfield, pitching coach Brad Arnsberg and bullpen coach Bruce Walton, and there is a split between that group and Gaston's crew of hitting coach Gene Tenace, third base coach Nick Leyva and first base coach Dwayne Murphy, adding to the dysfunction.
There were points of friction at the beginning, as players chafed under regular heavy criticism, but the strong finish last season helped cover up some of the ill-feeling. Then things picked up where they left off this year, and the relationship between players and manager grew worse as the losing snowballed after a 27-14 start.
